Dracula's Guide to Romania

Romania has always had this alure of poorly developed and a place for affordable travelling. Nowadays with high inflation and being in the European Union (recently full Schengen member) prices have increased. So here are some tips and tricks for traveling in Bucharest.

Transportation from the Airport

Don’t exchange money in the airport and don’t buy food in the airport!!! With that out of the way let’s continue.

The most affordable option is by bus, the 100 (less than a dollar/euro) bus takes you to Old Town and other areas where accommodations can be found. Prices are a bit different as this article is older, but here are some other options:

Landing in Bucharest – How Dracula gets into the city

Where do I stay?

Best option is staying in a hostel, you can find online the cheapest option but if you are looking for some of our favorite hostels:

Coolest hostels in Bucharest

How do I travel in Bucharest?

If you are doing a weekend trip and you don’t have time to see everything, we suggest walking, and you can cover quite a bit of the central tourist objectives. If you want to see more, public transport is the key and you can get multi-passes for 1 day or more, surface transportation, and metro passes. There are plenty of options to choose from, just know underground and overground are separate entities, so you need to specify that you want those particular ticekts.

Bucharest Public Transport – Tips on making your life easier while getting around the city by bus

Places to visit while on a budget

Ticket prices for most tourist attractions have started to align to European prices… in other words, it is more and more expensive to visit places like The Parliment Building, Ceausescu’s House and the National Art Museum. If you are on a budget, here are some options that are actually free:

Top 12 Free Places to Visit in Bucharest – Budget travel

Exploring the city on your own

I wrote 2 articles on how to explore the city on your own, you will find them both with the link bellow:

Cotroceni – Architectural Treasure Hunt in Bucharest

If you prefer guided tours you don’t have to break the bank

There are donation-based guided tours in Bucharest, we suggest BTrip Bucharest (full disclosure, I am one of the guides). There is also an article with a couple more suggestions:

Best Free Walking Tours in Bucharest (Tip based tours)

Where to eat?

Old Town is full of tourist traps and prices tend to be very steep.

Pretzel shop (covrigi and pastries): Patiseria Tineretului or Luca

Romanian Traditional Restaurant with decent prices: Bodega “La Mahala”

Where people usually eat lunch in the area (canteen style): Mancare la Coltea , Kanteen 162

Places with traditional and international soups: Ciorbarie

Schwarma places with decent prices: Lipie Döner Kebap , Coltea Kebab

Decently priced food and drinks in Old Town: Oktober Fest

The Golden Arches: McDonalds

Where should I go grab a coffee?

Bucharest has some realy amazing coffee places but they are definately not of budget travelers, if you are looking for an ok coffee in the mornin there is a coffee chain called 5toGo .

Where to go partying on a budget?

Partying in Bucharest is fairly expensive and there are some budget option like Surubelnita, but you don’t want sticky floors and a wine that will give you a headache after one sip…

First tip is to get out of Old Town and a place that we like and always had a good time is: B52 Club , Mojo Karaoke Bar

More expensive options: Expirat , Control , Platforma Wolff

Supermarkets

If it says Mega Image it more expensive (the most common supermarket in Bucharest but also the most pricey usually)

If you are in Old Town there is a big Carrefour where you can find everything you need: Carrefour

Where to exchange money without being ripped off

Pro tip, Euros get the best exchange rate other currency is less liked by the exchange houses. Here is an article on pro tips:

How and Where to Exchange Money in Bucharest

Parks are a great way to avoid spending money and get some incredible views

Best Views in Bucharest (Hills)

Churches

Churches are usually open, and they don’t require an entrance fee, there are quite a few in Old Town that you can visit. Please be respectful when you go inside, avoid going in when mass is underway (if the church has many people inside with the priest talking) and men need to take their hats off.

Domnița Bălașa Church – Google Maps

“Saint Anthony” Church – Google Maps

Stavropoleos Church – Google Maps

More tips about Bucharest:

Bucharest