ROMANIA

Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings

When crossing the border at Opradea from Hungary, we were unable to buy a ticket on the train until the border where we ended up having to bribe the train conductors on both sides of the border to avoid being thrown off the train (or so they said). We ended up paying all we had in Florints and US dollars, which I personally think just testifies to how skilled these guys are at getting money from tourists. Particularly as I heard stories from other travellers along the lines of "I was so lucky to get across the border - I had to give the conductor all the money I had, even though it was only US$1/$5/$50". This situation seemed to be true for people travelling without a ticket or without a visa. I personally ended up paying less than the cost of a ticket.
Jodie Goulden, Australia(Aug 98)

There is a Romanian embassy in Turkey at Siralselviler Cad. 55, Taksim, Istanbul (tel 244 3555 or 2444 284. Visa ready the next day, costs US$32, valid one month.

There is also a tourist office of Romania which offers a lot of information and even has a handy free map of Romania. The address is : Tourist Office Romania, Agentia de Turizm Romania, Mr. Ggman Dan, Lamartaine Cad no 17, Taksim, Istanbul, Turkey (tel 256 8417.
Berry Boverman (Sept 98)

Travellers who plan to enter Romania from Ukraine should be warned about how professionally corrupt the police there are : they make Romanian cops seem like Dixon of Dock Green. Don't ever confide in, or even if possible, reveal your presence to Ukrainian police - that's the message we would send after being locked in a room and virtually forced to hand over cigarettes.
Neil Hughes, UK (Aug 98)

It was very difficult getting a visa from the Romanian Embassy in Budapest (Hungary).
Penelope Shortland (Apr 98)

With regard to Romanian visas, the official at the embassy in Budapest told me it would not be possible to get a visa at the border if travelling by train. On speaking to tourists leaving the embassy and learning that they had waited up to four to six hours to get their visas processed in the embassy, I decided to take the risk and get one at the border - it was nerve racking but ultimately very simple and only $33.
Mark Sidley - England (Nov 97)

I'm sure you know that Romania does not require a visa of Americans, but they, like the Bulgarians, charge an 'entry tax'. In Bulgaria, April 1997 that was 22USD per entry. There's no charge to leave. I heard from one woman that if we had gone to Macedonia to get the visa at the border it would have been no charge, but at the embassy its 25USD.
Buffy Redsecker - USA (Oct 97)

It is a region of woodwork and farming in a rugged mountain setting. Especially noteworthy is the merry cemetery (a cemetery with a thousand or so carved wooden tombstones with cartoons of the deceased's life and death), the wooden churches throughout the area, the hand-carved wooden gates and the Sighetu open air museum (with a completely recreated medieval village; much better than the so-called museum at Bran). To stay in a village, you can either book through a Agro-tourism agency, or ask around.

If you are looking for more rural experience, definitely visit southern Bucovina. The painted churches are marvellous. Hiring a car is quite affordable; expect to pay about the same per kilometre as for a bus ride of equal length.
Joel Wilson, USA (Mar 99)

Romania was wonderful, especially the slow trains that wander from village to village in the northwest. I've never shared more food with strangers. Even the bottles of soda pop get passed around. We only spent a week there and I will always regret not being able to stay longer.
Sara & Dave Downie, USA (Feb 99)

In August 1998, the Arad railway bridge south of Arad was closed due to reparation. South bound travellers were transported between the main railway station and a station on the southern outskirts by a shuttle bus. There's no information about when the bridge will be re-opened.

The transport to and from the Hungarian border is very confusing if you haven't bought an international ticket and want to buy tickets at the border station.

My alternative top three for things not to miss in Romania are : 1) Ice cream - train up your senses to find the best ice cream stalls. Prices are less than 0.35 US$. 2) Watch out for open air concerts during the summer. If IRIS is playing don't miss it. Forget all about the lame pop music and let the 20 year old Romanian rock-dinosaur rock and roll you. Listen to their music on cassette (cheap). 3) Cinema - I didn't find any cinemas with anything else than Hollywood movies. Tickets are cheap, just as the popcorn, soft drink and other must-haves for the cinema.

