Bucharest - Useful Info

Hello there :) Are you ready to continue our east european adventure? I am bringing just another report from the Romanian metropolis. If you found the previous article interesting and decided that Bucharest is worth your visit, here I am with some more useful info...

Getting there
It kinda depends on where you are traveling from, but there are basically four ways how to reach Bucharest. Let's all have a few points anyone should know when visiting.
If you want to travel by plane, you will most likely end up at the Henri Coanda International Airport in Otopeni, roughly 18 km from the city center. There are regular buses running from and to the airport. You can buy your tickets at the booth just outside the terminal. Just don't expect much english there :) Anyway, do not forget to mark the ticket once you enter the bus. The passenger controls are very often.
Try to avoid taxis for taxi scams are probably the most common scams in the city.
There is another airport in the city, Aurel Vlaicu, but it is used mostly only for business flights.

Almost all of the international and long-distance train routes terminate at the city's main railway station Gara de Nord.There are regular connections to most of the major cities in the neighborhood as well as in the whole eastern Europe (Cluj, Sophia, Istanbul, etc.)

There are also multiple bus routes to all neighbouring countries operated by Eurolines and Atlassib.

If you choose to arrive by car, be careful for the traffic situation in the city is really craaaazy. There really doesn't seem to be any real rules for traffic in the whole city. Seriously, be prepared for 5 cars next to each other in the three lane road. And don't forget to be honking all the time. That gives you real power on Romanian roads. :)

Getting around
There are two companies operating the services of city's public transportation. Metro run by Metrorex and surface transport system operated by RATB. Be aware that these two systems are not exchangeable so you need separate tickets.

There are 4 lines of the metro system - M1 - ,M4 and it can get you pretty much anywhere. It covers most of the city and is quite cheap (5 RON for 2 trips). It is however not possible to buy the ticket at every station, so it can be quite an adventure sometimes. :)

Bucharest has a very extensive network of trams, buses and trolleybuses that may seem confusing at the first glance. Also, considering the fact that it is not developed in cooperation with the metro, it doesn't really make sense sometimes for the tram lines are basically copying the lines of the metro. If you want to travel by the surface vehicles, you need to obtain a contact less Activ card. Once bought, you just upload some money that can be exchanged for tickets. When you enter the vehicle, hold the card near the validator and press 1 and repeat should you get an error message. For two passengers on one card, press 2.

Other stuff
Well, the generally spoken language is Romanian, which is a romance language a little similar to Italian (although they are not mutually intelligible). Some younger people speak English, do not count on this however, for the general knowledge is not very broad.
The currency is Lei (RON) that is exchange in a rate roughly 4 Lei for 1 Euro. Romanians use the standard european plug, drive on the right side of the road (mostly) and do no splash the toilet paper.

See you next time :)

Lex