City break in Bucharest

Did you ever put yourself in the shoes of a tourist in your city? We were tourists in our city! And we discovered beautiful places.

Lately, Bucharest is more and more attractive for tourists outside of the country. During the weekend or weekdays, the Old Town and not only is busy with couples or groups taking pictures, walking around. Victoriei Street, The Palace of the Parliament and Cismigiu Park are also among the visited places.

You think you know your city but having your eyes stuck to your phone or paying attention to the road, it is possible to not recognize some areas that are constantly changing and to actually discover that areas once empty, are now populated by cafes, people and new things.

What can you do in Bucharest for one day? A project planned during winter in the city we live in.

We imagined we are tourists in Bucharest and we only have one day and one night to visit it. What do we usually do in the cities we visit that we could do at home? Where would we start, what would be on our list, what would we do? The main attraction of the city, a fun area, a museum, a traditional restaurant, a hotel to stay at. Exactly like a city break from outside the country.

City break in Bucharest

And we started walking. With our camera, a backpack and comfortable shoes.

Whether we like it or not, the Palace of the Parliament is the most famous building in Bucharest. And next to it (again whether we like it or not), we will soon have the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral. This will become famous for sure. So the starting point was set to be the area in front of the Palace of the Parliament. This is the place where we met with a lady coming from China for the second time to visit Romania. You will always find small or bigger groups taking pictures there. The area is big enough for everyone.

*To know

The Palace of the Parliament is considered to be the second largest governmental building in the world following the Pentagon. It was started during Communism in Romania, in the place of the neighborhood Uranus on what was called the Arsenal Hill. It has 84 meters height, 9 floors up and 9 floors underground (only the ones we know). It is unfinished but it can be visited.

On the way, you cross Dambovita river and the Izvor bridge. Bucharest is somewhat disadvantaged because it does not have a large body of water crossing it. Dambovita is small and it is rarely full. But it has its charm and there is a new trend of placing restaurants with terraces by it. The idea is new and it is yet to see if it will catch on this summer.

Cismigiu Park

The oldest park of the town. We entered through the Elisabeta Boulevard and here you can find great architecture. The Gheorghe Lazar high school, the National Archives of Romania, Bucharest’s Townhall. There are buildings from other centuries, renovated that look amazing. It is one of the well-kept areas of the town.

Cismigiu Park looks fabulous during summer or during the holidays in winter. In winter, the lake is emptied by water and it becomes an ice-skating ring but during summer it is this park’s glory moment. A green patch of 15-16 hectares, full of old and majestic trees, a summer garden, playgrounds, the round of the writers, concerts of military’s marching band on Sundays, swans and other birds in the small lake from the back, plus the boats going around the slightly deep waters. The quietness, the greenery, the birds. The benches, specific to the park, are filled by young and old people resting or relaxing. Cismigu Park is the place where you can recharge your batteries.

Exiting through the back, the road on the right leads you to the heart of Bucharest

You get to the Romanian Atheneum, the old Regal Palace which is now the Museum of Art of Romania.

We had a mandatory museum on the list so the next destination was the Museum of Art. Divided into two principal galleries – the National Gallery and the European Art Gallery, it has over 70 thousand pieces. It is the most important museum of Romania and it does not only attract through the pieces but also through the building’s outside appearance. The old palace is fabulous on the inside and it completes the expositions perfectly.

The Art Museum is the place where the noise of the city is shut. Although you are in the heart of Bucharest, the quiet rooms the atmosphere is intimate with a scent of beauty. Underrated, it is worth a visit. I enjoyed my visit here and if you also want to check it out, you can find out details about the schedule, the tickets and the expositions on the official website of the museum.

Technically, now we are in the most beautiful area of the city. The area with the Atheneum, the amazing statue of Carol the 1st , with old buildings. Passing by Victoriei Street, you can visit the Rebirth Memorial and the Atheneum. We took a nice walk, taking advantage of the warm February day.

Going through little streets that remind us of “Little Paris”, we reached our overnight host.

Magheru Boulevard, parallel with Victoriei Street, has lost its shine in the past years. Slowly, though, through different fundings and renovations of buildings, the boulevard is regaining its importance. Not only as an important artery for vehicles but also for people in Bucharest and tourists. Because we were “tourists”, we had to look for accommodation. We chose the newest place in Bucharest. It just reopened but it actually has a history of 90 years.

Lido Hotel by Phoenicia

We were hosted by Lido Hotel and the fact that we probably passed by it thousands of times without every entering it, it brought the element of “being in a new city”. Reopened in February 2019, Lido by Phoenicia, now part of the Phoenicia group, also in the name, it put Magheru Boulevard back on the map of top locations in Bucharest. Renovated both on the interior and the exterior with a great attention to detail, in the same style with the one of the inauguration became an important point again. The sad atmosphere from the closed entrance and dusted by the passing years was replaced with the elegant topper of the man welcoming you at the reception. We chose to stay in a room with a view to the boulevard. We wanted to feel the pulse of the city. To hear its noise.

Lido by Phoenicia was renovated in a way that most of the elements and structure from the old times were kept. The 90-year old lift was brought to the technical level of today but the aspect remained the same. Some door hangers were kept and only reconditioned, the ceiling with stucco was kept as much as possible, every floor’s hallway has 16 paintings by Romanian artists, showing Bucharest during the Interwar period. These paintings can also be bought. Every room has old pieces of furniture and in general, there was an attempt to go back to the aristocratic aspect of the past in Romania.

It was the perfect accommodation choice to feel the beautiful Bucharest

One day in a new city cannot be complete without trying traditional food. We passed by the Old Town area, cheating, as we know the food there is “traditional” only for real tourists. We chose to try not only real traditional food but also the specific atmosphere.

Delea Noua Restaurant not far from the city center with “good food and good vibes” was our choice for the end of the day.

So you can understand our choice, I would like to name some of the dishes you can order here. “Bucuria lui Ghita” – platter with meat, “Boabe uscate infipte in pita” – bean soup served in bread, “Acordeonul lui Ghita” – grilled meat, “Placerea marinarului” – marinated meatballs, “Puicuta iute” – spicy chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes, “Printesa valaha” – tripe soup.

It is the type of the restaurant where portions are 125% larger than they should be. You have to carefully think about your order because the chance that a lot of food will be left in the plate are big and not because they are not delicious but because you simply cannot finish it,

Delea Noua also had what we were looking for, apart from food. Music. Party Romanian music and the atmosphere because live music with no dancing is meaningless. Romanians are good with food, drinking and dancing. It is simply our way. Delea Restaurant combines these elements and offers them to you. We were happy with out decision and we left with our bellies and hearts full.

We went back to the hotel and our tourist day in our city had ended. It ended with sleep after a long day.

Bucharest has many things to offer for visitors. We enjoyed the places we visited and we saw it from a different perspective. We moved past the busyness and other things we do not like as locals and we chose to see the beautiful part of the city. It is up to you to discover the charm!