Best Things To Do in Bucharest, Romania

Are you looking for what to do in Bucharest?

For a tourist, Bucharest is a tragedy. Yes, there is a tonne of stuff to see and do even now, but there used to be so much more! The hated communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu razed much of the city’s irreplaceable heritage to the ground in his bid to invalidate the past and prop up his own glory. His monument to himself, the Parliament Palace, is the main attraction.

For historical tourism, check out the old town in Lipscani neighborhood, which has lots of 19th century buildings. Another great walking area is Victoriei Avenue – 3 kilometers long and full of monuments. Visit the old caravanserai, the city’s first covered shopping arcade, The rest of the city’s heritage can be found in its many, many museums. Prepare to be exhausted checking them out. Triphobo recommends the Village Museum, the Peasant Museum, the Curtea Veche, the Belly Cemetary and the National History Museum. There are innumerable churches too, some of them unusual, all of them impressive.

There are great many parks and gardens to tour. Do not miss the Cismigiu and the Herastau. Izvor Park has remnants of old Bucharest. Tineretului has excellent walking and cycling areas.

Nightlife is vibrant, with an eclectic selection of pubs and bars in Old Town. Try Shoteria and Bicicleta and the Dionysus Wine Bar. Many establishments stay open until dawn. It’s not uncommon to tour Old Town via bar-hopping.

Bolster your sightseeing with shopping. Many major malls, some brilliant bookstores, a great number of antique stores.

Below we have a list of things to do in Bucharest and the places where you want to spend the best moments of your trip. At the same time, the city offers you the best neighborhoods to explore and new foods to try.

This list should help you in deciding and prioritizing what you should plan on your Bucharest getaway. Find a mix of must-see tourist spots, underrated local hangouts, and maybe even a few new experiences you can try out.

Make the most of your trip to Bucharest with confidence.

Tourist Attractions in Bucharest

Here is the list of things to do in Bucharest and tourist attractions in city.

  1. Palace Of Parliament

    4.4 (1554 Votes)
    Palace Of Parliament

    Palace

    Possibly there's no other single civic building that is simultaneously a country's grandest architectural achievement and most reviled public monument. Built by the megalomaniacal communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1970s as a tribute to his own perceived greatness, the construction of the Palace required putting the country into heavy foreign debt and starving the Romanian poor. It co...Read more
  2. Village Museum

    Specialty Museum

    Few attractions are as intriguing as Europe's open-air cultural exhibition attractions. And this, one of the first museums of its kind in the world, is also one of the best. Located inside Herastrau Park, this hundred thousand square meters museum houses 272 different types of dwellings and buildings of Romania from the 17th to 20th centuries. Highly authentically detailed and incredibly well-...Read more
  3. Old Town

    Town

    It can be hard for outsiders to understand why this historic Center is so precious to the people of Romania. You see, this is practically all that Romanians have left of their pre-World War II capital. Allied bombing destroyed much of the original city. And if that was not enough the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu compounded that loss of heritage by building his extravagant Palace. From ...Read more
  4. Herastrau Park

    4.6 (988 Votes)
    Herastrau Park

    Park, Leisure

    Almost 70% of this park comprises of Herastrau Lake, around which the wooded areas grow. Before we speak of the park's recreational opportunities, you should know that human settlement has been discovered in this park that dates back to the Paleolithic era. Bones of the extinct woolly mammoth have been found here. Also found are coins from the first century BC parts to be from the Dacian settl...Read more
  5. Stavropoleos Monastery

    3.6 (1217 Votes)
    Stavropoleos Monastery

    Religious Site, Monastery

    This Eastern Orthodox monastery for nuns, built in Brancovenesc style, was constructed in 1724 by archimandrite Ioanichie Stratonikeas. The monastery was built around the simple inn, which eventually gained great prestige as a place of prayer. Unfortunately much of the monastery was demolished first in the 19th century earthquake, and then from sheer disrepair.  All that remains of it now...Read more
  6. Cismigiu Gardens

