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The heart of the city is the Piata Revolutiei , site of the old Royal Palace and the scene of Ceausescu's downfall. It lies halfway along Bucharest's historic north-south axis, the Calea Victoriei , which is still the main artery of city life. Buses heading north and south, however, use the unattractive boulevards east of Calea Victoriei; the main junction along them is the Piata Universitatii , scene of major events immediately after the 1989 revolution.

The majority of sights are within walking distance of these two Piatas. Just to the south lies the historic centre of the city, with the remains of the original citadel . Beyond this, across the River Dâmbovita, is the contrasting cityscape of Ceausescu's Centru Civic , with its centrepiece, the monstrous Palace of Parliament , now the city's main tourist attraction. Just west of the centre are the Cismigiu Gardens , a tranquil space and a popular place for assignations. For a taste of the old atmosphere of the city, you need to wander north and west of the gardens past the vine-covered facades, to suburbs where life retains a village-like slowness and intimacy, or head north from Piata Revolutiei along Calea Victoriei to Herastrau Park , the site of a superb collection of buildings brought here from all over Romania and assembled to form an area known as the Village Museum .