România Travel Guide

De la Wikitravel

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România este una din destinaţiile Europei, care în ultimii ani a avut un influx de turişti noi care au rămas uimiţi la diversitatea ţării, începând de la frumuseţea naturală, staţiunile plăcute, oraşele cosmopolite şi cultura oamenilor. Deşi în anii 1990, România suferea de o imagine mai proastă în alte părţi a lumii, a revenit pe itinerarele est-europene şi este o destinaţie accesibilă şi cu foarte multe beneficii.

Cuprins 1 Destinaţii 2 Itinerarii 3 De ştiut 3.1 Geografie 3.2 Oameni 3.3 Guvernământ 3.4 Economie 4 Intră/ieşi 4.1 Cu avionul 4.2 Cu trenul 4.3 Cu autobuzul 4.4 Entry Requirements 5 Get around 5.1 Trains 6 Talk 7 Spend 8 Eat

Destinaţii

Principalele obiective ale României sunt:

• Bucureşti, capitala
• Transilvania şi oraşele şi destinaţiile sale (după numărul de locuitori):
  • Cluj-Napoca
  • Timişoara
  • Brasov şi Poiana Braşov
  • Oradea
  • Arad
  • Baile 1 Mai
  • Sighişoara
  • Covasna
  • Sinaia
  • Munţii Apuseni şi oraşele înconjurătoare
  • Beliş
  • Ciucea
  • Fortăreţe dace din Munţii Orăştie
  • Biserici de lemn din Maramureş
  • Aşezări săteşti cu biserici fortificate din Transilvania
  • Făgăraş
  • Miercurea Ciuc
• Coasta Mării Negre şi complexurile sale:
  • Constanţa
  • Mangalia
  • Eforie
  • Neptun
  • Năvodari
• Delta Dunării şi Tulcea
• Moldova:
  • Bacău
  • Iaşi
  • Biserici Pictate
• Bucovina:
  • Suceava
  • Mănăstiri pictate
• Oltenia şi oraşele
  • Craiova
  • Horezu
  • Drobeta-Turnu Severin

Itinerarii

Următoarele sunt posibile itinerarii pentru călătorii în România:

• Tur feroviar în triunghiul transilvănean
• Tur în Maramureş şi în Munţi
• Turul Crişurilor
• Turul Carpaţilor

De ştiut

This information is from the CIA World Factboook 2003

Soviet occupation following World War II led to the formation of a Communist "peoples republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae CEAUSESCU, who took power in 1965, and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. CEAUSESCU was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996, when they were swept from power by a fractious coalition of centrist parties. Currently, the Social Democratic Party forms a nominally minority government, which governs with the support of the opposition Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. Bucharest must address rampant corruption, while invigorating lagging economic and democratic reforms, before Romania can achieve its hope of joining the European Union.

Geografie

Fiind situată pe jumătate în peninsula Balcanică şi acoperind o suprafaţă eliptică, de 237.499 km&sup2, România ocupă mare parte din bazinul inferior al râului Dunăre şi regiunile din estul bazinului de mijloc al acestui râu. Se află atât la sudul, cât şi la nordul Munţilor Carpaţi, care formează bariera naturală între bazinele Dunării.

Poziţionarea României îi dă un climat continental, în special în Vechiul Regat (la est şi la sud de Carpaţii Meridionali) şi mai puţin în Transilvania, unde climatul este mai mult moderat. O iarnă lungă şi severă (decembrie - martie), o vară fierbinte (aprilie - iulie), şi o toamnă prelungită (august - noiembrie) sunt principalele anotimpuri, cu o tranziţie rapidă din primăvară în vară. În Bucureşti, temperatura minimă zilnică în Ianuarie are în jur de 7°C, iar maxima zilnică din Iulie este de 29°C.

