I must admit that Bucharest has managed to amaze me even in a few days of stay. I had built my “pre-travel” opinion by reading a lot of article on the web, the worst thing I could have done. Now, I’m happy to say that the city has me “Disassembled” all without too much effort. I stayed in the town for three days, enough time to collect (almost) all useful information you could need if you are going to visit the Romanian capital.

Time zone and language

Romania is an hour ahead of Italy when there is no daylight saving time (two ahead of London). As for the spoken language, I always found people who spoke English more or less well: you will not have problems communicating if you know a few words of English.

Bucharest airport

The airport name is “Henri Coandă”, although it is mainly known as Bucharest-Otopeni Airport (“Otopeni” is also the name marked on the websites of the airlines). From here you can get to the city by taxi, for which the recommendations are those that maybe I would give for any city (always look if the meter is on, because the price it will sing is the only right price of a taxi, in the absence of officially fixed fares)
The alternative route is to take a bus: the Express 780 and the Express 783 lead into central areas of the city; I leave you the post written by Nicola on his blog, Viaggiatori low cost, with all the directions.

Money exchange

The official currency is the Romanian Leu and the exchange rate, for us, is quite favourable: 1 euro is equivalent to 4 lei. Do not be fooled by the convenience of the change: as the city is quite cheap, spending your money exceeding your budget is a high risk.

Cost of taxis and public transport

As for public transport, I found the ticket machines in the subway stations. As for the prices of metro, bus and tram tickets, there are various options:
Single card 1.30 lei
Ticket for two runs 5 lei
Daily ticket 8 lei
Ticket for ten trips 20 lei
Weekly ticket 25 lei
For taxis, however, I noticed several cooperatives/firms and prices range from 1.39 lei to 1.79 lei per km: costs per kilometre are marked on the doors of the single taxi and found several to the taxi car parks provided (there are at least two of them at Piata Unirii). Be careful because some companies charge more, about 3.69 lei per kilometre: on a short trip the price difference may not seem exaggerated, but if you have to cross the city or travel during peak hours you might accuse the price difference.

Subway

The Bucharest Metro was born to connect the peripherical neighbourhoods with the factories. To date, it has four lines which not always pass through the centre. The M2 line cuts through the centre with three stops along its route (including the central Piata Unirii); the M1 line, instead, follows a circular path around the city centre. The M3 line has several stops in common with the M2, although in reality it merely skirts the centre. The M4, which is the end of the Northern Gara, for the centre does not even go in a secluded way. However, although waiting times are longer than those of subways around the world, the service works well.

Visiting Bucharest on foot

The main tourist sites are easily accessible on foot, without the need for public transportation or endless transhipments. Understanding the geography of the old town is quite straightforward: and this makes it easy to turn it around and find out, I’m sure you will not have trouble moving on foot. However, several buses run around the centre, Piata Unirii is the bus and tram terminus: if you are not a great walker, you can find a bus/public transport that will surely be useful for your city tours.

Food
I noticed numerous street food kiosks on the streets of the city, where you can find mainly sweet foods. I leave you some links to Romania food and desserts:
– On “viaggio da sola perché”, you find an article about typical Romanian desserts;
– An article from “in world shoes” suggests five romanian dishes to try;