One day in Bucharest

Day by day

1. Day 1: Palace of the Parliament and Romanian Athenaeum

   Palace of the Parliament, Romanian Athenaeum, Old Town and Lipscani and Stavropoleos Monastery, then Old Town in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Palace of the Parliament

      Bring the passport or ID card you used for booking; it is checked at the security entrance. Allow 1.5–2 hours.

   2. Late morning

      Romanian Athenaeum

      The best way inside is to attend a concert; tickets are often inexpensive compared with Western Europe. Allow 1 hour, or an evening concert.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Sarmale

      Traditional Romanian restaurants across the city, including beer halls in the Old Town.

   4. Afternoon

      Old Town and Lipscani

      Explore in the morning when the lanes are quiet, then return at night for the very different atmosphere. Allow 2 hours.

   5. Late afternoon

      Stavropoleos Monastery

      Step into the courtyard behind the church to see the collection of carved stone crosses. Allow 30 minutes.

   6. Evening

      Old Town

      Dozens of bars, pubs and clubs in a few lanes around Lipscani and Strada Smârdan, busiest from Thursday to Saturday.

Before you go

• Palace of the Parliament: Visits are by guided tour only; reserve a time slot in advance, especially in summer and for English-language tours.
• Romanian Athenaeum: Popular concerts and the biennial George Enescu Festival sell out; book on the Philharmonic's site.

If it rains

• Swap in Cărturești Carusel (Old Town): Go early on a weekday for photos without crowds, and look down from the top floor.
• Swap in National Museum of Art of Romania (Calea Victoriei and Revolution Square): Start with the medieval art galleries, which are the collection's strongest and least known.
• Swap in National Museum of the Romanian Peasant (Piața Romană and Amzei): Look out for craft fairs in the courtyard on some weekends, where village artisans sell directly.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 5–6 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 8.9 hours in December to 15.5 hours in June, so in winter start early and keep museums for the afternoon.

Getting between stops: Metro. Metro lines link Piața Unirii, Universitate, Piața Romană, Piața Victoriei and Gara de Nord, and run to the outer districts.

More or fewer days

• 2 days in Bucharest
• 3 days in Bucharest

Questions travellers ask