Poziţionare: Sud-estul Europei, la graniţă cu Marea Neagră, între Bulgaria şi Ucraina

Coordonate geografice: 46 00 N, 25 00 E

Referinţe de hartă: Europa

Suprafaţă:
total: 237.500 km²
pământ: 230.340 km²
apă: 7.160 km²

Graniţă:
total: 2.508 km²
ţări vecine: Bulgaria 608 km, Ungaria 443 km, Republica Moldova 450 km, Serbia şi Muntenegru 476 km (toată frontiera cu Serbia), Ucraina (nod) 362 km, Ucraina (est) 169 km

Linie de coastă: 225 km

Revendicări maritime:
zonă contigioasă: 24 nm

platforma continentală: până la 200 m sub nivelul mării
zonă economică exclusivă: 200 nm
ape teritoriale: 12 nm

Climat: temperat; ierni reci, înnorate cu ninsori şi ceaţă frecvente; veri însorite cu ploi şi furtuni frecvente

Teren: Câmpia Transilvaniei este separată de Podişul Moldovei prin Carpaţii Orientali şi de Câmpia Română prin Carpaţii Meridionali (Alpii Transilvăneni)

Extremele altitudinii:
cel mai scund punct: Marea Neagră, 0 m
cel mai înalt punct: Vf. Moldoveanu, 2.544 m

Resurse naturale: petrol (resurse în scădere), cherestea, gaze naturale, cărbune, sare, teren arabil, hidroputere

Folosirea terenurilor:
teren arabil: 41%
semănături permanente: 3%
păşuni permanente: 21%
păduri: 29%
altele: 6% (estimativ, 1993)

Terenuri irigate: 31.020 km&sup2 (estimativ, 1993)

Riscuri naturale: cutremure mai severe în sud şi sud-est; structurile geologice şi climatul provoacă alunecări de teren

Mediu înconjurător - probleme curente: eroziune a solului şi degradare; poluare a apei; poluare a aerului în sud din motive industriale; contaminare a Deltei Dunării

Mediu înconjurător - înţelegeri internaţionale: <br>părtaşă la: Poluarea Aerului, Tratatul Antarctic, Biodiversitate, Schimbarea Climatului, Deşertificare, Specii pe cale de Dispariţie, Modificări ale Mediului Înconjurător, Risc de Dezastru Natural, Legea Mării, Interzicerea Testului Nuclear, Protejarea Stratului de Ozon, Poluarea provocată de Vase, Delte
semnate, dar încă nu ratificate: Poluarea Aerului - Poluanţi Organici Persistenţi, Protocolul pentru Mediul Antarctic, Protocolul de la Kyoto pentru Schimbarea Climatului

Geografie - notă: controlează cea mai uşor de traversat rută între Balcani, Republica Moldova şi Ucraina

Oameni

Populaţie 

22,271,839 (estimat iulie 2003)

Rata naşterilor 

10,79 naşteri/1.000 locuitori (est. 2003)

Rata decesurilor 

12,25 decese/1.000 locuitori (est. 2003)

Mortalitatea infantilă 

total: 18,4 decese/1.000 naşteri (est. 2003)

Naţionalitate 

substantiv: român(i)
adjectiv: român

Grupuri etnice 

români 89.5%, maghiari 6.6%, rromi 2.5%, ucrainieni 0.3%, Germani 0.3%, ruşi 0.2%, turci 0.2%, alţii 0.4% (recensământ 2002)

Religii 

Ortodoxism 87%, Protestantism 6.8%, Catolicism 5.6%, altele (mai ales Islam) 0.4%, atei 0.2% (2002)

Limbi 

română (oficial), maghiară, germană

Guvernământ

Numele ţării 

forma lungă şi scurtă: România

Forma de guvernământ 

republică

Capitală 

Bucureşti

Independenţă 

9 mai 1877 (faţă de Turcia; recunoscută pe 13 iulie 1878 prin Tratatul de la Berlin; regatul proclamat pe 26 martie 1881; republic proclamată pe 30 decembrie 1947)

Sărbătoare naţională 

Ziua Unirii (României cu Transilvania), 1 Decembrie (1918)

Constituţie 

29 octombrie 2003

Economie

Despre 

România şi-a început tranziţia dinspre Comunism în 1989 cu o bază industrială imensă, care nu era necesară, şi cu un stil de producţie nepotrivit necesarului populaţiei. Ţara a scăpat în 2000 de o perioadă de trei ani de recesiune, datorită cererii puternice în pieţele de export ale UE. În ciuda încetinirii a economiei globale din 2001-2002, activitatea internă puternică în construcţie, agricultură şi consum au susţinut creştrea acesteia cu peste 4%. Un Acord Standby cu FMI, semnat în 2001, a adus creşteri încete dar palpabile în privatizare, reducerea deficitului şi micşorarea inflaţiei. Nu în ultimul rând, recentele reforme macroeconomice au făcut puţine în legătură cu sărăcia bine răspândită în România, în timp ce corupţia şi birocraţia au îndepărtat investiţiile străine.

