Introducing Timişoara

Timişoara (tee-mee-shwa-ra) stunned the world and disrupted sleep for evil dictators everywhere when its incensed residents instigated the 1989 revolution. Romania’s fourth largest city is known by locals as Primul Oraş Liber (First Free Town), for it was here that anti-Ceauşescu protests first exceeded the Securitate’s capacity for violent suppression, eventually punching Ceauşescu’s ticket to Hell. Less courageous, but still noteworthy achievements include being the first city in Europe to have electric street lamps (1884) and the second to introduce horse-drawn trams (1867). With its charming Mediterranean air, regal Habsburg buildings and a cultural and sporting scene that’s unequalled in Romania, it’s a city that’s loved by residents and tourists alike.

Timişoara, dubbed the ‘city of flowers’ after the ring of pretty parks that surrounds it, is one of the country’s most developed and multicultural cities, comprising strong Hungarian, German and Serbian minorities. In recent years the city has been designated as ‘Romania’s economic showcase’, spurring debate as to whether the ‘Timişoara Model’ can be applied to other cities.

In addition to being superior to Bucharest as a Romanian road/rail access point from the west, Timişoara is the hub of Carpatair, Romania’s thriving semi-budget airline. ‘Flashpackers’ and people with an aversion to spine-jangling overnight train trips will want to make Timişoara their Romanian base of operations.