EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Centru Civic
Ceausescu's megalomaniac project, the Centru Civic - the third largest building in the world, decorated throughout with gold leaf - almost bankrupted the country when it was built. It now houses the country's parliament and hosts international conferences.

Orthodox Churches
When swathes of houses and monuments were demolished in the late Eighties to create the Centru Civic, all that was left standing were tiny Orthodox churches, which remain hidden amidst high-rise blocks. An example is the tiny Russian Church, faced with Art Nouveau tiling and nymphs.

Village Museum
The Village Museum is a display of over 300 houses, churches and other buildings collected from every region of Romania and reassembled here, by Lake Herastrau in the northern suburbs. The timber constructions and wood carvings are among the finest expressions of Romanian artistic sensibility.

Hanul lui Manuc
Built as an Armenian caravanserai, or merchants inn, in 1808, Hanul lui Manuc is still the most stylish place to stay in Bucharest. The courtyard also houses a restaurant, renowned for bad service, high prices and the godfatherish gatherings of the former Communist government.

Cismigiu Gardens
Cismigiu Gardens, just west of the centre, are the lungs of the city. Here swans and pedalos glide on willow-fringed lakes, while pensioners meet for chess and young rollerbladers glide by at high speed.

The Unirea Market
The biggest and best of the city's markets, located just off Piata Unirii, Unirea's concrete-domed structure is redolent of Communist centralism and shelters hundreds of representatives of village entrepreneurialism. There's also a great view of the city from the rooftop café.