No photo!

It is strange, we know, but there are many places in which you are not allowed to take pictures. Why? We do not think anybody has the right answer. Probably, it is a reminiscence of the past, of "the golden era" (communist regime, we mean) when lots of things were forbidden. For instance, even nowadays, you are not allowed to take pictures in the subway, in the train station, inside and outside (???) the airport. 

In museums usually you have to pay a separate fee for taking pictures or filming. An entrance ticket to a museum is very cheap: 1-3 euro. The fee for images is usually ten times more. 

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Late night party

Going to some other cities of Europe, I was surprised to find out that there is nothing to do after 8-9-10 p.m. In Bucharest you will not get this kind of problem. Most bars and clubs are open till late. And they are full 7 days a week.  Clubs are opened until 5 in the morning. That's good if you don't want to pay for a taxi. Remember: if you go by bus this early be sure you have a valid ticket. I know that after a night out you could be so brave that you would want to travel without paying the ticket. But this is the favorite time of the day for the inspectors that check tickets.

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Cash or card?

There is a bank (even 2-3-5) almost on every street. And all have ATM machines. So you do not need to carry around too much cash. You can  pay with the card in big shops and supermarkets. But be sure you always have cash. There are only a few restaurants and bars where you can pay with the plastic rectangle. 

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Exchange rate

1 EURO ~ 4,3 LEI  or RON (= Romanian New Lei) 

 1 U.S. DOLLAR ~ 3,5 LEI  

1 POUND ~ 4,8 LEI

You can see here what the coins and bills look like

This is the official National Bank's exchange rate (the  rate in banks and exchange houses is around this ammount) :  

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Toilets

There are almost no public toilets in Bucharest. And if you are not a costumer, people from public places are not really happy if you ask them to use their toilet. (For instance, at Mc Donald's you can enter "the room" only with a code written on your receipt.)
So, when you go into a bar or restaurant and other places that have this kind of facility, don't leave the place without going to the toilet.

If you are near University Square (Piaţa Universităţii), remember there is a public toilet in the recently renovated underground passage.  It's free and clean enough, for the moment.

Recently, they opened toilets in some metro stations. Piaţa Victoriei is one of them.

In case of emergency, you can use what they call "ecological toilets". There are a few of these in the city and lots of them in parks. So if you are near a park and duty calls, you know what to do... The problem is that the number of parks is also very limited.

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