CITY GUIDE
Bucharest 2008-2009
Photos: – – – –
The National Museum of Art Mådålin-Cristian Foc¿a Gabriel ªerban Romeo Huidu (front cover)
© 2008 House of Guides Tel.: (0040)21-317 91 31, Fax: (0040)21-224 31 86 E-mail: office@houseofguides.ro distributie@houseofguides.ro Web-site: www.houseofguides.ro
© All rights reserved. Copyright by House of Guides. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of House of Guides.
Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Na¡ionale României: Bucharest city guide: 2008-2009. – Ed. a 5-a, rev. Bucure¿ti: House of Guides, 2008 Index ISBN 978-606-513-026-5 913(498 Buc.)
Summary How to use the guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Romania – general information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Short History of Bucharest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best Sightseeing Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best Hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best Restaurants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 6 8 10 34 70 Romanian cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Serbian Cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 French cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Italian cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Mediterranean cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Lebanese cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Turkish cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Chinese cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Asian cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Japanese cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Arabian cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Exotic cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 International cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Best Beauty Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Best Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Women Fashion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Men and Women Fashion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Men Fashion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Footwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Cosmetics, Perfumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Luxury Jewellery & Watches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Best Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Casinos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 CafĂŠ-bars, Pubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Best Theaters & Cinemas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Bucharest Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Units index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
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HOW TO USE THE GUIDE The editor’s note This guide is published on annually basis and appears in full tourist season. The ratings that it contains are available for one year.
Classification Each section will present top locations as follows: – hotels – listed on categories (5*, 4*, and some 3* hotels), in alphabetical order by each category; – restaurants – listed by their cuisine profile, as seen on Summary; – entertainment – also listed by profile, as seen on Summary. Compulsory criteria for at least 3 stars accommodation units: – Disabled facilities; laundry; credit card; phone in the rooms; parking lot; fast mail services; room service; rent-a-car; minibar in the rooms; TV set in the rooms. Besides the above facilities, the 4 stars accommodation units must have: – Conference room; internet acces in the rooms; air conditioning. In addition, the 5 stars accommodation units must have: – Safe box in the rooms; secured parking lot.
Symbols Hotel facilities Credit card Breakfast included Hairdresser’s Wardrobe Internet Room with safe Secure parking lot Valet parking Conference room Gym room Sauna Massage Solarium
4
, ! " $ %
Beauty saloon Indoor pool
#
Outdoor pool Indoor sports-ground Outdoor sports-ground Gift shop Rent-a-car Baby sitting Pets allowed Green location Disabled facilities Quiet area Historical building
& ' ( 7 3
Hotels section – abbreviations R T Bar BZ NC Bs
– – – – – –
restaurant terrace bar day bar night club brasserie
B Cr Co Cs Cf
– – – – –
bistro wine cellar sweet-shop casino coffee bar
Distance to Henri Coandå International Airport
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Restaurant facilities Summer Restaurant Daily supply Live music Programme Special events The suit is obligatory Smoking room Belvedere Bar
) + * . / 0 1 2
Note: Because the guide’s map-drawing areas are exclusively extracted out of Bucharest’s administrative map, the high-standard unities that are situated outside Bucharest are not spotted on the maps.
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ROMANIA GENERAL INFORMATION GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION Romania is situated in the South-Eastern part of Central Europe. Neighbouring countries are: Hungary in the West, Ukraine in the North and East, the Republic of Moldavia in the East, Bulgaria in the South and Serbia in the South-West. AREA: 91,725 sq. miles (238,391 sq. km) CAPITAL: Bucharest LOCAL TIME: GMT + 2 hours (summer time: GMT + 3 hours – between the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October) POPULATION: 21,500,000 (2007) ETHNIC GROUPS: Romanian 89,5%, Hungarian 6,6%, Gipsy 2,5%, Other 1,5% RELIGIONS: Orthodox Christians 86,8%, Romano-Catholic 4,7%, Reformed 3,2%, Pentecostal 1,5% OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Romanian FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic with two legislative bodies: Senat and Chamber of Deputies ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS: 41 counties and the capital city of Romania – Bucharest NATIONAL CURRENCY 1 Leu (RON) = 100 bani; 1 EUR = 3,7 RON; 1 USD = 2,4 RON You can find exchange offices in airports, 4 and 5 star hotels, commercial banks and on the cities’ main streets. Avoid unofficial exchange transaction, in the street. CLIMATE: temperate continental The average temperature in the hottest summer month, July, varies between 22 and 230C in plain areas and 160C in the mountains. The average temperature in the coldest winter month, January, varies between 2 and -30C in plain areas and -10 and -110C in the mountains. NATIONAL HOLIDAYS New Year (1st, 2nd of January) Ortodox Easter (the first and the second day) The 1st of May – Labour Day The 1st of December – Romanian National Day Christmas (25th, 26th of December) TELECOMMUNICATIONS In Romania, two types of mobile telephone systems from the second generation are available: GSM Vodafone, Orange, Cosmote and CDMA Telemobil/Zapp. You can purchase cards and telephone sets from specialised shops or authorised dealers.
