A popular, almost cliché subject in any informative blog
about a city. But essential for somebody visiting for the first time, so we
will not skip it.
Once landed at the airport, the first thing to take care of is the city
transfer, particularly in the city center, where most of the action takes place
and where accommodation is usually preferred. There are various options: by taxi, UBER, by rent a car, by dedicated
transport or simply by the special bus line available at the airport. If the
taxi is your choice, don’t take
whatever taxi available. Not all of them are safe, and the next thing you might
experience is paying more than the normal price. Do
chose and order a taxi recommended by the airport from the special device
located at Arrivals. It goes the same for renting a car, no matter of its size.
Airports use well selected companies and partners. If you don’t feel like
wasting too much time, just chose a dedicated
concierge service, from the trip planning phase, which will help you and
your group arrange the whole weekend, transport included, in a hassle free,
safe and comfortable way, with local knowledge, contacts and experience.
You will naturally have foreign currency. So the next
important thing to do is change it to the local one - the Romanian LEU or RON (
Ron is the same with Leu, only that it represents the denomination of the
currency ). Don’t change money in
the airport, unless it’s urgent and in small amount. The exchange rate is never
good in airports. The good exchanges are in the city center, in all areas. Payments
are made in local currency, since Romanian does not use the EURO yet, but takes
it as a reference, so make sure to keep it in mind. Apart from that, cash money
are still more popular than credit cards, so do keep cash on you for anything that you plan on doing - form day
to nighttime activities. In the venues, the POS devices sometimes run errors,
so that is when the cash comes in handy.
If you arrange the trip on your own and you are
responsible for organizing the entire weekend for your group, including
restaurants and clubs, don’t let table
bookings to the last minute, because on weekends everything is very busy. So do make sure you call the venues in advance
and arrange it in due time, otherwise the plan might be damaged.
In the very popular and busy areas, such as Old Town,
with many bars, pubs and dance floors - it is common to also see beggars or people selling stuff - so don’t
give them money unless they look genuine. Otherwise, you might help a whole
network sending this people at work or just “help” them buy alcohol and cigarettes,
which is not really help.
Tipping the waiters for their work is a common practice
in Bucharest, especially when you have a table service - bar, restaurant, club,
etc .It is less common to tip when just sitting at the bar. The service is not included in the bill,
but naturally it has to be good to deserve a tip. The common is 10 % of the
total amount, so do take it into
consideration, but don’t leave a tip
if you are not satisfied with the service and don’t mind a disappointed waiter who is explicit about the fact
that he didn’t get tipped. He most probably did not do his job right.
If this is a party weekend, which is usually the case and
you are coming with a large group of friends to have fun - i.e: for a stag party - naturally, alcohol
consumption will be one of the things to do, because there is no real party
without drinks. But don’t get very
drunk before arriving at the club or the party place, because the group might
not be allowed to get in. Also, don’t
get too loud and avoid bothering the people inside, or the next thing you’ll
know is being taken out by a bodyguard.
Least but not last, do
not worry about talking to locals - especially the younger ones - in English,
because we are fluent speakers. Do
smile and we will smile back and don’t forget to take a close look and see if a
girl has her boyfriend or male friends around before you decide to start a
conversation. It can avoid misunderstandings or arguments. For the rest, don’t waste any time in your hotel
room: Bucharest weekend is waiting for you!
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