Bucharest, the capital of Romania had been on my travel bucket list for a long time. I was drawn there thanks to the amazing architecture of the Palace of Parliament and the churches. However, I didn’t really know of many other things to do in Bucharest.
Finding things to do in Bucharest
I booked flights to Bucharest as it was the cheapest European city on my list during the weekend we were looking at. Our flights cost £119 from London Stansted to Bucharest OTP and then flying back in to Heathrow. Unfortunately, during this period, there were issues with BlueAir, the airline we’d booked our return flight with.
All of their flights had been suspended by the Romanian government. We were aware of suspensions earlier on in the week, but had been told our flight home would be fine. As we landed, we recieved an email to say that things had changed and there were no BlueAir flights for at least a month.
Due to my cancelled flight, I ended up with an extra half day on my own and I needed to find more things to do in Bucharest. A few weeks before we went, I spent some time searching for blog posts on Bucharest. I found Pinterest really helpful as there are a lot of guides linked on there. We also found a couple of things to do on TikTok. I’m enjoying using TikTok to both post and consume travel content at the moment.
See the Romanian Palace of Parliament
The image that always comes up when you Google Bucharest is the Palace of Parliament. This impressive building is the home of the Romanian government. Completed in 1947, Palace of Parliament is the world’s heaviest building, weighing in at around 4 billion kg. It has a total surface area of 340,000m2, making it the second largest building in the world after the American Pentagon.
One of the most recommended things to do in Bucharest is to see this magnificent building. It’s really easy to get to by foot from the city centre. You can go inside the palace of the Parliament , for a cost of 60 lei per person. When we visited, there was a Red Bull race going on just outside of the building which made getting close to the building difficult. Once the race was over, there was still scaffolding up in front of the palace the next day, so we didn’t get to see it in its full glory.
If I go back to Bucharest I will definitely make sure I go inside the Palace as I’d love to learn more about both the Romanian government and the building.
Spend some time at the fountains
Just down the road from the Palace of Parliament, you’ll find the Bucharest fountains. This collection of 44 fountains were built in Unirii Square during the communist period. They are the
first fountains in trope that were designed 100% on a computer.
At night they offer a fantastic show of colour, music and 3D projections on the water. These shows take place every friday, Saturday and Sunday night. The time varies depending on the time of year. It’s free to attend and the show lasts around 45 minutes. I’d recommend getting there early if you want a good spot, it gets get busy.
We visited both during the day and at night. In the daytime, it’s a lovely place to just sit and relax, especially when it’s warm. You’re not allowed to go into the fountains and if you do, you’ll get chased by an angry man blowing a whistle. When we were there, there were quite a few people trying their luck and paddling in the fountains. Expect to hear relaxing water sounds and the constant blowing of a whistle!
Go on a free walking tour
As I do with every city, I arranged to go on a free walking tour in Bucharest. If you are visiting for the first time and want to know more about the history of the city, then a walking tour is one of the essential things to do in Bucharest.
I always find that free walking tours are always a lot more informative than the paid ones. This is because the guide is not being paid, they live off the donations for each tour, so they are always really enthusiastic and knowledgable. After some Googling, I booked ours through Free Walking Tour Bucharest. We went for the Old Town Legends and Stories tour.
This particular tour started and finished at Manuc’s Inn, which is a very central point in the city. It took us to many different points of interest across the city including:
- Dracula’s Old Court
- Stavropoleos Church
- Victoria Avenue
- Villacrosse Passage
- Lipscani Street
- Saint George Church
I really enjoyed the tour which lasted around two hours. We learned a lot about the history of the city and the religions. As it was a Sunday when we went on the tour, we got to see a few church services taking place which was really interesting. If you choose to do one of these tours, make sure you have some cash to tip the guide. We tipped the equivalent of around £10 each.