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BANKS In Romania, there are banks with state or private capital, but also international banks, with foreign capital. TRANSPORTS By air. TAROM, the Romanian Airlines has at its disposal 17 airports out of which 11 operate in international regime. Internal flights connect Bucharest to the main Romanian cities: Arad, Bacåu, Baia-Mare, Constan¡a, Cluj, Craiova, Ia¿i, Oradea, Sibiu, Suceava, Satu Mare, Timi¿oara, Târgu-Mure¿, Tulcea. Bucharest Otopeni is Romania’s main international airport, situated approximately 17 km from down town. Plane tickets can be booked at ticketing agencies. By rail. CFR, the Romanian Railways, has a national wide network of 22,637 km. CFR offers the following facilities: For exterior traffic: trains or direct wagons for the main European routes; sleeping cars from Bucharest (Northern Railway Station) to the main European cities; berth wagons. For the internal routes: intercity trains from Bucharest to the country’s main cities, with modern comfortable wagons; high speed trains between the main towns; popular trains for short distances (urban or rural); The Blue Arrow – a high Speed motorailer with a locomotive, and two wagons. The train offers 12 seats at the business class and 92 seats at the economic class. The two wagons offer air conditioned facilities and are not separated such as the other trains; berth wagons in six seats compartments. By ship. Transport is available mainly on the Danube and its tributaries – 1,599 km and on the two ship-going channels, Bega and Danube-Black Sea – 91 km. Danube Delta is only accessible by water, but ships do not operate in winter. Classic routes: Bråila – Gala¡i – Tulcea – Sulina; Tulcea – Sulina; Tulcea – Chilia Veche – Periprava; Tulcea – Sf. Gheorghe; Cri¿an – Mila 23. Special routes (fast transportation services): Bråila – Gala¡i – Tulcea – Sulina; Tulcea – Sulina; Tulcea – Sf. Gheorghe. By road. The Romanian Roads Network has: 73,160 km public roads ; 14,686 km national roads (DN), 265 km highways (Bucharest – Pite¿ti and Bucharest – Cernavodå). Legal speeds limits: within localities 50 km/h, 100 km/h outside – on european routes, 90 km/h outside – on other routes and 130 km/h on highways.
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History City Guide Bucharest 2008-2009
City of Bucharest, engraving since 1817
Vlad ºepe¿ document since september 20th, 1459 in ”Bucharest Citadel“
The Vidra Goddess (c. 2000–1800 BC)
Short History of Bucharest
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Bucharest keeps in its soil traces of human presence even since the age of carved stone, that is 150,000 years ago. Proofs of material culture of civilizations named Vinca, Boian and Gumelni¡a were discovered at Glina, Pantelimon, Giule¿ti and Jilava. The Bronze Age has more proofs, located especially around the rivers Dâmbovi¡a, Colentina, Sabar or Ciorogârla. In the 6th-7th century, there were not less than 17 villages on the territory of the today city. The first documentary testimony of the city is dated September 20th, 1459 in an official document issued by the prince Vlad ºepe¿ “from Bucharest”. Starting from 1659 the town remains the capital of Wallachia. The revolutions in 1821 and 1848, as well as the Principality Union in 1859 conduct their most important moments in Bucharest, too, just like the proclamation of the state independence of Romania, on May 10th, 1877. Bucharest becomes the capital of the Romanian State. Today Bucharest lays on an area of over 228 square km, has a population of