    4.4 (1207 Votes)
    Cismigiu Gardens

    Garden

    Completed in 1860, these gardens are famous for their collection of trees and plants from all over Romania as well as exotic imports from other countries sourced from various Botanic Gardens in Vienna. 17 acres in size, the gardens are hands-down the most beautiful green space in the city. During summer time it is a refuge from heat;  during winter time it's where the locals come to skate...Read more
  7. Lipscani

    Streets

    Lipscani refers to both the street and the district which takes its name from that street, in Bucharest's Old Town. The architectural styles of the buildings and the overall look of the street is a perfect reflection of how Bucharest mixes the old with the new. The area was mainly developed by merchants from various different nations - Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Armenian, Jewish, Albanian and ...Read more
  8. Grigore Antipa National Museum Of Natural History

    Specialty Museum, Natural History Museum

    Established in 1834, and named for the first Romanian to reach the North Pole, the museum possesses the largest collections of mineralogical, zoological and paleontological artifacts and specimens in the country. This is one of the best museums of its kind in Europe. The exhibits are all extremely interesting especially the dinosaur fossil collection and the butterfly collection. Most of the e...Read more
  9. The National Museum Of Art Of Romania

    Art Museum

    This is the country's greatest art collection. The building in which of the collection his house was built for a merchant in the 19th century. It was later used as the Royal Palace, and is one of the country's foremost architectural achievements. Check out the statue of King Carol the first of Romania in front. Inside the palace however, few signs of royal life remain. The three floors of the ...Read more
  10. Manucs Inn

    Hotel, Food And Drinks, Restaurant

    Caravanserai: A historic inn with a central courtyard for travelers in the desert regions of Asia or North Africa. This caravanserai is the oldest operating hotel in the city. It was built in 1808, and over the decades became one of the city's, and indeed the country's, most important commercial complexes. There were stores, wholesalers, more than a hundred rooms for living, a restaurant and e...Read more
  11. Museum Of The Romanian Peasant

    Art Museum, Architecture , Specialty Museum

    It took almost 30 years to build this structure, which was completed in 1941. The architecture is neo-Romanian. After World War 2 it served as a museum dedicated to Stalin and later the Romanian Communist Party. The museum focuses entirely on artifacts and descriptions of what it means to be a peasant in Romania. The 90000 items cover a diverse variety of objects such as ceramics, costumes, fu...Read more
  12. AFI Palace Cotroceni

    4.5 (572 Votes)
    AFI Palace Cotroceni

    Food And Drinks, Restaurant, Mall, Shopping Center

    This is the city's biggest and most popular shopping mall. There are about 300 stores but that is hardly the only attraction. There is a cinema complex with 20 screens, including an IMAX screen. There's a great variety of fast food and other types of restaurants. Kids usually freak out at the ice skating rink and the climbing wall. There is even an indoor roller coaster. It's easy to end up sp...Read more
  13. Arcul De Triumf

    4.6 (748 Votes)
    Arcul De Triumf

    Landmark, Historical Site

    The Arch you see here today was the third one built on the site. The first one was buried in a rather hurried manner to make sure Romanian troops could pass under it after winning Independence in 1878. The second structure was built after World War 1 and destroyed in 1935 so that the current structure could be built in 1936. The 27 meters high structure is now the location for National Day mil...Read more
  14. Patriarchal Cathedral

    Church, Religious Site

    Built on top of Dealul Patriarhiei (Patriarchate Hill), the Church has been center of the Romanian Orthodox faith since the seventeenth century. Even though it has been restored multiple times most of the church's original look has been preserved. The architectural style used is known as Brâncovenesc. Of particular interest is the outstanding bell tower close to the church's entrance. Tho...Read more
  15. Calea Victoriei

    Streets

    This is the city's most historically famous and beautiful street. It became famous when in the 17th century it was paved over with wood. The reason for this was during rainy seasons, especially spring or autumn, roads leading to the Balkan areas would become extremely muddy, but not this street. By the eighteenth century this was one of the most fashionable areas in the city. It has lived up to...Read more