In Cluj, the Museum of Zoology is interesting. The signs are in Romanian and Latin, and not much is done to inform the visitors. The collection of animals (stuffed) is overwhelming, as it is cramped into cupboards, hanging down from the roof and hidden in small rooms. Beware of some scary things as the collection of two headed calves, mutant goats and human fosters.
Gregers Jorgensen, Denmark (Oct 98)

Crisana and Banat - although Radna and the neighbouring Lipova as towns are not very interesting to tourists, the famous Maria Radna Roman Catholic Church is definitely worth a visit. Its twin towers are visible from far away. The church is famous for pilgrimages, the most important of them happening annually on August 15 and gathering thousands of Romanians, Hungarians and Germans. Next to the Church, in the corridor on the left hand side, there is a very interesting collection of approximately 2,000 votive pictures brought by Catholics from the whole of Banat area and further away. The same building also houses a Francescan monastery and an old people's home (for those interested in trivia, the 115-year-old Anicuta Butariu (p. 32), lives in the latter). Radna has no accommodation but in Lipova, on the other side of the Mures river, there is one hotel. The Radna train station has regular services to Timisoara and Arad and even some direct trains to Lasi, Bucharest etc. Lipova has no trains, only a useless coach station.

Also worth visiting (best accessible by private car, or by local train) are the old Swabian villages between Lipova and Timisoara, namely Neudorf, Zabrani, Masloc, Fibis, Pischia and others. Although very few Germans remain there, most of them have preserved old beautiful Swabian houses. This region was colonised by Swabians in the 18th century and most villages, houses etc were planned according to a scheme drawn in Austria. There is a hotel in Pischia.

Targu Secuiesc/Kezdivasarhely - this town approximately 30 km NE of Sfantu Gheorghe is definitely worth a visit, prettier than the other big Szekely towns mentioned in the LP guide. There are three trains per day from Sfantu Gheorghe and some buses - private and public - from Covasna/Kovaszna. This town has a very pretty main square named after Gabor Aron and a museum (Gabor Aron Museum) on the aforementioned square. The museum has an interesting local history collection and a special exhibition dedicated to dolls dressed in local traditional dresses. The staff are very helpful and nice and English language tours are usually available as well. A special feature of Targu Secuiesc is an extensive curtea/udvarter network. A curtea/udvarer is a small alley-like walkway hardly wide enough for a car. The town centre has over 70 of them. In addition to them, the centre has an amount of beautiful administrative schools and buildings. There are two hotels in town.

Cernat/Csernaton is approximately 10 km S of Targu Secuiesc on the highway to Brasov, and has an outstanding local history outdoor museum (Bod Peter Museum) located at the end of the village within a walking distance from the bus stop. It has a huge collection of local and regional material from machines through Szekely gates to a historical exhibition. The opening hours are irregular - the director lives on the premises and they also organise camps for artisans. When touring the area the museum should not be missed. There are buses there from Targu Secuiesc - the bus stop is on Gyar utca/Strada Fabricilor. The last bus back leaves before 2 pm.
Pasi Hannonen, Finland (Sept 98)

I spent about a day in Arad, near the Hungarian border; on the surface the city is a disaster, but I felt a lower Manhattan-type vibe in certain corners and you can almost feel renewal and creativity going on (if on a very modest level)

Art lovers and souvenir hunters in Arad should check out the Delta Art Gallery, Str. Eminescu 2 at Blvd. Revolutiei (across the street from the Hotel Ardealul). Colourful, quality handcrafted glassware and objects d'art on offer, and even some decent pieces of regular art, for agreeable prices. From Arad, take the train to Oradea and look at the Art Nouveau/Secession architecture (especially the Vultural Negru complex) in this border city. Knowing how it would be renovated if it were in western Europe only adds to the romantic allure and fascinating atmosphere; the beauty shines through the decay.
Wes Eichenwald (Sept 98)

There are now 50,000 lei notes also out and a new kind of 5000 notes are in use also. Visa and MasterCard cash advance now not only by BANCOREX and Banca Comerciala Romana, but also by Banca Agricola.

There are ATM's in the larger cities by Banca Comerciala Romana and Banc Post branches. (four ATMS' in the city of Cluj-Napoca. Even Sinaia has an ATM (Banc Post). There is also an ATM in the hall of Gara de Nord Bucuresti (Banc Post).

