National Art Museum

Housed in the Royal Palace, the massive, three-part National Art Museum - all signed in English - could take, along with Piaţa Revoluţii and lunch, the bulk of a day. Start at the north door with the Gallery of Romanian Art, a three-floor survey of Romania's art from several hundred icons and jaw-dropping carved wood altars saved from communist-destroyed churches - all laid out on funky purple and crimson walls.

The country's oil masters - from the impasto stokes of Gheorghe Petrascu to Nicolae Grigorescu's arrestingly frank portraits of Roma and peasant folk - are on the top floor. Walking through the chronological collection, note the phase out/in of 'Eastern' Turk-style/'Western' French-style dress on the painting subjects by the mid-19th century. Also in the building is the small Treasures of Roman Art (around €2.40/€0.60), which is less impressive than the collection at the Grigore Antipa National History Museum. Save time and energy for the absorbing Gallery of European Art (around €2.20/0.60), a 12,000-piece collection, largely assembled from Tsar Carol I's collection and laid out according to nationality. The Italian collection includes the earliest-known painting by Bartolomeo (c 1430). The Dutch collection includes a few Rembrandts and Rubens, but we like the dramatic hand gesturing of Van Hemessen's The Calling of St Matthew (1556) the most. Naturally France gets the final spot - and the nicest part of the palace, with marble stairways and wood-carved ceilings - to house a few works by Rodin and Monet. Guides (around €6) must be booked in advance; call 314 8119.