Exploring Romania

Don’t you think that it’s time for traveling? October in general is a great month to organize a trip especially in Europe when the weather in most of the countries is still good and ‘’balanced’’ let’s say, with not so much heat and not so much cold either. Especially if you plan to visit one of the beautiful Balkan countries, this period, could be amongst the nicest ones. Speaking of Balkan countries, lets focus our attention to the largest of them, Romania. Specifically, we will learn some Romanian cities and some things for each one of them. So, in case you want to visit one, two, three or more (why not) of them, prepare your Romanian skills, start your Romanian lessons for beginners (or not…?), hire your private Romanian teacher and be ready for the adventure that you will begin! Learning Romanian it can be very easy, interesting and fun, we guarantee that!

Let’s start our exploration from -what else- the capital. The biggest city in Romania, Bucharest. It is located on the southeast of the country and we would say that it attracts the biggest number of tourists during the whole year. It is industrial and financial center and one of the cities with the most rapid evolution and development the past few years in Europe. You can find many big parks there where you can make picnic with your friends in the summer and spring, you can take your walks and breath the fresh air in the middle of the city. In some of them you can find also lakes which make the scenery even more beautiful. Bucharest has plenty of malls for your shopping and it’s night life is famous. Clubs and bars are all over the city and as well, many nice restaurants with great Romanian and not only, food. Regarding touristic attractions, don’t forget to visit the Palace of Parliament, the second biggest administrator building in the world! And extremely impressive we would say!

Next in our list is Brasov. It is exactly in the center of Romania and very close to Bucharest. Brasov is a very touristic place, extremely picturesque and is part of the famous county of Transylvania. There you can visit the Biserica Neagră (which means the black church) a very old and historical sightseeing. Also, in close distance, there is the legendary Bran castle, the castle of Dracula, probably the most famous touristic attraction in Romania.

Moving on, we have the second largest city in the country and also, probably the most important academic and cultural center in Romania, Cluj-Napoca. Nowadays, the name Cluj is the one that the Romanians use for the city as the name Napoca, refers to a pre-Roman settlement on the site of the city. If you decide to visit Cluj, you can’t miss Saint Michael’s Church in Unirii Square, in which belongs the tallest church tower in Romania. Also, make sure to visit the Palace of Justice and the great botanical garden for your walks. Cluj also has a respected number of museums and we would suggest you to visit first The National Museum of Transylvanian history.

After Cluj-Napoca, the third largest city is Timisoara. It is located on the west, crossed by Bega River, Timisoara is the capital city of Timis county. A very notable thing about this city, is that from there started the Romanian Revolution on December 1989. After Bucharest and Brasov, Timisoara is the third most touristic city in the country. What can you visit there? The Unirii Square, the oldest square of the city, built in baroque style also called Dome square. There you can find also The St. George’s Cathedral. In Timisoara’s center, you will find the Victoriei Square in which you can find the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Palace of Culture. Regarding museums, The Art Museum and the National Museum of Banat should definitely be in your list. As the previous cities we mentioned, the same goes for Timisoara and we are referring to parks. This city is called ‘’the city of parks’’. Of course, restaurants, cafes and bars are everywhere. We would recommend the ones by the river.

So, this was one first taste of what waits for you in whichever of the above cities you are planning to visit. Of course, we will come back in another article for the rest. And believe us, there are plenty! Until then, make sure you are starting your Romanian classes!