EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Frustratingly, Bucharest is still without a decent tourist office . The ONT office, 150m south of the Piata Romana metro station at B-dul Magheru 7 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, until 8pm for currency exchange, Sat 9am-2pm; tel 01/314 1922 or 314 5160, www.ont.ro ), is as good as you'll get, but don't expect much. Staff can rent cars and rooms, provide scant information and arrange a limited number of "programmes" upon request.

The more upmarket hotels - such as the Intercontinental at B-dul Balcescu 4, and the Bucuresti at Calea Victoriei 63-81 - also supply tourist information, although this may mean little more than providing you with a city map . The best map of Bucharest, available from the Libraria Noi bookshop at B-dul Balcescu 18, is published by Amco Press, and incorporates a separate public transport map. The highly informative and entertaining Bucharest In Your Pocket ($1), available from hotels and shops and published five times a year, is by far the best listings magazine . Others include the more business-oriented Bucuresti What, Where, When and Bucharest Info Top , a straightforward listings mag. Nine O'Clock , the main English-language newspaper, is available free from major hotels and airline offices.