Bucharest is undoubtedly Europe’s best kept secret. Restaurants, bars, art galleries and museums are now springing up on every newly renovated corner. Travellers are steadily discovering this little gem of a city and seeking out Bucharest’s hidden character.
Bucharest has a diverse and growing cultural scene, with cultural life exhibited in a number of various fields, including the visual arts, performing arts and nightlife. Unlike other parts of Romania, such as the Black Sea coast or Transylvania, Bucharest’s cultural scene is much more eclectic, without a defined style, and instead incorporates various elements of Romanian and international culture. Bucharest has an eclectic mixture of elements from traditionally Romanian buildings to buildings that are influenced by French architects. It is because of this French influence that Bucharest was once called “the Paris of the East” or “Little Paris.”
Bucharest has a great number of landmark buildings and monuments. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the Palace of the Parliament, built in the 1980’s during the reign of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Currently the largest building in Europe and the second-largest in the world, the Palace houses the Romanian Parliament, as well as the National Museum of Contemporary Art.
Another well-known landmark of Bucharest is the Triumphal Arch, built in 1935 and modeled after the Arc de Triomphe from Paris. The Romanian Athaeneum is considered to be a symbol of Romanian culture and since 2007 is on the list of the Label of European Heritage sights.
Major brand-name shops and upscale boutiques are concentrated along the main boulevard from Piata Romana to Piata Unirii and on the small streets adjacent to this boulevard, but also on Calea Victoriei, on Calea Dorobantilor or on Calea Mosilor. In the past years numerous modern shopping centers have sprung up in the city (and even more are in construction), the best known being Bucharest Mall, Jolie Ville, Plaza Romania and City Mall.
Bucharest offers many other excellent attractions, and increasingly has the sophisticated, trendy and modern edge to it that defines a european capital. If you’re in the region, it would be negligent to not visit it and not to enjoy a pleasant holiday.