PIB per capita (PPP) 

$7,600 (2002 est.)

Rata şomajului 

8.3% (2002)

Industrii 

textile şi încălţaminte, asamblari de maşini, minerit, cherestea, materiale de construcţii, metalurgie, chimicale, procesarea produselor alimentare, rafinarea petrolului

Agricultură 

culturi de: grâu, cereale, ovăz, orz, seminţe de floarea soarelui, cartofi, viticole; avicole, ovine

Export - mărfuri 

textile şi încălţăminte, metale şi produse metalurgice, maşinerii şi echipament, minerale şi combustibili

Import - mărfuri 

maşinărie şi echipamente 23%, combustibili şi minerale 12%, chimice 9%, textile şi produse 19% (1999)

Monedă 

Leu românesc nou (RON) 1 RON =10000 ROL (schimbarea a intervenit la 1 iulie 2005)

Intră/ieşi

Intrarea in România este facilă din aproape toate părţile lumii, datorită pozitiei ţării şi faptului că este deservită de o serie de tipuri şi companii de transport.

Punctul principal de intrare în România este Bucureşti, capitala, mai ales aeroportul Henri Coandă (Otopeni), cel mai mare din România. Bucureştiul este şi un punct ideal de a începe un tur al României, deci este bine să ajungeţi aici prima dată.

Cu avionul

Cu trenul

Trains are one of the glimmering gems of travelling to Romania, and, despite their bad reputation in the 1990s, travelling inside Romania or to and from Romania by train is a both fascinating and comfortable experience.

There are many international train services in Romania, including direct ones to Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Istanbul, Chisinau and Warsaw. Also, Romania is fairly well-connected with the European network. It is not generally advisable to travel by train to Bucharest from other countries, especially those in Westenn Europe, because of the huge distance of crossing Romania. However, international trains to Romania include EuroCity trains which are of a very high standard and night trains, so you will generally find yourself having a very comfortable journey. Also, trains are the ideal way of reaching cities such as Brasov, Sighişoara, Oradea or Cluj-Napoca from other parts in Europe.

Cu autobuzul

Even though Romania has not been traditionally seen as a 'bus country', buses are becoming a more and more popular way to reach the country from overseas, especially from the Balkans and the former USSR. Even though trains are still the most popular way of getting to Romania from Central Europe, due to good service, train services to the Balkans and former USSR are of a considerably poorer quality and are less frequent (mainly because railway infrastructure in these countries is a lot poorer than Romania's infrastructure). For this reason, a slew of private bus operators now provide quicker and arguably more comfortable coach services to and from cities such as Chisinau, Kiev, Odessa, Sofia and Istanbul.

A general rule of the thumb on whether you should use bus or train is this: if trains are available just as frequently, and at around the same price, and take around the same amount of time, then definitely use them. Otherwise, consider the buses.

Entry Requirements

Entry requirements to Romania in the past few years have been liberalised, and consequently, citizens of the European Union (not including the countries joining in 2004) can stay in the country without a visa indefinitely. Citizens of the United States of America, Canada, Japan and Switzerland can stay up to 90 days with no visa. Nationals from Turkey can stay up to 60 days in Romania, while those of most former-Communist Eastern European countries can stay up to 30 days.

These visa requirements are fairly stable, and are not set to change dramatically in the next few years, even though there is sure to be a change into visa requirements to countries that are joining the EU in 2004 and 2007. Also, the fact that Romania is joining the EU in 2007 is bound to change its entry requirements.

