Things to do in Bucharest

Bucharest earned "Little Paris" between the 1860s and the 1930s, when French-trained architects rebuilt it to match. Two world wars and forty years of communism ended that. What is left is layered rather than pretty.

Belle Époque streets, and what buried them

Calea Victoriei carries the belle époque survivors, the Athenaeum among them. Lipscani, the old merchants' quarter, still runs on its guild-era street names. Both sit close enough to walk between.

• Calea Victoriei — once compared to the Champs-Élysées, still lined with belle époque façades.
• Lipscani — cobbled lanes, baroque and neo-classical fronts, bars filling the old trading houses.
• The Romanian Athenaeum — the concert hall built in 1888, home to the national philharmonic.

The Palace, and the history underneath it

The Palace of Parliament makes "layered" an understatement. Ceaușescu began it in 1984 after flattening a fifth of the old centre. It was declared complete in 1997, though parts remain unfinished; by floor area only the Pentagon is larger.

The city sells that history, not just its buildings. Quest-style walks cover the communist decades, the ghost stories under Bellu Cemetery, and the Armenian Quarter's quieter past.

• The Palace of Parliament — tours cover a fraction of its rooms; most of the building stays closed.
• Bellu Cemetery — Romania's grandest graves, and the ghost-hunt route built around them.
• The Armenian Quarter — a small merchant enclave, its own church and history apart from the centre.

Practical

• Weather. August highs push past 30C and January averages sit near freezing, with grey, damp winters rather than heavy snow.
• Getting around. The metro is the fastest way across the centre; surface traffic is dense most of the day.
• Currency. The leu, not the euro; cards work almost everywhere downtown.
• Tipping. Around ten per cent in restaurants, rarely expected elsewhere.
• Day trip. Brașov is a direct train away, about two and a half hours, and often booked as a single long day.
• Booking ahead. Palace of Parliament tours require ID at the door and fill up on summer weekends.