Best Things to do in Bucharest 2024 | Best Cities in the World #104

Great Nightlife, Communist-Era Relics, Stunning Parks, and Palatial Wonders

Table of Contents

A. About Bucharest

Bucharest, the fifth largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River is still a very underrated city. In the last decades, the capital of Romania has gained a lot of attractiveness, mainly due to a gigantic and successful project to refurbish the historic core into a charming, walkable, and lively district.

The city offers an interesting and unique mix of communist-era buildings such as the gigantic Palace of Parliament or the opulent Ceaușescu Villa, beautiful parks, great museums, and impressive Beaux-Arts-style palaces.

# Palace of Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului) 6

With over a thousand rooms over twelve floors, this opulent and imposing palace is the ultimate symbol of the excesses of the communist period under the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Renowned for being the world's third-largest administrative building (after the Pentagon and the Sappaya-Sapasathan in Thailand) it houses the national parliament (with the remarkable Senate Plenary Room) and several museums (the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Communist Totalitarianism, and the Museum of the Palace).

Palace Opened: 1984–97, still not completed | Open to the Public: year-round | Rooms: 1,100 / ca. 50 accessible | Style: Socialist, realist, and modernist Neoclassical | Pre-booking: ⚠️ Highly advised

by Mihai Petre / CC BY-SA 3.0

# National Museum of Arts 6

Housed inside the splendid former Royal Palace, Romania’s largest and most impressive art collection features an interesting collection of European art, as well as works by the country's most celebrated artists. The museum's most famous painting is "The Adoration of the Shepherds" by El Greco.

Fine Arts Museum Gallery Space: ca. 5,000 m2 | Galleries: ca. 30 | Artworks on Display: ? | Established: 1948 | Visitors (2018): ca. 125,000

by Alexandru Panoiu / CC BY-SA 2.0

# Old Town (Lipscani District) 5

Named after the German Town Leipzig, Bucharest’s very "new" Old City is an extraordinarily successful urban renewal project. Since 2011, a neglected "no-go zone" has been completely transformed into a lively charming neighborhood with vibrant nightlife, pedestrianized cobblestone streets, and attractive shops alongside bars, cafés, and restaurants.

City District Main Sights: Manuc's Inn, Macca-Villacrosse Passage, Covaci Street

by Neoclassicism Enthusiast / CC BY-SA 4.0

#10 | The Art Collections Museum (Muzeului Colecțiilor de Artă) 5

Not to be confused by the National Museum of Arts, but also run by the state, this unique museum houses (in around 60 rooms over 3 floors) 30 collections on permanent display.

It features works by renowned Romanian painters such as Joseph Theodor Aman, Iosif Iser and Nicolae Grigorescu, alongside European and Japanese prints, French furniture, Oriental carpets, and folk icons from Transylvania.

Art Museum

(click on images to open in lightbox)

#11 | National History Museum (Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History) 5

This well kept museum, named after the renowned Romanian biologist Grigore Antipa, showcases an extensive collection, including rare fossils, taxidermied animals, and intricate dioramas that illustrate diverse ecosystems from around the world.

One of the museum's highlights is a realistic cave exhibit, where visitors can explore detailed replicas of stalactites, stalagmites, and underground habitats, providing insight into subterranean ecosystems.

National History Museum