I stayed at the IC Bucharest on Thursday night, and other than it was a very long haul in very heavy traffic from OTP, I thought it was great (particularly with the Priority Club points deal). I got a great room with a lovely view, a nice, big bathroom with a bidet and a ginormous amenity kit with nail polish and a few other interesting goodies (ok, the guys won't be as excited about the nail polish as I was, perhaps, but still...). I thought the hotel staff were very helpful and efficient.

I didn't have a ton of time because I didn't get to the hotel until around 7:00 pm and I had to leave the hotel by 3:30 am for my flight home, but I did spend a few hours walking around. There was a little shopping area not too far from the hotel that was fun, and wow...the shoes! I was travelling with just a small rollaboard, so I could only squish in one pair, but they are great! It was interesting to see how there is a real mix between all the new construction and businesses (the Ikea by the airport was unexpected), the renovation of some beautiful, old buildings, and the "early ugly" cement, square kinda buildings.

It was an interesting (and brief) trip to the city, and I'm glad I got to see a tiny bit of it.

Wizz Air AIrport Change at Bucharest
 

I have a Wizz Air Flight from Bucharest to Budapest on 5/25. A few weeks ago, they e-mailed a notice that the Bucharest departure changed from BBU to OPT airport. Today, I got another e-mail from Wizz reversing the change -- My flight now departs from BBU (the low-cost carrier airport closer in to Bucharest).

Not sure what Wizz Air's "final answer" is going to be, but a heads up to those with LCC flights out of Bucharest -- verify your departure airport!

Visa/Passport requirements?
 

Two quick questions:

Do US citizens need to obtain the $40 visa first? I've seen conflicting sites. I got the impression from the Romanian Embassy site that if we're going to be in Romania for less than 90 days, we (US citizens) don't need a visa. Yes or no?

I just discovered, after not having checked for awhile, that my Passport expires 4 months after the trip :eek:

Romania seems to be one of those poopy countries that requires you to have a Passport that doesn't expire for 6 months after you leave (someone explain this bass-ackwards rule to me please?!?). I'm leaving in 2 weeks and 2 days! If I go to the Post Office tomorrow and ask for an Expedited renewal, do I have a prayer?

US citizens do NOT need to pay anything for a visa because in fact they do not need one.
As far as TIMATIC is concerned:
From what TIMATIC is showing your passport needs to be valid only for your indended stay. I doubt you're going to spend 4 monts in .Ro so you should be fine IMHO :)

If you want I can call the Consulate here in LA tomorrow for you and ask them.
Not sure how much luck you're going to have with the expedited service at the post office given the influx of tons more of passport applications recently.
You might have more luck going to a passport center and show them your imminent trip details. (i.e. make an appointment for the Federal Bldg. on Wilshire since you're LA based)

Regards,
Chris

(deleted)

Thanks Chris,

I think I'll ring them tomorrow myself, no worries :) I think you're right, I don't need a Visa (but printed out the form just in case).

As for the Passport renewal, it appears that you don't have to go to the Federal Building unless you've got less than 2 weeks before your travel - and in the morning it'll be 15 days for me. I'll stop by the Post Office and ask if they can do the expedited deal, or whether I should just go to the Federal Building (ugh - I live a ways from there) anyway.

Next I gotta plot when to try for the CO 20k upgrade ;)

Oh, while I'm here - at the end of my trip I get into AMS at almost Midnight - and the trains stop running at 1 AM. Am thinking of staying in Haarlem. Wondering if I'll be able to get on a train into Amsterdam and back out to Haarlem before they stop running?

What's the best way to check train schedules? I found multiple websites and it was difficult to figure out how to check train schedules comprehensively. I think one needs to have the exact Romanian spelling for every city and check each of them one by one at the site I found.

Also, florin, special thanks for the excellent info and tips you provided! :)

http://www.mersultrenurilorcfr.ro/

Was the website florin provided last page of this thread I've been using. I found a nice hotel in Sinaia and will spend my 4 nights outside of Bucharest there and give the trains a try. Can't be that hard to get to Brasov.

I can confirm that US citizens do NOT need a visa to visit Romania.

It's possible, but that would be tight. If your plane gets there on time, you have no bags to pick up and you zoom through the airport, you may get to AMS at 12:30. So in the best scenario you'd have some 20-30 mins there. I'm not sure if it's worth it. I'd consider staying in Amsterdam instead.

www.bahn.de is the best and most reliable

use bucuresti for bucharest

also http://infofer.ro/default_engleza.asp?lng=2 for domestic routes only.
use "Bucuresti Nord" for Bucharest's main railway station, Gara de Nord

IC Hotel to OTP - How long (traffic concerns?)
 

I understand that traffic in Bucharest can be quite nasty. My GF will be staying at the InterContinental Bucharest, and needs to get back to OTP for the 2:15PM flight to AMS.
What time should she leave the city in order to catch her flight, assuming she'll be taking public transportation?

Also, how easy is it to get to OTP with the public busses? http://www.toandfromtheairport.com suggests taking bus #783 - where does one find this bus (and where does one purchase tickets?)
This trip will be on a Sunday afternoon, BTW.

Last time I went to OTP with her, we had less than 1 hour between flights, so we obviously stayed inside the airport (using the international-to-international transfer shortcut).

Thanks for the help!

I've done that. the bus 783 takes ~1h to the airport (there is road construction and heavy traffic) it leaves every 20min. When you leave the IC, the bus station is in front of you on the other side of the road. When you come up from the undercrossing (metro) just go 20m ahead and there it is. can't miss it :) I bought the tickets at the airport when I arrived - just ask for a return ticket. doesn't cost alot. But I guess you can get them in the city as well. the bus leaves the airport from the lower (domestic) arrival level.

I've modified my routing ad dates somewhat, so here's how it should now read:

04AUG YYZ-MEM-AMS-ARN
09 AUG ARN-AMS-OTP-AMS
30AUG AMS-IAH-EWR
31AUG EWR-YYZ

Thanks!

:-: Updated :-:

Only 2.5 months of travel left on this fabulous find . For the gazillionth time, thank you, hudson!