Romania
Bucharest
Away-day guide
unverified draftBucharest is big, loud and cheap — a city of communist boulevards, crumbling belle-époque villas and a compact Old Town packed with terraces. For a weekend away it is hard to beat on price: beer, food and taxis all cost a fraction of western Europe, and the metro will get you to any of the city's grounds.
🚺 To Arena Națională
From Piața Universității in central Bucharest, take trolleybus 85, 86 or 90 eastbound to Arena Națională. The stop is beside the north side of the stadium, near the Pierre de Coubertin entrance. Alternatively, take Metro line M1 to Piața Muncii, then walk about 22 minutes to the ground. Matchday road closures can divert or shorten surface services, so check InfoTB before travelling.
- Nearest stop
- Arena Națională
- Lines
- Trolleybuses 85, 86 and 90; bus 143. Bus 104 stops about 300 metres from the north entrance. The nearest metro station is Piața Muncii on line M1, about a 22-minute walk away.
- Walk from centre
- 60 min
- Parking
- The stadium has dedicated parking, but published capacity figures vary and availability for ordinary match-ticket holders is unclear. Matchday road closures are common, so do not rely on parking beside the ground; use public transport unless your parking has been confirmed in advance.
🚺 To Rapid-Giulești Stadium
Giulești sits north-west of the centre, on Calea Giulești. Metro line M1 to Crângași, then a 20-minute walk or a short bus ride up the road; Gara Basarab is the other useful interchange. A Bolt from the centre is 15–20 minutes.
- Nearest stop
- Crângași metro station
- Lines
- Metro M1 to Crângași; buses and trams along Calea Giulești
- Walk from centre
- 50 min
- Parking
- Tight residential streets and a railway on one side — park further out towards Crângași and walk.
🚺 To Steaua Stadium
The ground is in Ghencea, south-west of the centre. Take the metro to Politehnica or Eroilor, then tram 41 to its Ghencea terminus — the stadium is right there. A Bolt from the Old Town takes 20–30 minutes and costs €5–7.
- Nearest stop
- Ghencea (tram 41 terminus)
- Lines
- Tram 41; several bus routes along Bulevardul Ghencea
- Walk from centre
- 60 min
- Parking
- Residential streets only and they fill fast; the roads around the ground close before kick-off. Public transport or a taxi dropped a few streets away is far easier.
Public transport
The metro (Metrorex) has five lines and is the quickest way across town — tap a contactless bank card at the gate, about 3 lei a trip. Everything on the surface — trams, trolleybuses and buses — is run by STB and needs a separate validation, again by contactless card or through the ticketing app; the old paper cards are gone. Traffic is genuinely awful at rush hour, so the metro beats a taxi for anything crossing the centre. Bolt and Uber both work well and a cross-town ride is €4–6; use them rather than flagging a cab down.
Typical prices
- Beer (0.5L)
- RON 13
- Coffee
- RON 12
- Meal, mid-range
- RON 70
- Taxi from airport
- RON 80
- Single transit ticket
- RON 3
✈ Airports & cheaper alternatives
- Henri Coandă International Airport (Otopeni) OTP primary 17 km Express bus from outside arrivals into the centre (Piața Unirii / Gara de Nord), 45–60 minutes depending on traffic, or the shuttle train to Gara de Nord. Taxis must be booked from the touchscreen kiosks in arrivals; Bolt and Uber pick up from the marked bays. Wizz Air's biggest base — cheap from Luton, Gatwick and most of the UK, and the only airport worth flying into for Bucharest.
🍺 Supporters' pubs
FCSB
Home fans: FCSB's support drinks in the centre — the Old Town terraces and the bars along Calea Victoriei — before moving out to whichever ground they are playing at; on Ghencea matchdays the beer tents and small bars along Bulevardul Ghencea near the tram terminus fill up from a couple of hours before kick-off.
Away fans: The Old Town is the obvious meeting point for visiting fans: plenty of space, cheap beer and easy to get to the ground from. It is neutral territory, but keep colours covered on the tram out to Ghencea, which will be full of home fans.
The club most Romanians still call Steaua — and the subject of a long-running name and identity dispute with the army club CSA Steaua, whose ground in Ghencea is the venue listed for this tie. Best not to have opinions about it in a bar.
Sourced from supporters' forums — always follow your club's and police advice for the fixture.
Nightlife
The Old Town (Centrul Vechi, around Lipscani and Smârdan) is wall-to-wall bars and terraces, cheap and rowdy at weekends — good fun, but it is the tourist zone and the pushier places will happily overcharge. For something better, Control Club and Expirat cover live music and indie nights, Energiea and the garden bars behind Cărturești Carusel are a calmer bet, and the Floreasca and Dorobanți districts north of the centre are where the money drinks. Clubs run very late; nothing gets busy before midnight.
Food & drink
Eat mici — skinless grilled meat rolls with mustard and bread — at least once; the Obor market terrace is the institution for them. Otherwise it is ciorbă (sour soup, especially ciorbă de burtă), sarmale (cabbage rolls with polenta and sour cream) and papanași (fried doughnuts with jam and cream) for pudding. Caru' cu Bere is a beautiful old beer hall that is touristy but worth one visit; La Mama does homely Romanian cooking at fair prices. Drink Ursus, Ciuc or Timișoreana, and try țuică if someone offers.
Cheap eats & beer
Bucharest is a great city to eat badly and cheaply in. Shaorma is the local fast food — the Dristor Kebap chain is the benchmark and a big one costs about 25 lei. Covrigi (hot pretzels) from the street kiosks are 3–4 lei, and the market halls at Obor do plates of mici and beer for well under €10. A half-litre in the Old Town is 12–16 lei; step two streets out and it is 8–10, and a shop can of Ursus is around 5 lei. Lunch menus (meniul zilei) at neighbourhood restaurants run 30–40 lei for soup, a main and a drink.
Staying safe
Bucharest is safer than its reputation — the stray-dog problem of the 1990s is long gone and street crime against visitors is uncommon. The classic rip-offs are taxis and bar bills: never take an unbooked cab (order a Bolt, or use the touchscreen taxi kiosks at the airport), and in the Old Town check the menu prices and the bill, particularly in places with someone outside trying to pull you in. Pavement parking, missing manhole covers and fast drivers at crossings are a bigger practical risk than crime.
On matchday
Bucharest is also being used as a neutral 'home' venue this season — Hapoel Be'er Sheva host a European tie at the Rapid-Giulești Stadium, so check which club is actually at home before you book. FCSB's European home game is down for the Steaua Stadium in Ghencea; they have used the Arena Națională in the past, so check the venue on your ticket. Romanian grounds run tight segregation with an away sector and its own escorted approach, ID checks at the turnstiles, and no full-strength alcohol inside. Tram 41 to Ghencea gets rammed before kick-off — go an hour early or take a Bolt to a street or two away and walk in.
This city guide is still being fact-checked — some details may be inaccurate.