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Bucharest eSIM

Bucharest: the little Paris of the Balkans

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The guide

Bucharest blends Belle Époque elegance and communist brutalism with a disorienting charm. The tourist heart beats in Lipscani, the pedestrian old centre where medieval merchants and packed terraces coexist; here you'll find the Macca-Vilacrosse passage under its yellow glass roof and the old princely court. Then stroll up Calea Victoriei, a chic avenue lined with palaces, museums and the Romanian Athenaeum, a domed concert hall. The leafy areas around Cișmigiu Park and Herăstrău Park provide welcome breathing space. Don't miss the open-air Village Museum, which gathers peasant houses from across Romania. The mood is lively and affordable, and Lipscani's nightlife ranks among the most vibrant in Eastern Europe.

The colossal Palace of the Parliament, the world's second-largest administrative building, doubled as the Vatican in the horror film The Nun (Warner Bros, 2018). Several scenes were shot in its endless corridors, monumental staircases and one of its salons. The building has also hosted shoots such as War Dogs and Dying of the Light.

The Palace of the Parliament, ordered by dictator Ceaușescu, is so vast that it holds more than 1,100 rooms and remains largely under-occupied today. Its construction in the 1980s required demolishing an entire historic district and displacing tens of thousands of residents.

For a photogenic break, step into the Cărturești Carusel bookstore at 55 Lipscani Street, a restored old building of six light-filled floors. Keep a data eSIM active: the historic centre invites aimless wandering, and a reliable connection saves you from going in circles through the many Lipscani lanes.

Must-see

Palace of the Parliament

A titanic building ordered by Ceaușescu, the world's second-largest administrative structure with over 1,100 rooms. Guided tours reveal marble halls, giant chandeliers and a panoramic balcony over the boulevard laid out to its scale.

Lipscani Old Town

A pedestrian maze of medieval lanes that has become the city's nightlife epicentre. You'll pass the old princely court, Orthodox churches tucked between bars, and the Macca-Vilacrosse passage crowned with a yellow glass roof.

Cărturești Carusel

A spectacular bookstore opened in 2015 inside a restored 19th-century building on Lipscani Street. Six bright white floors hold thousands of titles, an upstairs bistro and an art gallery, in one of the world's most beautiful bookshops.

Romanian Athenaeum

A neoclassical concert hall from 1888, topped by a dome and home to the George Enescu Philharmonic. Its rotunda, decorated with a vast fresco tracing Romanian history, makes it a gem of Calea Victoriei.

Good to know

Spring (April to June) and early autumn offer the most pleasant temperatures; summer can be stifling and winter biting. The centre is walkable, but the metro is fast and cheap and links neighbourhoods efficiently, backed by a dense network of trams and buses. Tip: avoid unofficial taxis and favour ride-hailing apps. The capital has strong 4G/5G coverage and ranks among Europe's cities with the fastest public wifi and mobile internet, which makes a data eSIM especially convenient for getting around and booking on the fly.

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