Experience in Bucharest, Romania by Corina

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What is it like to live in Bucharest? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

Bucharest is quite a challenging city. I believe one has to be open minded in order to see the beauty of it among the bad aspects. Bucharest is a city of contrasts: impressive buildings vs kitsch, fancy neighbourhoods or boulevards vs dirty streets, awesome friendly people vs... not so nice people. It is a city full of life, be it day or night.

What is the student lifestyle like in Bucharest?

It depends on your university, for example, engineering, medical and architecture faculties are known to be quite rough. Anyway, there are parties, student clubs, price reductions, workshops, etc.

Dealing with bureaucracy is a nightmare.

How much does it cost to live in Bucharest?

It is cheaper than in western European capitals, and it all depends on your lifestyle. You can live on a budget and have fun too. As a student you have price reductions almost everywhere: cinemas, theatres, museums, transportation, food, events, etc.

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Bucharest? Is there any advice you can give?

I never had to find some, to be honest.

I recommend to pick a location near a metro station or as close as possible to your targets (university, city centre, etc), as the ground transportation is quite a mess.

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What is the food like? What are your favourite dishes?

You can find any type of food, as for Romanian cuisine, I would recommend sarmale with mămăligă (vine leaves filled with meat and rices, with corn bread), papanași (fried cake), ciorbă în pâine (soup served in a bowl made of bread), mititei (minced grilled meat, also called mici).

What places would you recommend visiting in Bucharest?

Calea Victoriei Avenue (many important landmarks of Bucharest are here), the Parliament, the Romanian Athenaeum, Herăstrău park, lake Cișmigiu and Tineretului park, the Old Town (Lipscani str, the most popular from there)

Is it good to eat out in Bucharest? Can you tell us your favourite spots?

Nice restaurants and pubs are spread almost everywhere. Keep in mind that if one is in the centre and eventually looks good, it doesn't necessarily mean that the food or drinks are also good. It might be just expensive. Some of the restaurants close to universities have price reductions for students, mostly on weekdays.

Is the nightlife good in Bucharest? Where is good to go?

Most of the clubs are in the Old Town or nearby. You can go and have fun any night, but organised parties are mostly on weekends.

If you need a taxi it's better to contact directly the company (search on the Internet before you go out and save some numbers from more companies as one may not have available drivers near you when you'll call for a ride).

What advice would you give future students heading to Bucharest?

Try to experience everything Bucharest has to offer. Also, I strongly recommend to choose the spring semester for coming here (if you don't come for the whole year anyway) because the weather is obviously friendlier and there are way more street, music, and art festivals than in autumn or winter.

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