Romania
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
The consulate of Germany in Sibiu has moved. Now it has the same address as the Embassy of Germany: Strada Lucian Blaga 15-17, phone: 0040 (0) 269-211133 and 269-212241, open Monday-Friday 9am -11.30am.
Romana Rusa & Roman Fröhlich, Germany (Jan 06)
It is extremely easy to cross the border at Vama Veche in Romania to Bulgaria. You can get a maxibus from Mangolia to the Vama Veche border at minimal cost, walk across the checkpoint, & there are taxis available at the bars on the Bulgarian side. We took one to Balchik on the black Sea coast for €30 -- which was very reasonable for the distance!!
Wendy Smith, UK (Nov 05)
The Chisinau-Bucharest train is terribly hot inside in summertime - windows cannot be opened manually - and excruciatingly slow. It leaves at 5.10p.m. from Chisinau and arrives at the border town of Ungheni at 7.30 p.m. where it stops for about 2 hours to change wheels and for customs controls - the Moldovan custom official may decide to check throughout your baggage, unwrap everything you bought to find out if you have ancient icons...or drugs.
Ferdinando Giammichele & Fiorella Polo, Italy (Aug 05)
Just a word of warning - if you need to obtain a Romanian visa make sure you allow plenty of time, and if possible organise it in your home country. I tried at the Romanian consulate in Istanbul and had to cancel my plans to visit as the requirements were far too much for one on a long-term backpacking adventure. Of course, as I was leaving a Romanian woman stopped me, feigned concern for my lack of success and said she could organise a visa for US$155. Needless to say I didn't bother.
Beau Osborne, Australia (Feb 05)
Travel Tips
Romania is at present changing their currency setup (thank the lord!!). The present Lei is being replaced by New Lei or RON or Noi Lei. A RON is equal to 10,000 old Lei. ATMs ask you to select the value you want in RON, but may give it to you in a mixture of old and new. Be very careful with taxi drivers saying they will take you some where for what seems like a very low amount in old lei when they actually mean RON (i.e. they will charge you x10.000 more). Posters at most shops explain it as well.
Peter Moore, UK (Sep 05)
We have just returned from a 2 week trip (to Romania) and would advise against the use of travellers cheques. We found them a big hassle to change, far easier to use the plentiful ATM machines.
Ronnie Tamosiunas, UK (Jul 05)
Starting July 2005, Romania has a new currency so that 1 new Leu = 10000 old Lei. One (maybe) honest guy in an Exchange Office in Sinaia told me that I could change Leu/Lei back to US or Euros etc. only if I were a Romanian citizen. He told me that the only place that I could change Lei back to foreign currencies is at the airport after the transit/security. My hotel also wouldn't do that for me because they claimed that they didn't have US dollars. But I tried another Exchange Office and I could exchange foreign currency from Romanian Lei.
Kin Yip, USA (Jul 05)
Moving About
Bucharest: Only use taxis that have the price per km on the outside of the taxi (usually on the passenger-side doors or wing). In January 2006, the usual price was about 1 RON per km. However, a few taxis were charging up to 9 RON. If you fail to notice you are in an expensive taxi, you could end up paying perhaps the highest rates in the world. The expensive taxis are not necessarily different in any other way from the cheap ones. However, they are more likely to take you on the least direct route.
Don Hindle, Australia (Feb 06)
Everything everyone has mentioned about taxi scams is real! I got charged €30 for a ride from the airport to central Bucharest because I left in the evening. To have a wider choice of taxis, try to arrive earlier in the day. If you don't have much baggage, take bus 783 that departs from the domestic arrival floor, it only costs about €2.5 and it's a return (2 journey) ticket! The bus brings you to all major Piatas (urban centers) including Piata Victorei, Piata Romana and Piata Unirii...very conveninent! Leaves from city stops every half an hour.
Lim Marilyn, Singapore (Dec 05)
There are a lot of private minibuses which ply between towns. They start from near the railways station or main bus station, are faster than the old big buses. The destination is displayed on the windscreen, the prices are fixed.
Diana Neuner, Germany (Nov 05)
If you are travelling from another European destination to Romania by train and wish to return to your initial departure point, buy a return ticket. You can then travel straight to your final destination and then travel back hopping on and off as many times as you want for no cost (but you may need to book seats). E.g. Buy a return ticket from Budapest to Bucharest (Approx £50) and travel straight to Bucharest. Then work your way back to Budapest by jumping off at Sinaia, Brasov, Sighisoara, Deva, Arad etc.
Peter Moore, UK (Sep 05)
Taking a taxi in town or at the airport is a pricy experience. If you arrive at 2 a.m. at the Henri Coanda-Otopeni airport, after exiting the arrivals hall you'll be greeted by a swarm of hungry cab drivers. They'll ask for €20 to €25 for a ride to the city centre. As your guidebook hints, we should have rung a reputable cab company. Being very tired and not having Lei with us, we eventually resolved to choose one of those guys to drive us to our hostel. We eventually agreed to pay €12 to get to the city. The driver, however, did not want the €2 coin, so we had to change it into Lei at the hostel.