Visit the Grand Café Van Gogh
This is one of the places that we found on TikTok when we were getting ideas. Vincent Van Gogh actually had no connection to Bucharest or Romania, this is simply just a little cafe dedicated to him and his art work. Whether you’re looking for somewhere to have breakfast, lunch or dinner, it’s a great place to go.
Located in the heart of Bucharest’s Old Town, the Grand Café Van Gogh is the perfect place to stop for a drink or bite to eat when you’re exploring. The beautiful buildings along Strada Dr. Burghelea are occupied by many different cafes and eateries, but this one is something special.
Although small, the Grand Café Van Gogh is filled with replicas of the art work of Vincent Van Gogh. If you’re a fan, it’s somewhere you must visit. We visited first thing on a Saturday morning and there was plenty of space inside the small cafe. We didn’t have anything to eat but we did have two drinks each – an iced coffee and a lemonade. There seemed to be a lot of different homemade lemonades available in Bucharest and I really enjoyed the one I had here which contained honey and mint leaves. It was reasonably priced, costing RON94.80 (£17.14) for the four drinks. The food looked great, so I’d recommend checking the cafe out if you’re looking for somewhere quirky to eat. They. Also serve alcohol and are open until late each night.
Relax at Therme Spa
Another one that we found on TikTok! Honestly, if you’re looking for things to do in Bucharest or any other city, then social media can give you plenty of suggestions. Therme Spa is somewhere we never would have thought to visit if we hadn’t seen it on TikTok.
Just half an hour out of the city centre, this is a must visit if you need a few hours to relax and unwind. It is accessible via public transport which runs quite regularly. However, we decided to take an Uber as it was a Sunday evening and it was going to be much quicker. From our hotel, it cost us RON72.34 (£12.48) each way.
Therme Spa has three different sections:
- Galaxy – A waterpark featuring 16 different water slides, including Europe’s longest longest indoor water slide system.
- The Palm – A botanical garden with dozens of exotic plants. You can relax in a number of different jacuzzis, swim in the thermal pool, order a drink at the swim up bar or try out one of the saunas.
- Elysium – This is what they call the “wellness area”. Here you’ll find a number of saunas, a large terrace and outdoor spaces, an a la carte restaurant and a mineral pool.
How Therme spa, Bucharest works
Prices vary depending on when you go and what you do. We went on a Sunday evening and we paid for access to The Palm and Galaxy for 3 hours. This costs RON89 each and gives you access to the spa and the waterpark. When you arrive
On arrival, visitors are assigned wristbands that are fitted with an RFID chip. These allow you to use the lockers and purchase any extras. We ended up staying over the 3 hours and paid to rent a towel, robe and flip flops. We also used a water massage bed and ate in one of the restaurants. In total, I spent RON158 (£28.57) at the spa which is definitely a bargain compared to spas in the UK.
Shop at Cărturești Carusel
Are you a book lover? If the answer is yes, then this has to be on your to do list. If you’re a book lover then one of the things you must do in Bucharest is visit Cărturești Carusel. This must-see bookshop is housed in the most beautiful building located in the Old Town. The building was originally built in 1903 and was home to a bank. The bookshop is set over several floors and has beautiful spiral staircases and white columns on the inside.
As well as having books in Romanian, there is an extensive English language section. There’s also plenty of gifts available, including Jellycat toys. You could definitely spend hours here, looking at everything on offer. Even if you’re not a bookworm, it’s worth a visit just for the architecture. It’s easy to see why this bookshop has gone viral on TikTok.
It can get quite busy, so it’s recommended that you visit early in the morning to avoid the crowds. We went on a Saturday afternoon and it wasn’t too crowded, but there were a lot of people. Cărturești Carusel understandably, attracts a lot of tourists.
As we only travelled with hand luggage, I didn’t have enough space to buy any books. I could have easily spent a small fortune there. Everything was very reasonably priced. With the conversion rate, it works out cheaper to buy books there than at home in England. As usual, I got myself a patch and a pin as souvenirs. I’ve a big fan of custom enamel pins – they’re a great way to remember your trip.
