Dmitrii

I'm going to visit Romania by car in August, but there's VERY little information about Romania on the Web. So if you ever been there, please share your impressions and experiences. Any information will be gladly appreciated. I'm especially interested in customs, border crossings, waiting time information. Is there the only border crossing site from the Ukraine? What is the condition of the roads, any cheap hotels there, what are the prices, people, nature, any custom taxes?

ed

Dmitrii: I have been to Romania 4 times, to work. A nice country, dont know about entering from Ukrania, I either flew into Bucuresti or into Budapest and had friends drive me to Cluj. Roads are getting better but still many potholes. There are many cheap hotels, prices for food are cheap. Are you lving in Russia? That is where I want to visit. I live in Louisiana, USA, but plan to visit Russia soon. Regards, Ed

Alejandro David

I´ve never been to Romania but from what I´ve read and heard, Singhisoara is the most beautiful town in Transilvania (near Brasov). It is practically unknown to tourists but the town is a true medieval gem frozen in time.

Ben Haines

You're right that web sites are few, but I can list you some. <BR><P> <BR>http://www.eclipsa.ro -- then click on the British flag or another flag <BR>http://www.roughguide.com, then Europe, then Romania <BR>http://www.lonelyplanet.com, then postcards and destinations <BR>http://www.ssees.ac.uk, then Romania <BR><P> <BR>Once you've fund what cities interest you you can put a search engine to find a city's web site for tourists. If you go into http://www.altavista.com.then into "Advanced", then enter "Brasov tourist" and under Booleian enter "domain:ro" you'll get materila of interest. Other cities I like are Iasi, Suceava (for the monesteries), Sigisoara, Sibiu, and what I can recall of Timisoara. Bucharest is unpleasant: expensive and crowded, with few really ol buildngs. <BR><P> <BR>The Hallwag map printed two years ago shows just one crossing from Ukraine, between Cernovcy and Suceava. There's another between Galati and Reni, but from Reni the only road leads into southern Moldova at Vulkanesty. There are three crossings from Moldova to Romania, between Chisinau and Husi, between Kornsti and Iasi, and at Branesty. <BR><P>Hotels are fairly cheap, and ooms in private houses are very cheap. <BR>You can get notes on bed and breakfsast or homestay in village houses on http://www.ntrec.iiruc.ro, http://eee.eurogites.com/en/index.htm, and http://www.citeweb.net/ovro (then select "Reseau"). To westerners the people are very friendly, but I don't know how they receive Russians. <BR><P> <BR>You might like to put your query also on to <BR>http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...est/topics.htm <BR>and on <BR>news:rec.travel.europe (don't use the letters http nor www) <BR><P> <BR>Please write after you've checked these sites, if I can help further. <BR><P> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR> <BR>

mwg

I was in Bucharest, Cluj, Oradea and Suceava. I was there quite a while ago. People took pride in the handicrafts and people wore embroidered clothes. In some cultures, these are seen as rustic and not worn by people concerned about their appearance. Weaving and embroidery are of high quality. Rugs and kilims are very attractive. I most enjoyed visiting the painted monasteries out of Suceava in Bukovina. I was there off-season and had to rent a car to visit them. Burcharest was pretty non-descript even before the earthquake. The language is latin based and a knowledge of italian can help. The country is a major wine-producer and good wines are readily available. I enjoyed the food, which was different. I did not do the "Dracula route". I did go to concerts, operas and ballets in all of the places I visited. Tickets were cheap and readily available although the quality of preformances was mixed.

paul jones

I returned from Romania on July 27,1999. <BR>This was a guided tour coming from four outher eastern europe countries. This was a very good trip to Sibu,Brashov, Sigigora,and Buckrest. There was no problem for us and no time did I fell unconfortable being there. A car would be a good way to travel and you can practilce dodging horse carts, bikes,walkers and pot holes. The road signs seem to be ok and their are plenty of gas stations. The prices of things is ok when you can find something to buy.