Bucharest - The First City of Romania I Wandered

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After 3 different flights, 15 hours of transit and nearly 15 hours of flying time with two transit point at Singapore and Istanbul, finally I make it to Bucharest safe and sound. Besides being the largest and capital city, Bucharest is also the primary entry point into Romania.

FROM BUCHAREST AIRPORT TO DOWNTOWN 

If you are travelling via air like me, all scheduled flights including low cost airlines will arrive at Henri Coanda International Airport. This is airport is widely known as Otopeni on all airline bookings due to its location situated in Otopeni, which is about 18km north of downtown. There are several ways to get from the airport to Bucharest downtown but because my accommodation is located nearby Unirii Square, hence I took bus no. 783. Before I hop-on into the bus, I went and changed some local currency inside the airport cause Romania has its own currency which known as Romanian leu. 1 euro is approximately to 4.60 leu and as for the bus fare, it cost 8.60 leu for round-trip.

MY STAY IN BUCHAREST

Little Bucharest Old Town Hostel 

Date Stayed: 7 April - 9 April 2019 (2 nights)

Room Rate: 105 leu for total of two nights of dormitory bed 

Location wise, it's smack in the middle of the old town surrounded by countless of restaurants, bars, shops and attractions but the condition of the hostel is a bit disappointed, especially with their bathroom and toilet. Need some improvement as they are often not clean and not functioning well too. On the other hand, their staffs are pretty friendly and helpful and I was served with a breakfast for free from them.

ATTRACTIONS IN BUCHAREST
Frankly speaking, throughout my two days in Bucharest I don't find it interesting and attractive compare to most of the cities I've been around Europe. Yes, Bucharest indeed has plenty of interesting cultural sites, insightful museums and amazing historical monuments but somehow, I wasn't attracted to any of them. Probably next time if you plan to visit Bucharest, try to make it short like 1 or 2 days will be sufficient.

Since I already arrived in Bucharest and will be spending 2 nights there, these are the few attractions and places I went:


Stavropoleos Monastery


National Museum of Romanian History


Curtea Veche, 15th-century princely home but now turned into a museum

Romanian Athenaeum, a Neoclassical concert hal.


Bucharest Revolution Square


City clock in front of Palace of the Parliament


Palace of the Parliament

HOW TO GET AROUND IN BUCHAREST CITY
Majority of the attractions are sits within the great old town, which mean it's walkable from my hostel. However, there are few places I hop-on on the public bus to reach there and because of this, I decided to get the daily pass (costs 8 leu) for convenience purposes as it will not require any validation.


This is how bus stop looks like in Bucharest.


And this is where I got the daily pass

And I guess that's pretty sum up of what I did and saw in Bucharest. Not forgetting, I also did a little shopping in Unirea Shopping Center and groceries buying in Carrefour which are about 10 minutes of walk from the hostel I stayed.

Although Bucharest might sounds boring to me, but somehow, there are plenty of towns in Romania which are stunning and amazing. Want to know more? Do follow me for my next post.

Visited Starbucks store to have a look at their merchandise but at the end, I didn't buy any of them

Side Note: Majority of the photos took using Huawei P20 cause I accidentally dropped the camera given by the boyfriend on my first day in Romania. The lens damaged and unable to use. Start my trip with unfortunate event.

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