Credit card payment takes a lot of time at most shops and restaurants because all purchases need a telephone call to Bucharest for authorisation where no POS terminal on use is, even by the smallest amount. Anyway, the number of accepting establishments (mostly visa and MasterCard) in large cities is increasing rapidly, but the situation is still far behind Hungary or Slovakia.
Dr. Nagy Attila Gyorgy, Hungary (Aug 98)

One of the best train connections to Romania is the Dacia express. It leaves Vienna daily at 20.07 hrs (train number D 347) and arrives in Bucarest (via Budapest, Arad, Sighisoara, Brasov and other stops) at 13.36 hrs. On the way back it leaves Bucarest at 16.10 hrs (train number D 346) and arrives in Vienna at 9 am the following morning. It is no problem at all to get a visa on the train for US$33.
Werner Koch (Aug 98)

Top 10 to see in Romania :

BRASOV: Located in the very centre of Romania, it is a cultural attraction for its medieval appearance (Gothic Black Church- organ concerts), as well as a sport resort (go skiing: it's nice and cheap), an excellent base for hiking and climbing the mountains around (Piatra Craiului, Fagaras, Bucegi, Piatra Mare ), and also a good base for trips to the spots that come next:

SINAIA- PELES CASTLE (45 km from Brasov). Romantic castle built by the first king of Romania. Placed in the middle of woods, decorated with refinement (EX:Gustav Klimt frescoes). Do not miss the Pelisor (Little Peles) Castle (100 m from the big castle) in Art Nouveau style.

BRAN Area (30 km from Brasov). Not only the Bran Castle (alias DRACULA'S !), which is worth visiting, but the villages around. For a bit of real sheep cheese and Romanian "mamaliga" go to SIRNEA. It's a village in the mountains (30 min by bus from Bran).

SIGHISOARA(100 km from Brasov). The best preserved and most beautiful little medieval citadel in Romania. If you manage to be there in August during the Medieval Art Festival, you will have a good surprise.

For the MOLDOVA MONASTERIES you will have to leave Brasov. Look especially for Voronet to see "Voronet blue". MARAMURES' wooden churches (Desesti, Budesti, Ieud, Rozavlea). Here, as well as in Moldova, you have to stay in the villages at peasant's homes. Sometimes you won't even have to pay. Easter is the best time.

DANUBE DELTA. Unique, absolutely savage- but you must be prepared for total wildness.

DACIAN Ruins of Apuseni mountains: for backpackers only. A Stonehenge-like civilisation- but completely out of tourist's knowledge.

RETEZAT reservation. Mountains ,woods , lakes ,bears , stags , untouched.

BUCURESTI - I know many say "no" : I'd say "YES" .You have to see Ceausescu's palace, which is the biggest one-piece building in Europe (second only to Pentagon and Keops Pyramid in the world!).But to get a good feeling of what Romania really is you have to see the Village Museum and the Romanian peasant's Museum. For art lovers, you can get good theater, opera and classical music, for almost nothing. The order might be subjective but this is certainly a good selection! The best way to travel is by own car (or rent one from Bucharest). The train is cheap (US$20) to cross Romania), usually on time, but slow (use only Intercity, Rapid or Accelerat- never Personal unless absolutely necessary) and uncomfortable (always buy 1st class tickets-they're only a little more expensive). Generally speaking, the north is more developed (Transylvania especially), the people are very , very hospitable (unbelievably warm in the villages). The spirit is Latin- so chaotic but imaginative. This does not apply to Bucharest- much like any overcrowded city.
Ileana & Rares (from the Thorn Tree - July 98)

Gas was plentiful and new foreign gas stations are in the process of being built everywhere. Water was still a problem in hotels. Hot was very rare and cold was even sometimes rare.
Anthony Elgort - Europe (Nov 97)

You write that there is a ferry operating between Constanta and Istanbul. That is correct, but the times of departure have changed. The ship leaves on Monday and Friday from Constanta and takes about 22 hours to go to Istanbul. The catamaran formerly used by the company no longer operates. Contact Danubius for the latest information.
Oliver Wagner-Seele - Germany (Nov 97)

I was in Romania for about a year, teaching English. My post was in Lasi, in the northeast of the country, near Moldova. I needed to travel to Bucharest about 400 km to the south and decided to take TAROM, the national airline. I made this decision based upon all the horror stories I had heard about TAROM and wanted to see for myself if it was as wacky as people had said.

I got on board and sat next to an elderly gentlemen carrying the driver's side door of a Dacia (the national automobile) with the window rolled down. Just in front of me was a little old lady carrying a pig with certain modifications made to it in order that it wouldn't make a little piggy mess. After sitting onbaord for about 45 minutes, one engine began to crank, and soon the propeller was humming along nicely. A couple minutes later, the second engine sputtered and belched out a thick black cloud of smoke. It cranked one more time, then again, and then a column of fire shot out of it, followed by more smoke. After that it made an odd clicking noise and then an ominous silence.

