Best Places to Eat

¨ Central Park (p924)

¨ Casa Bunicii (p931)

¨ Caru’ cu Bere (p918)

¨ Crama Sibiul Vechi (p925)

¨ Bistro de l’Arte (p922)

Best Places to Stay

¨ Casa Georgius Krauss (p924)

¨ Casa Reims (p921)

¨ The Guest House (p922)

¨ Hotel Central (p927)

¨ Hostel Costel (p930)

When to Go

May Good for festivals, including the ever-popular Sibiu Jazz Fes-tival.

Jun Mountain hiking starts in mid-June, while birding season gets rolling in the Danube Delta.

Sep The summer heat is gone, but sunny days are perfect for explor-ing big cities.

F DNOSAJJMAMJ

Bucharest°C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm

0

5/125

2/50

3/75

4/100

1/25

10/50

0/32

-10/14

30/86

40/104

20/68

RomaniaWhy Go?Beautiful and beguiling, Romania’s rural landscape remains relatively untouched by the country’s urban evolution. It’s a land of aesthetically stirring hand-ploughed fields, sheep- instigated traffic jams, and lots of homemade plum brandy.

Most visitors focus their attention on Transylvania, with its legacy of fortified Saxon towns like Braşov and Sighişoara, plus tons of stirring natural beauty. Similar in character but even more remote, the region of Maramureş offers authen-tic folkways and villages marked by memorable wooden churches. Across the Carpathians, the Unesco-listed painted monasteries dot southern Bucovina. The Danube Delta has more than 300 species of birds, including many rare varie-ties, and is an ideal spot for birdwatching.

Energetic cities such as Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca and, especially, Bucharest offer culture – both high- and low-brow – and showcase Romania as a rapidly evolving modern European country.

Includes ¨Bucharest ...................914Transylvania ...............920Braşov ........................920Sighişoara .................. 923Sibiu ........................... 925Cluj-Napoca ............... 927Banat ..........................929Timişoara ...................929

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Rom

ania B

uC

ha

re

ST

Rom

ania S

iGh

TS

Rom

ania B

uC

ha

re

ST

BUCHAREST%021 / POP 1.9 MILLION

Romania’s capital gets a bad rap, but in fact it’s dynamic, energetic and more than a little bit funky. It’s where unreconstructed communism meets unbridled capitalism; where the soporific forces of the EU meet the passions of the Balkans and Middle East. Many travellers give the city just a night or two before heading off to Transylvania but, frankly, that’s not enough. Budget at least a

few days to take in the museums, stroll the parks and hang out at trendy cafes.

1 Sights

1 South of the Centre Palace of Parliament hiSTOriC BuiLDiNG

(Palatul Parlamentului/Casa Poporului; %tour bookings 021-311 3611; www.cdep.ro; B-dul Naţiu-nile unite; complete tour adults/students 45/23 lei,

914

6

666#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

# ##

#

#

#

#

##

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

\

\

]

^

^

\

]

\

\

\

_

\

^

\

\

]

] _\

_

]

]

]

\\

\

\

]

\

\

\

\

]

]

\

\

^

\

\

\

]

]

\

\

\

]

]

^

^c

R

#÷#å

KOSOVO

SLOVAKIA UKRAINE

HUNGARY

SERBIA

MOLDOVA

BULGARIA

CeahlăuMassifCRIŞANA

BANAT

WALLACHIA

MOLDAVIATRANSLYVANIA

BLACK SEA

DunavO

ltMureş

Ialomita

DanubePr

ut

Mt Moldoveanu(2544m)

Prislop PassC a r p a t h i a n M

o u n t a i n s

Carpathian MountainsBucegi

Mountains

Histria

SulinaMoraviţa

Gura Humorului

Tulcea

NegruVodă

Buzău

Siret

BăileFelix

Băile HerculaneOrşova

Satu Mare

Piatra-Neamţ

Caransebeş

Sebeş

TărguJiu

Bistriţa

Borşa

Vaslui

Hărşova

Mangalia

Călăraşi

Giurgiu

Deva

Sinaia

Baia Mare

Constanţa

Piteşti

Oradea

Cluj-Napoca

Craiova

Brăila

Suceava

Iaşi

Galaţi

Ploieşti

BacăuSzeged

Uzhhorod

Debrecen

Chernivtsi

Arad

Belgrade

Chişinău

Sofia

Timişoara

TărguMureş

RetezatNational Park

Poiana Braşov

#_

#\

#1 Braşov

#2 SouthernBucovina

#3 Sibiu

#4Sighişoara

MARAMUREŞ

#5Danube Delta

0 200 km0 100 miles#e

#6Bucharest

1 ascend castles and mountains (and castles on top of mountains), using Braşov (p920) as a base.

2 Follow the unesco World heritage line of painted monasteries in southern Bucovina (p929).

3 Soak in Sibiu (p925), a beautifully restored Saxon town.

4 explore the medieval citadel of Sighişoara (p923), Dracula’s birthplace.

5 row through the tributaries and the riot of nature in the Danube Delta (p930).

6 enjoy the museums and cacophonous nightlife of the capital Bucharest.

Romania Highlights