Rumania

Eat

thumb|Colivă dishes are used for a church ritual. thumb|Saramura is one of Romania's traditional dishes. Romanian food is distinct yet familiar to most people, being a mixture of Balkan cuisine and Central European cuisine, but it has some unique elements. The local dishes are the delicious sarmale, ardei umpluți (stuffed peppers), mămăligă (pr. muhmuhliguh, polenta), bulz (traditional roasted polenta, filled with at least two kinds of cheeses, bacon and sour cream), friptură (steak), salată de boeuf (finely chopped cooked veggies and meat salad, usually topped with mayo and decorated with tomatoes and parsley), zacuscă (a yummy, rich salsa-like dip produced in the fall) as well as tocană (a kind of stew), tochitură (pr. tokituruh, an assortment of fried meats, and traditional sausages, in a special sauce, served with polenta and fried eggs), mici (pr. michi, with a ch sound like in the word "chat"; a kind of spicy sausage, but only the meat, without the casings, almost always cooked on a barbecue, but may also be cooked with hot water vapours; often served with beer during picnics - mici și bere), roe salad, various mashed beans varieties like iahnie (the h is loud).

Other dishes include a burger bun with a slice of ham, a slice of cheese and a layer of French fries, ciorbă de burtă (white sour tripe soup), ciorbă rădăuțeană (very similar to ciorbă de burtă, but with chicken instead of tripe), ciorbă țărănească (a red sour soup, akin to borș but with the beet root being rep…

Drink

thumb|Palinca for sale at a festival

Sleep

Finding an accommodation in Romania is very easy, for any price. In all the touristy places, as soon as you get to the train station several people will come to you asking whether you need an accommodation, or you can book it in advance. Those people welcoming you at the station often speak English, French and Italian. Moreover, while walking on the street, you will often find cazare written on the houses; that means they will rent you a room in their house. You're best advised to book an accommodation in advance in the big cities (Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov and Iasi), since it'll be quite hard to wander around looking for a place to sleep, but you won't have any problem at all anywhere else.

As in most other countries, it is often cheaper to obtain accommodation directly with the hotel (either in person or in advance via the internet) rather than through booking agencies. Even an increasing number of small hotels will accept reservations via the Internet. Search for the local official tourist guide websites which will have a list of hotels and/or bed and breakfasts, then inquire at that site: most have information in English, many have formal reservation webpages. Prices for 4-star hotels are much the same as in the rest of Europe, certainly in Bucharest, whilst 3-star hotels and below can be a little cheaper. A feature of Romanian accommodation prices is that many bed and breakfast establishments (without any hotel star rating) are as expensive as or more expensive tha…

Stay safe

Romania is a very safe country, where random attacks are almost non-existent. While violence against foreign tourists is rare, this does not mean you should leave your common sense at home, if you decide to vacation in Romania. Generally crime is limited to petty thefts and common scams, and not much else that would concern the tourist. Wherever you may be in the country, ask trusted locals about the surroundings, they will gladly give you a few pointers.

Although racial prejudice exists in Romania, especially toward those who look like Roma (“gypsies”), hate crimes are rare. Some homophobic prejudice also remains, for instance an annual gay pride parade in Bucharest has been the scene of violent protests in past years.

Stay healthy

Tap water is generally potable, but most people choose to drink bottled water instead.