The next day we were in a hurry to get to the Moldovan consulate for the visa, under a burning sun with 40° C and a smelly boisterous traffic driving us crazy...We unfortunately bumped into a dodgy taxi driver, who wanted €12 for a short ride from Piata Unirii to B-dul Eroilor. He justified the hefty price asserting he was a private taxi driver, having a private taxi driver licence, using its own car and paying for the fuel by himself - he also showed us the sticker inside his car that displayed all this information. A lesson learnt from this swindle: always ask the taxi driver how much you will pay to get from A to B before sitting in the car and regardless what the yellow-black tariff stickers on the car's front doors say (they usually show enticing tariffs such as 1 new Lei/km or 0.99 new Lei/km ; €1 = around 34 new Lei).
Ferdinando Giammichele & Fiorella Polo, Italy (Aug 05)
I have tried both 1st class and 2nd class train seats between Sinaia and Bucharest. Contrary to what you said, there isn't much difference between the two classes in terms of comfortability as well as cleanliness.
In small stations like Sinaia, I couldn't actually buy train tickets to go to Bucharest in advance (say 1 day or more). They told me to come to buy one hour before the departure time. Their reason was that those trains came from outside Romania and they didn't know whether there was a seat available for me in advance. Apparently, they (at Sinaia) didn't seem to have computer/network to check. Gara Nord in Bucharest seemed to be able to check these things in advance.
Kin Yip, USA (Jul 05)
For people moving around in the Balkan, here's a golden tip. For only €48 (for people 25+ it is just a little more expensive) one can buy a Balkan Flexipass which allows you to travel for 5 days within 1 month through the following countries: Serbia and Montenegro, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria Macedonia and Turkey. If your tired of thumbing your way around then this the second best option..
Maarten Stam, The Netherlands (May 05)
The ferry from Calafat-Vidin is a nightmare, didn't see any sign of a passenger ferry only the car ferry and it only goes when it is full - so we had a lovely 4-5 hours on the ferry swatting mozzies and cursing about having eaten all our food!
Sara Caplain, NZ (May 05)
Scams & Warnings
Travellers must be aware of the exchange offices which charge comission of 8-10%. They mushroomed in the last months in every town, they offer a slightly higher exchange rate than the others, but with the commision you pay you get a smaller amount than if you would have changed at an exchange office with a lower rate. They pray on innocent tourists who can not read the small print which is often only in Romanian. How to recognise them? They have a bodyguard at the door (to scare away people who may complain), their exchange rate is slightly higher and is displayed obviously on colourfull boards. Avoid them, there are plenty of other exchange offices without comission.
Diana Neuner, Germany (Nov 05)
Taxidriver Scam: I did ask for my change back but the taxidriver refused. Initially the taxidriver said the trip to the Otopeni airport would cost 300,000 ROL (30 new ROL) but I had only a 500,000 ROL (50) note. He refused to give me back 200,000 ROL (20) and said that he had never said it cost 300,000 ROL (30). Therefore I would advise to only pay the exact change and make sure you have small notes.
Jolanda Brunt, The Netherlands (Sep 05)
Begging Children: They may look poor and homeless, but they are more than likely being pimped and will give the vast majority of your money to their pimp or their drug habit. Parents also use their own children to scam money. Have some sweets ready to give to them - this will get rid of them easily.
Be wary off organised bear watching trips in towns such as Brasov. They usually involve going to the local rubbish dump where the bears come to feed off scraps. Due to the close human contact of bear watching groups, the animals are likely to become more accustomed to human contact and take more chances of encroaching into urban areas. Conflict then increases between humans and bears which may result in bear shooting/killing.
Peter Moore, UK (Sep 05)
Bucharest, Romania - BE VERY WARY OF TAXI SCAMS! We got hit twice. Once we told the guy to piss off when after the taxi ride he said it was 150 lei per person, not total, even though we agreed on the price up front and the ride should have cost a bit less. The second time was more threatening. We got into a car that looked exactly like a taxi - yellow with lettering on the outside. The driver did not let me in the front seat which we thought was no big deal. We agreed on the price up front - 100 lei total. When we got to our destination he told us that our old currency was no good (Romania is converting to newer currency but most of the currency is still the older currency and perfectly acceptable everywhere) and we either had to pay the proper amount in the newer currency, which we happened not to have, or 10 times the amount in the old currency. We tried to get out and he had the doors and windows locked. We suggested going to the police and he suggested going back to his company and giving us a thumping (he was very large, angry, and threatening). We had no choice but to pay the equivalent of $40 for a $4 ride. Legitimate taxis have a numbered plaque on the outside. This "private taxi" did not.
Dan Coplan, USA (Aug 05)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
Black Sea coast: I stayed at Eforie Sud for a couple of days and I agree that it has nothing much to offer for (Western) tourists. Yes new hotels or pensions are built but the beach-side itself is in decay. But I went to a 'spectacle', as my boyfried calls it and I enjoyed it. It is an evening in the summer theatre where Romanian artists singers, traditional and modern, and comics perform. Not all the singers sing live, they mouth the words to the song. Yet it is nice to see the Romanian audience respond to the artists, they are critical. The audience enjoyed the comics. Children can come unto the stage and take a picture with the artist. I heard that these evenings are organised in other sea resorts along the Black Sea coast as well. It costs 10 ROL (€3)and an evening lasts from 9 o'clock until midnight.
Jolanda Brunt, The Netherlands (Sep 05)
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