Get around

Getting around Romania is easy and quick, despite the large distances in comparison to other European countries. This is because transport infrastructure has vastly improved in the recent years, and, with the onset of many private operators, transport is both competitive, quick and of quality.

Trains

The easiest, most comfortable and usually cheapest, fastest and most rewarding way of intercity travel is by train. Romania's railway network is one of the largest and most dense in Europe, with trains servicing every town and city in the country, and a vast majority of the villages.

Trains are run by the state carrier, Caile Ferate Romane, abbreviated as CFR. All CFR train services, except the "Personal" trains, which stop at every station and are awfully slow, are of an impressively high quality. The "Personal" trains stop at every stations and are your only option when travelling to small villages, and, even though they do make very original and rememberable experiences, are usually not-so-comfortable and very slow, albeit very cheap. The other train types, which are, in order of quality, "Accelerat", "Rapid" and "InterCity" are usually of high standard. If you can, use InterCity trains, which link all the major cities of the country with Bucharest. These trains are of a Western European standard and are incredibly clean and modern, with automatic doors, futuristic ecological toilets, air conditioning, ergonomic seats, free newspapers and all the other bells and whistles. Also, they are reasonably cheap and are increasingly used by Romanians (and tourists) on business trips. The "Rapid" and "Accelerat" trains should be your second choice - they stop at more stops, but serve more destinations, and, although being a little bit more traditional, are still very comfortable, especially in first class.If possible try to aviod "Sageata Albastra" if you plan to ride for a longer distance because altough very modern it`s not too confortable.Stick to "Intercity" or "Rapid" instead.Also remember that the difference between first class and secxond class even for Intercity`s on long distance is no more than a few euros so go with first class,because it`s usually less crowded.

For up-to-date timetable information, see the CFR Web site.

Talk

The official language of Romania is Romanian, which is a Romance language and the closest spoken language to Latin. Minority languages spoken in Romania are Hungarian, German and Romany (the language of the Roma, or Gypsies). German is a language that you will rarely need to use towards native speakers, as the German population is declining, even though it is still learnt widely as a foreign language, and due to formerly large minority populations, is used as a second or third official language is many parts of Transylvania. Romany is never used officially, and very rarely ever used in a spoken manner, because nearly all Roma know Romanian, and that is the language they are expected to speak at most times when dealing with non-Gypsies.

Hungarian is used fairly widely in Transylvania, and if you know it, then you are at an advantage, because many people, even Romanians, speak it, and it is widely used as a both official and unofficial second language in counties such as Covasna and Harghita, as well as in cities such as Oradea and Cluj-Napoca.

The Romanian language is generally seen as a difficult language to both learn and pronounce, and nearly all non-Romanians have a very strong accent in Romanian. Trying to learn or speak Romanian can have mixed receptions - some people will love you for it and strongly appreciate the fact that you are making an effort to speak their language, while others will sneer at you for not properly being able to speak what they see as a very 'easy' and phonetic language. The fact that Romanian is phonetic is true, and its written form is fairly easy to grasp. The Romanian alphabet is nearly exactly the same as the English alphabet, even though it has five extra accented letters, or diacriticals.

Some people however feel that Romanian is a extremely easy language to learn if you already speak a latin based language such as Spanish, French or English. This is especially so in contrast to Romania's Slavic neighbours.

However, there is no need to fear - English is fast becoming a fashion in Romania, and most people, especially the younger generation, speak it with a considerable deal of fluency, both in speaking and writing. Consequently, it is usually good to ask before starting to speak English, but other than that, it is safe to go ahead. French and German are also learnt by most people in schools and are therefore spoken with some level of fluency by some people, but make sure you ask before you start speaking to people in foreign tongue.

If you want to find out some common phrases/words in Romanian, see the Romanian phrasebook.

Spend

The national currency of Romania is the leu (plural lei), which, literally translated, also means lion in Romanian (international code RON for ROmanian New Leu). Due to high inflation and a formerly weak economy (now the economy is growing at 4.5%, five times more than some Western European countries), the leu used to devaluate highly in former years, especially against the US dollar and the euro. Nowadays, it is more stable, but it has reached a stage where Romanians are earning 1.000 lei a month - which is only about 285 euros! On the other hand, inflation has stabilized, with the monthly rate in August 2003 being a healthy 0.3%, an overwhelming improvement over the 5% or more recorded in the past years.

