So, I made a Google search using the key words “bucharest city tour”. Scrolling down the page after 5 or six links  i noticed a website about “breathtaking Eastern Europe” called Argophilia that was giving some  information, useful but not extensive. I tried the previous links too and on  the web page of Romania’s tourism organization I found more about the route,cost, frequency and the bus stops.

There is a departure every 15 minutes approximately and the tour lasts 40 minutes if there is no traffic jam of course. The tickets can be bought inside the bus, they cost 25 lei (almost 6 euros) and they are valid for 24 hours so you can hop on and off as much as you like at any stop of the route and see the sights you are interested in.

Having already visited most of the museums and having walked around a lot I focused on the ride.

I decided to take the route from the begining of the line so I headed for the  House of Free Press Square (Piața Casa Presei Libere) where the trip starts. Heading down Șoseaua Kiselleff (Kiselleff Avenue), a tree lined avenue with the Herastrau park on the left, the first stops are the Peasants Museum and the Arch of Triumpf Square (yes, Paris has one too!).

Then there is Victory Square with the Romanian Goverment buildings and after that  Victory Street (Calea Victoriei) full of interesting old buildings that would have looked very beautiful  if it had not been for all those cables  hanging over my head. One of them, the impressive Cantacuzino palace, today the Enescu Museum.

We were entering downtown now and i noticed that people passing by, were looking strangely, almost laughing at the bus and the passengers. Anyway, I had decided to act like a real tourist so I went on.

Next stop is Revolution Square (Piața Revoluției) where is the National Arts Museum and the Romanian Athenaeum. Shortly after the bus stops outside the CEC (the old state savings bank), one of the first buildings in Bucharest  that caught my eye.Standing in front of it, The History Museum.

Behind  the museum lies the Lipscani area, the old city centre that has been under intensive renovation for years and has been transformed into a large pedestrian area very lively at night,sometimes overcrowded, full of cafes and restaurants.

The second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon, formerly known as the People’s Palace (Casa Poporului) comes on the next stop. It was intended to be the headquarters of the comunist government, today it houses Romania’s Parliament and serves as an international conference centre.

After the Parliament Palace the bus enters Bulevardul Unirii (Union Avenue), another large tree lined boulevard that leads to Piața Unirii (Union Square), a commercial area with the big Unirea Shopping Center on one side and with the Romanian Patriarchy on the other side.

Heading north again, just before you arrive at Universitate (University Square) and The National Theatre you see the Colțea Hospital (the original building  dates back to 1704, was destroyed at the beginning of the XIX century by a powerful earthquake and rebuilt in 1888).

While the hospital has just finished  being  renovated, there are still works on the theater  that will transform it in a big cultural center. On the left side you  see a site where the city administration is building an underground parking.

After  University Square comes a long busy city avenue, you arrive at Piața Romană (Romană Square) and then at Bulevardul Lascăr Catargiu (Lascăr Catargiu Avenue) where the large buildings give way to villas, some of them nicely renovated. At the end of this avenue you  find yourself passing again through Victoriei Square and heading back to Herastrau park and Casa Presei Libere. At this point I decided to hop off.

The trip was not really expensive and it was quite  interesting though an audio guide would have been useful, especially for somebody that is getting a first look of Bucharest, giving some basic information on the main sights.

On the leaflet I got when I bought the ticket it was stating that “recorded commentaries are available in English and Romanian” but there was no trace of them.

It is a little awkward to be observed  like a fish in the bowl by the pedestrians but I guess there is nothing to do about it.

Certainly there are other places of interest in the city but you have to buy a city guide, walk around and look for them. Maybe a good idea would be to walk on the same rute if you are not getting easily tired of course, have a closer look and make more photos.

Do not forget, urban legend or not, to mind the dogs. But this is one of my next stories on Bucharest. Keep reading airclicks.net till then as more info in English and Romanian are next to be publish!

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Zacharias is a new member of airclicks.net team. He will cover European aviation market, will give travel advice and will share with you some of his travel experiences.

Aici și aici (dar și pe alte bloguri) s-a scris că România a plagiat sloganul folosit de croați. Zoso s-a întrebat dacă sloganul este furat. Stefan Stroe nu face nici o acuză, dar trage o concluzie simplă: avem în față un slogan amatoresc.

Cei care s-au grăbit să tragă concluzia cu plagiatul ajunseseră de fapt la un articol al cărui titlu este „Croatia, the land of choice”, titlu atribuit de jurnalistul ce l-a redactat.

Ca să clarific misterul am vrut să aflu direct de la sursa croată dacă România a plagiat sau nu.

Sloganul nostru oficial este: Croatia – Mediterranean As It Once Was. Nu am folosit niciodată sloganul „The Land of Choice”. Am folosit în trecut slogane precum „Heaven on Earth” sau „Small Country for a Great Holiday”, a declarat pentru Airclicks.net Viviana Vukelić, directorul de comunicare al Croatian National Tourist Board.

Deci, pe scurt: România nu a plagiat nici un slogan al Croației.

Bonus: un articol foarte mișto scris de Mage, la Alex Brie pe blog.

Extrabonus: Romanian Tourist Office se pare că are începând din 20 aprilie cont pe Twitter. Și pe Facebook. Sunt oficiale, însă bate vântul pe acolo…

Sursa foto