Capital city of Romania has a lot to offer. My favourite way to discover a new city is just walking around and looking for something that might be interesting, fun or just beautiful to look at. Here I put together my Bucharest’s favourite.
Bookstores
Walking from my hostel to the city centre I found myself in the most amazing bookstore Carturesti Carusel, which means “Carousel of Light”. It is not only heaven for all book lovers but also for all who appreciate fine products, beautiful architecture or just need some time to rest in a nice bistro after a long day walk around Bucharest. With white pillars, stairs and fences it really is a carousel of light and although the books are more expensive than in some other book stores, this one is surely the one to visit.
Another bookstore that I found without looking for it is Humanitas Cismigiu which is situated on the ground floor of Hotel Cismigiu near Cismigiu Gardens. Trendy ambience, excellent café and numerous cultural events really makes this place a rival to Carturesti Carusel.
With a bit of luck you can find some other trendy bookstores in Bucharest. Carturesi and Humanitas bookstores are not only found in Bucharest but in some other cities and towns across Romania. I would recommend to see the ones in Brasov, where both bookstores are situated on the main square.
Food
Finding food in the old centre of Bucharest is not a problem. The bigger problem is to choose the restaurant because there are so many of them. You can choose by type of food, ambience, price, or some other criteria, but my favourite is always food market.
Food Hood is a food market in old centre of Bucharest, where you can eat everything from pancakes (which were delicious) to burgers, sandwiches, pizza, smoothies, salads, you name it. Beside the food you can also enjoy sandy beach, music or some other events that they are planning. Food Hood was opened just this year and if you find yourself in the neighbourhood you can visit it until October 25th.
Food Hood is a new thing in Bucharest, but you must also visit something dating back to 1879. Caru’cu Bere is popular local restaurant with amazing interior where you can taste traditional Romanian food for affordable prices. It is also one of the oldest breweries in Bucharest. It is located between National History Museum and Stavropoleos Church.
Parks and gardens
Parks in Bucharest are one of the top attractions in the city and with all that they can offer they sure deserve that. Most parks offer playground for children and recreational equipment, in some of them you can also relax by the lake.
One of the most magnificent in my opinion is Cismigiu, which is actually public garden, where you can enjoy rowing a boat, admiring trees and plants that were also brought from Vienna’s botanical gardens.
Herastrau Park is the largest park in Bucharest, where you can relax by the lake Herastrau, meditate in Japanese Garden or visit Village Museum. There are also some other facilities, such as cafes, restaurants, playground for children.
Village Museum
Village museum is an open-air ethnographic museum of traditional life of the Romanian peasant, founded in 1936. It now consists more than 200 houses, churches, windmills, watermills and barns from all regions of Romania. You can even enter some of the houses to see the interior, which is very well preserved. All over the village you can buy some souvenirs from the ladies by the houses, but there is also a great souvenir shop at the museum with traditional Romanian products for affordable prices.