What to see on a virtual tour of Bucharest

Virtual tours of various sites replaced the actual experience of discovering the sites of a city during the social distancing measures in the spring of 2020, during the Coronavirus pandemic. Luckily, Romania’s capital offers plenty of options for a virtual visit, from museums and concerts to a walk in the park or sites of its major squares. We outline an online tour below.

Visit the city’s museums

Almost all of Bucharest’s large museums offer a virtual tour option or display items in their collections online. The Palace of the Parliament, the project of the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu is one of the top tourist attractions of the capital. The gigantic building, which holds several records on account of its dimensions, can be visited in a virtual tour available onGoogle Arts & Culture, letting visitors in on its impressive interiors. Meanwhile, Romanian and European art can be seen in the online journey made available hereby the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR).

History buffs can take their pick between the National History Museum of Romania (MNIR), where they can see items such as Getian princely treasures or items that belonged to the Romanian royal family, or a tour of the Cotroceni Museum, hosted inside the Cotroceni Palace, where King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania resided for a while. Visitors can take a peek into King Ferdinand’s library, Queen Marie’s bedroom, or the Cerchez Room, where Romania’s entry into World War One was signed. For those who want to discover more of the local traditions and vernacular architecture, the open-air Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum offers a virtual tour here.

A list of museums that can be visited online is available here.

Catch a concert or a theater performance

Concert and theater halls might be among the last ones to open when the lockdown restrictions start to be lifted, but a virtual concert-going experience is available in the meantime. The George Enescu Philharmonic and the Bucharest Opera House are both streaming concerts from their archives on their websites and YouTube channels. The public can also enjoy the largest local event dedicated to classical music. George Enescu International Festival, held once every two years in Bucharest, offers free access to concerts from past editions, according to a program available