Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cultural Tourism Institute
(RoCultours; Str. Grigore Alexandrescu 108;
&
021/
223-2619;
www.rotravel.com/cti), worth contacting in advance of your arrival. Oper-
ating out of the Athénée Palace Hotel,
Jolly Tours
(
&
021/303-3796;
www.jolly
tours.ro) organizes sightseeing highlight tours around Bucharest (25
€
/$31 per per-
son) and trips to see the castles of Sinaia on their Carpathian Castle tour (69
€
/$86
per person).
TOP ATTRACTIONS
The majority of top attractions are located in the center of Bucharest, most of which
can be covered on foot, but Bucharest's gems are not contained by its downtown heart.
Marking the northern border of our sightseeing recommendations is Bucharest's very
own
Arcul de Triumf (Arch of Triumph)
—catch a cab to look at the 23m (75-
ft.) archway (originally erected in 1922 to celebrate the outcome of World War I, and
rebuilt in 1935), then head back into the city along leafy
!
oseaua Kiseleff—parading
through a mansion-filled upmarket residential neighborhood, lined with embassies,
alighting in
Pia
$â
Victoriei,
more or less in the center of the city, where
!
oseaua Kise-
leff becomes
Calea Victoriei,
a lengthy concourse that continues south toward the
Centru Civic
, which marks the southern boundary of our sightseeing radius. This is
where Ceau
@
escu's mad folly sought to reshape Bucharest entirely in drab concrete; the
infamous Casa Populurui (Parliamentary Palace) dominates the skyline, while its main
balcony looks east, toward
Pia
$
a Unirii,
the city's very own characterless version of
Times Square, with the huge
Unirea Department Store.
CENTRAL & “DOWNTOWN” BUCHAREST
Kick of your tour (or end) in the
Lipscani district,
the historic heart of Bucharest—
thankfully ignored by Ceau
@
escu, the area is has experienced a steady revival with
trendy cafes, smart restaurants, and mammoth projects set to restore some of the city's
most appealing architecture. Pedestrianized
Lipscani Street
and nearby
Covaci Street
are the main arteries of this district, but explore the side streets and you'll come across
hidden treasures; antiques stores, fashionable boutiques, and hidden courtyards, not
to mention a burgeoning party atmosphere and the lovely Stavropoleos church (see
below).
From Lipscani you should turn north into
Calea Victoriei,
the long concourse that
cuts through the center, along which most of this area's top attractions are ranged;
unless of course you're a history buff, in which case you might want to turn south to
visit the
National History Museum
at Calea Victoriei 12, though the grand facade
of the former post office headquarters—a grand neoclassical monument built from
1894 to 1900—conceals a rather stultifying collection of historical artifacts that is
only engaging in parts (Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; admission L3.05/$1.10/55p; www.
mnir.ro). A far better bet is to head north, to the little-visited
Muzeul Na
$
ional
George Enescu
(Calea Victoriei 141;
&
021/659-6365;
Tues-Sun 10am-5pm;
admission L1.50/55¢/30p). This lovely Secessionist mansion, its entrance flanked by
sculpted lions, and the interior all stucco, polished wood, cherubs, and trumpeters, is
filled with personal artifacts of the country's greatest composer, as well as some of
Enescu's valuable scores. From here you continue north along Calea Victoriei to get to
Bucharest's real heart, the place where—for millions of Romanians—reality and his-
tory changed forever at
Revolution Square.
While it's always busy in some way or another, the space (which runs into George
Enuscu Sq.) somehow retains a somber, reluctant mood, as if the memory of what
