Originally Posted by bebert
Thanks for sharing
i have a very good souvenir of overnight train Bucarest to Sofia. Nice to see they keep the tradition
wonderful pictures
indeed Romania is one of the most underrated country for tourism in Europe
Dirt cheap, plenty to see, cities and countryside, and nice people
Exacty
bebert!
While some of the older people in cities might still have this bit of grim "communist" mentality, the great majority of young people are wonderful, as well as older people in the countryside and in Transylvania.
(there is IMHO a regional difference in the mentality of people, with Transylvanian people being more friendly/relaxed, and people in the South more fast-paced/at times an arrogant "mind your own business" mentality).
But it's indeed an easy country to travel in as English is widely spoken in the cities and everything is extremely affordable.
Even in Bucharest as the most pricey city in the country, lunch or dinner with a bottle of wine won't set you back more than 40 EUR for two in a more upmarket restaurant. In the average restaurant a meal + drinks can easily be had for less than 10 EUR.
Needless to say, this is even much cheaper in the countryside. There aren't many other places in Europe where a carafe of wine, a main and dessert can be had for a fiver.
Originally Posted by tsastor
Thank you for revealing secrets of this less reported destination. I read it with great interest! The more wood in the train cabins, the better IMO.
Welcome
tastor!
I agree with the wood - the same as in antique cars, it adds some charm to it all.
I have recently been on a Turkish train in a private sleeper, which was all modern and plastic.
While the hard product was amazingly comfortable in sleeping mode with its superb mattress, and it had a fridge with some complimentary drinks and snacks, it was lacking a certain charm and felt more soulless. If it wouldn't have been for the blanket, all the white colours would have felt more like a hospital bed!
It is also weird how many newer trains seem to be so uncomfortable - eg. this train while having a great bed, had rock hard seats when the bed is folded up in daytime mode.
The same counts for some of the more modern Romanian trains - seats which are fine for 1-2 hours, but certainly not when travelling longer distances with it. I guess what is happening in the airline industry with those horrible slimline seats can also be seen in the railway industry
not all progress is good!