Going to Bucharest

What to do in Bucharest

by Andrea Minarcek

Since Romania joined the European Union in 2007, the capital city of Bucharest has undergone rapid-fire modernization. Glass-and-steel skyscrapers rise up alongside medieval churches and Communist-era concrete buildings, and the city's growing economy has reenergized the population with a slew of young professionals. But all these changes aside, Bucharest still reflects the rural nature of Romania. This is a country, after all, where horses and carts file along dirt lanes, and pyramids of hay and grazing sheep dot the undeveloped green hillsides. This provincial spirit is honored in Bucharest at sites like the Village Museum, a reconstructed traditional community built in 1934 with old-fashioned churches and mills, and the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, which focuses on traditional crafts, decorations, and furniture.

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