Alternative Bucharest

The First Time I Planned To Go To Romania, It Failed

The first time I decided to go to Romania, it didn’t work out. During my first big trip by bus from London, I travelled to Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. Originally, I had planned to go much further. I was supposed to go to Romania (Cluj-Napoca and Brașov) and cross the country by bus to visit Bucharest, before heading to Bulgaria. Unfortunately, it took too long, and I needed to work, so I stopped in Budapest. I think it was a good idea, because this trip was exhausting enough. But I still regret not having seen Cluj-Napoca. Another day, maybe.

Anyway, later, in 2015, I spent a couple of days in Bucharest. When she learnt that I was going to Bucharest, one of my Romanian friends asked me why, because she really doesn’t like the city. She said that there are many beautiful places in Romania other than Bucharest. So when I arrived in the capital, I was happy to discover a new culture, but I had no expectations.

A City Full Of Life

While I was visiting Bucharest, I had the same sensation as in Bulgaria, this impression of a city bursting with new ideas, creativity and life. I sometimes feel like France, Italy and Spain got stuck in habits and just want to protect their art, their city as it is. But Romania and Bulgaria, they want to reinvent their city. Not to say that they don’t protect it, they do, or at least they try, numerous classified old buildings in Bucharest were abandoned and in bad shape, because of a lack of money… But they also have brand new ideas to add colours, art and modernity to their streets.

An Alternative Tour To See The City Differently

I took an alternative tour to see the city from another angle, and it was wonderful. It was nearly a private tour, because we were only four: a couple in their fifties, the guide and me.

There is a lot of really good street art in Bucharest, and it was great fun to spot artists I had seen in other countries, such as Bulgaria. We saw a church turned into an antique market, and it was quite strange to wander in this huge palace, among all of these old shiny (and also not so shiny) objects and paintings. It felt sacred and, at the same time, very normal.

In the middle of the city, there were these massive artworks, like this sculpture of the Delete and Control keys. The art was beautiful, but mostly, it was the kind of work that makes your reflect on things, on life, and try to understand what the artist meant.

Bucharest: A Good Place To Eat And Have Fun

The guide also showed us good restaurants, and took us to an extraordinary place called Acuarela Bistro. I had never been in a place like that, it felt full of History, of creativity, colours, freedom… The café has the cutest garden, a room recreating an office from the communist era, and an attic furnished with benches and tables, where you could do colouring.

Add to that, that on the evening I arrived in Bucharest, I attended some free concerts of professional singers singing Disney songs in the parks. You can imagine that, after the warnings about danger and corruption, I wasn’t expecting such wonders!

Bucharest has a lot to offer. In this article, I only spoke of its alternative side, but the city also has massive historical buildings, from different time periods, delicious and sometimes weird cuisine… I think it’s definitely worth a visit.

Two restaurant suggestions (where I went):

Gradina Verona: great food, many people, it sometimes takes a while to get the check and pay, but really good and beautiful place
Caru’ cu bere: typical tourist place, but for good reasons. The food is really good, the building is ancient and the inside is just gorgeous. I ate outside, because there was no space, but went to the toilets just to see the decorations and take pictures.