(P) What can you see during your longer visit to Bucharest?
Spending an extended period in one city means more time to explore its culture and history, engage in themed tours, or even check out its surroundings. Those who plan to spend more than one month in Bucharest can scratch the layer of the…
Spending an extended period in one city means more time to explore its culture and history, engage in themed tours, or even check out its surroundings. Those who plan to spend more than one month in Bucharest can scratch the layer of the first impressions and delve deeper into the city's contrasts and surprises.
Hotel Cișmigiu, in the city's downtown area, can make for a good base to start exploring. Besides the hotel's special offer for those who plan a lengthier stay, the venue is ideally located for walks to many of the city's landmark sites.
Take the Cișmigiu Gardens, located close to the hotel, which can be the first in a tour of Bucharest's many parks. It is one of the city's oldest and most elegant and can be the setting of a delightful walk to admire the sunset or the first snow blanketing the city. A little further up, walking towards Mihail Kogălniceanu Square, you can find Izvor Park, a favorite summer destination of parents and children alike and a usual site for concerts and events, or the Opera Park, surrounding the Bucharest Opera House, recognizable by the statue of George Enescu, Romania's celebrated musician, who also lends his name to a renowned classical music festival that takes place in the city every two years. To top the tour of some of the city's parks, a visit to the Botanical Garden is a must. It is a wonderfully quiet spot, great for exploring a varied fauna and flora, and can be the equivalent of a day out of the city, in the middle of nature.
The more active types can try the option of a tour of the city on bike, weather permitting. There are several bike rental stations in the city, among them one across the street from the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR). It is a good starting point to explore Calea Victoriei. At the Victoriei Square end of the artery, the Antipa Museum of Nature Sciences is always a hit with children and adults alike. Herăstrău Park, in the northern part of the city, is also a good cycling destination, with its wide, long alleys. To accommodate the various preferences of a family, there is also the option to rent a scooter (or more), and there is also a skate park in Herăstrău, an excellent spot to try a flip or more.
To get to know more about the city's history, a walk on Calea Victoriei can reveal layers of history and landmarks that tell stories of love, ambition, and the strive for modernization. It is one of the city's oldest arteries, and it used to be called Podul Mogoșoaiei because it was paved with wooden boards, as was the method until the beginning of the 19th century. With its palaces, modernist edifices, and Art Nouveau villas, it is the equivalent of an open-air museum, telling the story of the city's transformation from the Belle Époque all the way to the present day. If not opting for a guided tour, a good place to learn more about Calea Victoriei and the history of the city is the Museum of the City of Bucharest, housed in the Suțu Palace in University Square, quite close to Hotel Cișmigiu.
