1. Sadly, we have a huge issue with stray dogs . They can get quite dangerous, especially in the nights or when there’s too much heat outside, even in large cities. Best is to avoid side streets or neighbourhoods at the outskirts during night. If you plan a bike trip in villages close to a large city, try not to get back too late in the evening.
2. You can use your card pretty much anywhere in large cities or even some small towns, but you’ll probably need some cash when entering small shops, artisan shops, some bus tickets (only for some routes), etc.
3. Getting around public transport can be easy with mobile phone apps. This will depend on the city, but for most large ones, you can use the 24pay app, works with international banks and mobile phone numbers as well. 24pay
   1. for travelling by bus, you can get your ticket online at: Autogari.RO mind that you’ll most likely need to still print your ticket (we’re not yet at the qr-scan stage, even if the tickets have a qr code )
   2. for travelling by train, you can either get your tickets from vending machines in the train station (multiple languages available, otherwise, even in large cities, it’s hard to navigate without knowing Romanian…) or through this app: CFR Călători online tickets. No need to print tickets in this case, but you’ll need internet connection while using it.
4. Language side might be a bit difficult if you plan on being away from big cities, some translation app might come in handy . Young people in cities are likely to speak English and in some cities (Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Brașov) you can get by with German as well, probably, as there are some German communities around.
5. I leave in here general foodie stuff, as I don’t know the food preferences. It’s a bit hard to be vegetarian and even harder to be vegan in Romania In cities, you have these options, really recommend Timișoara and Cluj for that, or the versions for fasting, which are all vegan, but not very commonly found (“preparate de post”). Thingies to try out :
   1. “sarmale” (or “sarmale de post”),
   2. beans soup (with smoked pork) [“ciorbă de fasole (cu afumătură)”],
   3. stuffed paprika (“ardei umplut”),
   4. cabbage with minced pork (“varză a la Cluj”),
   5. chicken stew (“ostropel de pui”),
   6. polenta with cheese and sour cream (“mămăligă cu brânză și smântână”) (you can have it with smoked pork meat or sausage),
   7. cevapcici (“mici”, it’s very similar to cevapcici, but has different seasoning, it’s quite common street food),
   8. mac’n’cheese (it’s a dessert, but it’s like a mac’n’cheese pudding and has nothing taste wise in common with the American version ) (macaroane cu brânză),
   9. sweet cheese and raisins pie (you can get at any corner pastry shop) (“plăcintă poale-n brâu”),
   10. kind of donuts with sour cream and jam (“papanași”),
   11. langos (it’s mostly a dessert here, but the vanilla or chocolate filled ones are so good).

Sea-side Danube #

Danube Delta #

One day trips might be easier if you need to keep going. The link below works for single day trips. It is for groups of 12, but it will probably work by joining other people

Danube Delta trips - Exploreaza Delta Dunarii

Never been on such trips though, so can’t really say if they’re nice

Sea-side beaches #

1. Vama Veche used to be very affordable and the kind of place where you can also find chill, not very man-altered beaches; plenty of students and very easy-going people around and random rock/jazz concerts happening throughout the summer (you don’t always need a ticket for )
2. Mangalia also used to be affordable and easier to get there by train
3. Mamaia is one of the most expensive and sort of got to be pretentious beaches. There’s an amusement park close by and the beaches are somehow more well kept
4. Costinești used to also be student friendly, more expensive than Vama Veche and people definetly have opposing music taste there compared to Vama , but still a lot of things were going around at nights

Other sides of Romania #

Bucharest #

Capital city and reasonably large, you can find things to do around, it’s easier to navigate using English and you can also find random art performances or concerts. Food wise is more vegetarian/vegan friendly.

Plenty of stray dogs, rude people and pickpockets are quite common in crowded places like subways. Even though it’s easy to get around with public transport using the app, the subways are super busy at times and bus stops are not always marked. Also, best is to use Uber or Bolt, if you must, as taxi drivers are notorious for cheating especially tourists.

Brașov #

Food there is so great, especially the cheese variety. Would recommend trying it out You can probably use German in some places around and generally, people are more friendly and less stressed than in Bucharest. Close by, there are places usually for skiing or visiting castles, but during the summer can also be nice, as the temperatures are mostly lower than in the fields. Listing here the places:

1. Râșnov
2. Bușteni ( careful with bears that might roam around…)
3. Sinaia
4. Bran

Sighișoara #

Nice historic town, with usually good food and some old sites and citadel remainings open to tourists.

Cluj-Napoca #

Quite small big city that evolved a lot in the last years. Great food and great people and usually nice music/art festivals in the summer. If bored by the old city, you can go a bit outside to the large natural parks nearby for a walk or light hike.

Oradea #

Nice small city that has been renvated a few years ago and really looks cute. People are usually lovely and the food is great.

Timișoara #

Cute student city with plenty of art performances going around and theather in Romanian, German and Hungarian. Food is nice, vegetarian/vegan options and people are very kind. Worth visiting the small book shops in the old city center and the artisan shops around the area for getting products made by local artists. It’s well connected and not that big, so you probably won’t need to get any public transport.