Romania Travel Guide

Getting to Romania is easy from nearly all parts of the world: it is served by an array of transport types and companies. Romania has borders with the following countries: Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova, and Hungary.

The national currency of Romania is the leu (plural lei), which means lion in Romanian. The leu is divided into 100 bani (singular ban). On 1 July 2005, the new leu (code RON) replaced the old leu (code ROL) at a rate of 10,000 old lei for one new leu. Old ROL banknotes and coins are no longer legal tender but can still be exchanged at the National Bank and their affiliated offices.

, with Pătru's peak in the background.]] .]] Getting around Romania is relatively inefficient for the great distances that have to be covered in this country (this is after all, the second-largest country in Central Europe, after Poland). The transport infrastructure has been improving quite significantly, even though roads remain a weak point. There are three operational highways, that connect Bucharest to the seaside and to the cities of Pitești and Ploiești, respectively, and several others under construction. Train travel, however, has improved dramatically. Several upgrade projects are un…

The official language of Romania is Romanian. Romanian is not a Slavic language but a member of the Romance language family; thus, it is closely related to Spanish, Italian, French, Catalan, and Portuguese. It shouldn't be hard for speakers of these languages to pick up Romanian; however, it is a cakewalk for Italian speakers, as Romanian is most closely related to Italian.

Romania is a very safe country, where random attacks are almost non-existent. While violence against foreign tourists is rare, this does not mean you should leave your common sense at home, if you decide to vacation in Romania. Generally crime is limited to petty thefts and common scams, and not much else that would concern the tourist. Wherever you may be in the country, ask trusted locals about the surroundings, they will gladly give you a few pointers.

Tap water is generally potable, but most people choose to drink bottled water instead.

Health care

Conditions in Romanian hospitals may vary from the very clean and sparkling, with all the latest technological utilities, to the downright drab, dark and cold. Some hospitals, however, may be, as aforementioned, uncomfortable, with dimness, temperature problems (hot in summer, cold in winter) and outdated equipment, although medical staff are usually experienced. You won't usually face problems such as significant lack of cleanliness.

Mobile phones

Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Romania. There are five networks - four GSM/3G (Orange Romania, Vodafone, Telekom and DigiMobil). Orange and Vodafone have almost full national coverage (98-99% of the surface of the country), while the German Telekom is expanding quickly.

Romanians are quite hospitable. In the countryside and small towns, they welcome foreign tourists and, occasionally, they might even invite you for a lunch. As is common with Romania's Balkan neighbours, Romanians will insist when offering something, as "no" sometimes does not mean "no", and they just consider it polite for you to refuse and polite for them to insist.