However, Romania is very cheap by Western standards - one US dollar buys about 3,2 lei and a euro buys nearly 3,6. With this, you can buy a lot more in Romania then you can in the West. However, be warned that although you can expect the services and transport to be inexpensive in Romania, buying import products such as a French perfume, an American pair of sport shoes or a Japanese computer is more expensive than in the EU or those respective countries.

When changing money, it is advisable to change at change bureaus, not on the black market, which, although in decline, is still apparent on the streets. Change rates are often consistent across places, but not always across time, as they can change significantly from day to day on occasion due to the nature of the leu. Typically this is not a problem, the rates don't fluctuate violently anymore, for instance since mid-2002 until mid-2003 one US Dollar went from buying 33,500 lei to 32,500 lei, while the Euro fluctuated from 31,300 to 38,000 lei. If this happened throught 52 weeks, and the economy is in a continuous process of stabilizing itself on a healthy base, it's easy to conclude that during an average vacation of a few weeks in Romania the exchange rates will typically not fluctuate significantly. But if you want to make the best of the hard currency in your pocket, make sure you always exchange hard currency into lei as late as possible. For instance, do not change your whole budget into lei in the first day of visit, go to the exchange office at least once a week to take advantage of the changes in the exchange rate. As shown above, this will not result in any spectacular savings, typically less than 1.5-2% for less than a month's stay, so depending on your expected budget, it might not be worth the trouble. You should however shop around a bit for good exchange rates, some exchange offices in obvious places such as the airport may try to take advantage of the average tourist's lack of information when setting the exchange rate. Also, prior to leaving for Romania take a look at the official exchange rate on the National Bank of Romania's site for a rough estimate of what exchange rates you should expect (typical exchange offices should not list differences larger than 2-3% from the official exchange rate). Also, when picking an exchange office, make sure it has a visible sign saying "COMISION 0%"; Romanian exchange offices typically don't charge an extra commission apart from the difference between the buy and sell rates, and they are also required by law to display a large visible sign stating their commission, so if you don't see such a sign or if they charge something extra, keep going. Choosing a reasonable exchange office, which is not hard to do with the data in this paragraph, can save you as much as 10%, so this is worth observing.

Inflation has struck Romania in many places, and some prices are as high as those in Western Europe, but this is often reserved to luxuries, accomodation, technology, and, to an extent, restaurants. However, food and transport remain very cheap, as do general shopping, especially in markets or outside the capital Bucharest.

The best places to shop for food are markets - food sold here is brought fresh from the country, and, by buying it, you are both supporting local farmers and consuming something that it fresh and in the overwhelming majority of the cases natural and organic. However, some tourists can't resist Romania's supermarket temptation, especially in Bucharest. Supermarkets are a relatively new thing in Romania, but this ensures that nearly all of them are so modern and sparkling clean, with brightly lit aisles, neat shelves and smooth-gliding trolleys, that you may find it hard to look away and head for the markets!

However, shopping in supermarkets is usally much more expensive, and not half as fun, as you don't have the chance to haggle. Despite this, all Romanian supermarkets sell products of very high quality, and usually make for a very quiet, clean and white shopping experience that can best be likened to duty free shopping in airports at night.

Remeber, however, to not confuse supermarkets with food-stores called 'alimentara' - nowadays, 'alimentara' also refers to supermarkets, but there is a difference - supermarkets are usually large and brightly lit, with electronic checkouts and trolleys, while 'alimentara' are dim, old Communist-era shops that are a bit cheaper but a lot less fun to use. These shops, which can best be compared to cornershops, may be your best hope if living in the suburbs or in smaller towns. But, despite their seemingly poorer appearance, they sell good-quality food, and besides, most of them have been renovated anyway to the point that they are still not as aesthetically-pleasing as supermarkets but just as wide-ranging, modern and functional.

Eat

Romanian food is distinct yet familiar to most people, as it has some unique elements to it but, fundamentally, it is similar to the gastronomies of other European countries.