Temperatures have fallen below zero for several days in a row and winter has settled in fully in Bucharest. Whether you have decided to brave the cold or would prefer to cozy up inside, here is a selection of activities you can try.

Go ice-skating

Take advantage of the recently opened 5,000-sqm ice skating rink in Otopeni or get your skates on at some of the rinks inside Bucharest’s malls or in the parks, if you prefer to feel the cold. Check a list of options here.

Pamper yourself at the spa

If the cold weather left you in need of some extra TLC, head for one of Bucharest’s spas or the biggest wellness and spa complex in the capital, Therme. Opened last year, it inaugurated this past December a new area dedicated to families, regardless of their children’s age.

… or take a yoga class

Most fitness clubs in Bucharest have yoga classes in their schedules. You can also try hot yoga, a version of yoga vinyasa performed in a heated inflatable studio. The schedule for a hot yoga class can be checked here. A combination of yoga and pilates, with classes delivered in English, can be tried here.

Go for a walk in one of Bucharest’s parks

Cișmigiu, Herăstrau, Titan, Tineretului, or Carol park - take your pick. Enjoy the scenic winter landscapes and snap that Instagram worthy pic.

Catch up on your reading list and discover the capital’s bookstores

Is “more time for reading” on your New Year’s resolutions list? Bucharest has several foreign-language bookstores that include translations of Romanian authors in their selection. The capital’s largest bookstores also have dedicated foreign-language sections. A list of Bucharest bookstores here.

Visit an exhibition

The National Theater in Bucharest hosts until February 23rd an exhibition with works by Andy Warhol, while the National Art Museum of Romania opened an exhibition dedicated to the official, social-realist art developed in Romania between 1948 and 1965.

Go to the pool, the ball pool

Piscina Urbană, a ballpit for grownups, opened in Bucharest last year. The pool is a 40 sqm room filled with 100,000 white plastic balls, where grownups, (and children), can jump, run and dive to their own pleasure. Bookings can be made here.

Try your hand at some Romanian recipes

Hot chocolate and soup are at the top of the list of cold-weather foods but why not try some local recipes? Widely-prepared in winter is the tripe sour soup (the Romanian ciorba de burtă), and you can find a recipe here. Alternatively, Romania’s most famous dessert, papanași, awaits those with a sweet tooth. How to prepare it here.

Watch a Romanian film without leaving home

There is an option of seeing Romanian films outside of festivals and programs of art cinemas. Online platform Cinepub streams Romanian cinema legally, and novelties are added every Thursday. Its library includes animation films, shorts, feature films and documentaries, with English subtitles, and covers the work of both the up-and-coming generation and that of the established Romanian directors.

Plan a trip to one of Romania’s ski resorts

The resorts on Prahova valley are a popular and traditional choice for winter sports fans but other options have started to emerge in recent years. The Transalpina Ski Resort is one of them. Not in the mood for an active holiday? Plenty of rural holiday houses are open throughout the country, offering beautiful landscapes, cozy accommodation and quiet surroundings. Those in the Bran–Moeciu area are some of the most popular at this time of the year.

editor@romania-insider.com