Moments later a giant ladder on wheels mounted to some sort of contraption rolled out from a hangar and toward the plane. Mechanics pulled it alongside the dead engine, hooked up what looked to be a set of gargantuan jumper cables, fed some juice to the engine and it fired right up. The rest of the trip was smooth, and we landed in Bucharest only about an hour later than scheduled.
Scott Catey (Nov 98)

I awoke to the Transylvanian landscape. One of the most enchanting and beautiful I had seen. I saw farmers working in the fields with hand tools, covered wagons and horses, and villages which seem not to have changed in hundreds of years. It was like seeing Germany from the 18th century. Romania is a remarkably beautiful and enchanting country .

We got off in Sighisora expecting to at any time get jumped by a group of bandits, to get robbed right in the train station, or to be mobbed by gypsies. None of this happened. We found a clean hotel, changed money at an honest rate and began to explore the town. Everyone was helpful and people were most curious of us.

We also got a taste of the Saxon influence in Transylvania, as we found quite a few German speaking Saxon people, especially in the old part of Sighisoara.

We spent a week in Romania and the whole time I did not once feel threatened. There were no problems and the people we met seemed like good, honest people. Much of it is unspoiled by American culture, but may, unfortunately, change.
Andrew Jay Harris (June 98)

I read the piece on Dracula in last months Planet Talk and it reminded me of an amusing incident which took place when we visited Bran Castle around 18 months ago.

On a terribly miserable Sunday morning in September, we tested the local bus service and made the pilgrimage out to Bran Castle from Brasov. The bus trip was actually quite ok, but a persistent drizzle and low cloud had been following us for days. So, it was no surprise that on this day the outlook was gloomy. We arrived at the Castle, paid our entry fee and wandered our way through the rooms. After about half an hour of random wandering, an elderly woman appeared form nowhere and began a dialog detailing the history of the castle She accompanied us form room to room, detailing stories of the Castle's former occupants. We listened intently, because what she was describing sounded altogether plausible. We concluded she was a tour guide for a particular area of the Castle. However, in a room almost at the top of the Castle and in mid-sentence, she closed the door and, unbeknown to us at the time, locked it. With the door locked, she proceeded to open a number of cupboards behind her, which contained an assortment of knitted jumpers.

Then the hard sell started. She told us that, as we had appointed her tour guide, we were obliged to make a purchase and that her prices were far lower than those form the village at the base of the Castle. It was at this point we realised the door was locked. With our easy escape thwarted, we chose the only means of defence we had left to us...attack. Using a raised voice and a degree of persistence I usually reserve for charlatan taxi drivers, I ended up having to shout NO at her several times before she reluctantly hoisted the message aboard. After what seemed like a good five minutes she reluctantly unlocked the door. As we disappeared down a spiral staircase, we could still hear her ranting and raving about her prices compared with those in the village.
Alan Clark (May 98)

I have read a lot of fairly negative comments about travel in Romania on Postcards. Please let me give the other side of the story. After three years travelling for my company all over Romania (mostly by train) I urge you all to go there and see it for yourself. In all the travelling I have had far fewer hassles than I would expect in my own country and have experienced a marvellous country.

Surely the gem of Eastern Europe, you will see fabulous scenery and meet lively Latin people. Some of the last truly wild places in Europe are in Romania, and the chocolate cakes are pretty good too (try the Scala Patisserie in Bucharest, Boulevard Magheru).
Richard Noakes - UK (Mar 98)

The Romanians treat stray dogs so well. I saw one come into a store I was waiting in and expected him to get his ass kicked, but instead the butcher handed him some bologna. Evidently, in Bucharest especially, everyone knows the neighbourhood strays and while they look a bit rough, they are quite friendly. I gave one half a stick of salami and he looked like he was still dreaming from the sleep I had just woken him out of....a happy dog.
Anthony Elgort - Europe (Nov 97)

The "free minibus ride" of course turns out to be as much as US$80. They'll also try and convince you to get money out of an ATM and, banking on the fact that you don't know the exchange rate, tell you one million lei is US$10. An American guy I met only twigged when the hostel charged what he thought was US$1.20. Villa Helga say they have never offered a free pick-up service. Other scams range from the counterfeit money one to "wallet inspector".
Matthew Price (Dec 98)