Erasmus in Romania

Márcia Almeida Écrit il y a 12 ans

Hey, i'm going to do erasmus as well in bucarest and i'm going to a university capmus but most of you all are going to houses..

By the way, i'm from Portugal and i'm going to stay there till frebuary to study language and tourism ;) (that's my course here in PT)

Can anyone help me with information about money, and food and maybe travel?

Thank you!

I hope we can all meet there ;)

Ana - Écrit il y a 12 ans

Hi Marcia, I am from Bucharest, a future Erasmus in Spain but if you have any questions I will be happy to help you. Is better that you will stay in campus, renting an apartment can be difficult and more expensive. About money, we use Leu or Euro, but almost everywhere you will have to use our money so you have to change when you arrive here. Be careful at the airport because if you take the cab, the drivers tend to take more money than they should. My advice, take the bus. There is a special line which goes to the center of bucharest from the airport. You need a special card that can be bought from the ticket's sellers.... I'm not sure where is located exactly, but you can ask at the airport and they will tell you. About food, we have our traditional restaurants but almost everywhere you will find fast-foods and pizza. The prices differ from place to place, if you need I can recommand you some good restaurants. Also we have grocery shops from where you can buy and prepare yourself. And traveling, depend where you want to go and what you want to see. Romania is a beautiful country, but depends what you want to see. In Bucharesta you can go to theater, movie, parks, museum, clubs etc... Just depends what you like. And prices differ from place to place. Hope this will help a little, any question, just ask :)

Márcia Almeida Écrit il y a 12 ans

Hello Ana. First, i want to congratulate you for your 'trip' to Spain, it's a very good choice and maybe if you have the time, you could also visit Portugal ;)

Yes i will prefer staying in a campus because i know that renting a good house isn't very easy; i asked about the money because i don't know if things there are too expensive. I would like to try the food there because i heard from a friend that's really good; i tried and she tought me how to do 'Mamaliga' and 'Salata de boeuf'; the only two Romanian things that i know how to do :p but yes, i would like to find a good grocery for me to cook because that's what i prefer but i would like your opinion n restaurants and fast food cheaps... i think i'm not going to cook all the time :p and at last, i want to know the capital and other places so i'm kind of confuse if there is trains and also trains to go visit other country near Romania.

By the way, do you know if the erasmus student are gonig to go on a special date because i'm thinking of september 15; the classes are in english or romanian (i know only the basis); how much money i'm going to need montly; and if the erasmus student are going to have a 'get together' or something?

Thank you very much for your time ;)

Ana - Écrit il y a 12 ans

Hi Marcia, thank you, i am really happy for going to spain and yes, I intend to visit Portugal too, it's a very beautiful country.

Things here are not very expensive, but sure you can find really expensive things :D. The food, I don't find it expensive unless you go to 5* restaurants. there are two nice restaurants that have really cheap and good food, La Mama and City Grill, they have some menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner that are about 5 euros and you can eat soup/salad, second plate (which can be with mamaliga and sarmale, which are romanian and good) and dessert. Also I really recommend Caru' cu Bere, I like it very much and with your student ID you can eat, between 10 am- 6 pm, with about 4 euros but only the main plate and a drink, but i guess for a girl is more than enough :D and you can choose from about 5 different menus. this restaurants can be found in the historical center of Bucharest. In that area you can find lot of restaurants and pubs not too expensive. The grocery shops, again, are not expensive, you can buy, for example, 1 kg, potatoes with less than 1 euro, 1 litre of milk with 1 euro, 1 chicken about 5 euros, 1 bread about 0.25 cents... not that expensive. Fruits and other vegetables vary from 1 euro up to 10 euros depending what you choose. 

For traveling in Bucharest you can get a traveling card, which you can pay it monthly and have unlimited travels with bus, tram and metro. The price for one month, for bus and tram is 11,5 euros, and for metro, if you want unlimited is 11,5 euros or if you want with 62 monthly travels is about 8,5 euros.

If you want to visit museums in Bucharest, the entry tax differ from museum to museum, but the average is about 2-7 euros. Sure, if you want a guide that will speak english, you will have to pay a separate tax. As far as clubs/disco goes, I have no idea cause I don't go. But there is an entry tax that I think it can be from 2,5 euros to 10-20 euros depending on the club. for theater, opera etc... the tickets are from about 10 euros to 20,5 euros if you want to seat right in front :P I recommend you to see Rebecca, Romeo and Juliet and Paris mon amour at the Opereta Theater "Ion Dacian", this are really great spectacles.

