There are
many questions the students and people who is coming to Bucharest did to me, so
I made this post to help to solve your doubts.
- How to arrive to the city from the airport?
There are
two options. You can take a taxi or come by bus.
To take a
taxi, just when you go to the arrival’s hall, you’ll see a machine to order the
taxi. You have to keep the receipt that the machine will give to you and show
it to you taxi (the driver will ask). Of course, get the cheap taxi, 1.39
lei/kms. To go to the city center is around 50 lei (around 10€). Never take a
taxi without ordering it.
The bus.
Much cheaper. Go outside (downstairs!) the arrival’s hall, and buy a ticket to
the city (at this bus usually are controllers during the day!). The ticket to
the city (2 ways) is 7 lei.
There are 2
buses. 738 and 780. The first one go through the center until Unirii square.
The second one go to Gara de Nord (train station, not very recommendable area
during the night). The trip to the center will take around 40 minutes.
The bus works 24 hours, so don't worry about the time you'll arrive!
- How I move around the city? How much cost the
monthly pass for the metro?
The easiest
way to move around in Bucharest is metro and bus! You can buy the pass card for
only 50 lei, if you have a student card, will cost the half. Don’t forget to
validate the card at the buses!
There are
some other kind of metro pass, like the 64-trips card (20 lei). You should
check which one is better for you.
Also, the
taxi is very cheap here! But be careful and take the taxis which have written
in the door 1.69 LEI/KM. Also, never accept the taxi if when you say the
address where you want to go, the driver say you a fixed price. It’s a scam.
Make sure always are using the taximeter!
- Cheap places to stay until I find my own
flat?
If you’re
student and your university have a residence, probably this is the cheapest
option! Book the residence for the first month, then, when you arrive here,
you’ll have one month to look for flat from the “commodity” of you residence.
Usually they are very cheap!
Bucharest
have a big offer in hostels, personally, I recommend this ones, “Wonderland
Hostel” and “X Hostel” for the price and location!
- How to look for an apartment?
This is the
BIG question. I suggest you to start to check this webpages. Anuntul and
CautColeg. You can check also the Erasmus facebook group! Many owners and
agencies publish there the apartments they have, and also other students are
asking for flat mates, and some of them might have already the flat!
You should
realize that in Romania, when we say that an apartment have 3 rooms, we are
saying that have 2 bedrooms, and one living!! We count the living as one more
room ;)
Be patient,
and be ready to see many awful flats. But really, disgusting. The flats in
Bucharest are quite old, and in the center is normal to find a flat built 60
years ago! Also, not many flats have been renewed, that means that many times
they are now exactly how they have been built, even with the same furniture…!
The prices
are very different according to the area where you’re looking for. If you look
for an apartment 3 rooms (2 bedrooms, remember!!), in the center (piata Unirii,
piata Universiate, piata Romana), is around 500€/month.
A studio
(garsoniera, in romanian), in the same area will cost around 250€.
- How much cost the phone by month?
As in every
country, the phone companies have many tariffs, but here is very cheap. The
most used company in Romania are Vodafone and Orange.
For
example, Vodafone have this tariff (the one I have).
9€/month.
3000 minutes and 3000 sms to Vodafone, 200 minutes for international/national
(other companies), and 200 sms to other companies. Also, 300 MB.
Usually
it’s enough for me.
You can buy
the cards in the kiosks on the streets, also in some vending machines.
I hope this post help some of you, if you have any question, you can ask in the comments!
See you,
Carles S.
I hope this post help some of you, if you have any question, you can ask in the comments!
See you,
Carles S.