For traveling outside Bucharest, to visit other cities in Romania, we have train and the prices differ accordingly with the distance. And it can be between 5 euros up to 20-30 euros. If you will have the time, it will be great to visit Sinaia, Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Bran. This are some great places and maybe you can take some friends with you and go there together, you will love it.

I don't know about other erasmus students in Romania, but I do know that in the past, they did gather together. But I think this is something that students decide. You have to get in touch with other erasmus students here in Romania, you can try some facebook pages. There is a page and a group on facebook for erasmus students in Bucharest. I can't post the link here, it won't let me.

In Romania, university begin from October 1. But I think you should come with at least 1 week before. At least this is how I think is good. And also, I don't know if for you, classes will be in English or Romanian. Normally, they should be in English, but this is something you must find out at your university. For me, they asked me for spanish in Spain, but if I was applying to Greece, I would only need English and classes would have been in English for me. 

For the money, I think you can live with an amount starting from 300 euros. I don't know how much will be your room in the campus, but starting with 300 euros you can live here. Sure, 400 or 500 euros will be better if you want to spend more :D

By the way, which university will you go and in which campus will you live? Take care and I hope I could answer some of your questions without confusing you.

Dragos Oprica Écrit il y a 12 ans

Regarding the acommodation, my advice would be to rent an apartment with ppl from your university or other ppl who want to share a flat. Prices start from 150€ per person, to which you add utilities, around 20-30€ per month. Unless you go to ASE, the students residences are not recently refurbished and u might not feel as comfortable as in an apartment. On the other hand, if you dont care about the comfort/intimacy that much, campus life is great, parties every day, cheap bars, restaurant and clubs inside the campus and lots, lots of young people.

Márcia Almeida Écrit il y a 12 ans

Wow, thank you so much Ana and Dragos.

I don't know yet wich campus i'm going to. 

My university is University of Bucharest in the Faculty of Letters. 

I can't wait to go =) Well, i don't know how to speak Romanian (i only know a few things) nut i heard that's very hard but it realyy doesn't matter because i'm going to experince new culture and things.

Ana - Écrit il y a 12 ans

No problem, If I can help you, it's my pleasure. Dragos has a point with the comfort in our campus. Most of them are in bad condition, but I always think that if so many persons can live there, why can't I?  :) so, it won't be that bad and it will save you some money. But yes, you must be careful in the campus. depends with whom you will share the room, if you will share it. And other negative thing is that most of them have shared bathrooms... which i don;t find it too good. But... you can stay there for some time and maybe change it afterwards.

I hope your experience here will be a positive one and you will enjoy your staying. Doesn't matter if you don't speak romanian, though here not everybody speaks english, but other students will help you for sure. And you can learn it easily, I am sure.

Márcia Almeida Écrit il y a 12 ans

Multumesc! 

You were a really good help; if i nedd other infos i definetly going to send you a message.

thanks again

Ana - Écrit il y a 12 ans

Cu placere (Welcome). Any time, will be my pleasure to help you.

Anna Lamaj Écrit il y a 12 ans

ana you've been very helpfull for me too :-)

as for the money, in case i stay in a campus ( of ASE) and i pay 150euros there you think i'll need 300euros exept the rent or 300 for everything?

Ana - Écrit il y a 12 ans

Hi Anna, I am glad I could help you. If you have only 300 euros and pay 150, those 150 euros remaining will be enough for you to eat if you cook your meal. It will be good if you can have 300 euros beside the campus. Sure, if you try it little bit, you can live with 150 euros here. but without going out, without visiting, etc. I do know foreign students living here with 300 euros/month. but they don't spend except food and transport. if you want to go out, to visit different places or even to go out of Bucharest, you will need more than 150 euros.

Hopefully I could help you again, take care of you and have a great day

Anna Lamaj Écrit il y a 12 ans

i will have about 400-450 euros...

i want to travel, go out, visit everything etc.

are those money ok for that life?

Ana - Écrit il y a 12 ans

yes, I think this will be ok. If you don't have it yet, try to get the ISIC card. it's a student card and you get different discounts based on that. and is available in most countries. You will get discount to enter museum, some shops and spectacles, and I think also restaurants. Find out in your country and it will be great to have it. If you want, I give you my fb page and we can chat more.

https://www.facebook.com/across.heaven

Anna Lamaj Écrit il y a 12 ans

i'd like that

tnx