Air
Romania’s national airline is Tarom
(RO).
Other airlines that fly to Bucharest include Air France, Alitalia,
Austrian Airlines, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa and Swiss.
Approximate flight times
Approximate times are as follows:
From Bucharest to London is 3 hours.
International airports
Bucharest
(BUH) (Otopeni) is 16km (10 miles) north of the city (travel
time – 25 minutes). The airport has been very much updated
in recent years, but some visitors may find it somewhat limited
compared to Western European or American standards. A bar, snack
bar, restaurant, left luggage, first aid, post office, car hire
and full duty free services are available. There is an express bus
service (bus no. 783) which runs every 15 minutes between 0530-2330
Monday-Friday and every 30 minutes Saturday-Sunday and holidays;
the journey takes roughly 40 minutes. Taxis, minibuses and limousines
are available 24 hours (travel time – 25 minutes).
There
are also international airports at Arad
(ARW), Constanta (CND) (Mihail Kogalniceanu),
Cluj (CLJ), Sibiu (SBZ) and
Timisoara (TSR).
Departure tax
None
Sea
The main international passenger port is Constanta on
the Black Sea.
Sea ferries
Not running at present. Contact the Romanian
National Tourist Office for up-to-date information (see Contact
Addresses section).
River cruises
Sailings from Passau to Constanta on the Black
Sea along the Danube are available; these stop at a variety
of places of interest, including Budapest,
Bazias, Bratislava, Giurgiu,
Vienna, Calafat and Bucharest.
The cruises include different itineraries: archaeological sites,
historic towns, monasteries, art collections, museums, folk evenings,
nature reserves, spas and of course, the dramatic scenery of Eastern
Europe, including the ‘Iron Gate’ through the Carpathians.
With the opening of the Main-Danube Canal, some companies now
offer travel as far west as Rotterdam along the Rhine. For further
information, contact the Romanian Tourism Promotion Office (see
Contacts
section).
Rail
The main international train from Western Europe to Romania
(Bucharest) is the Wiener Waltzer, which runs
to Bucharest only in summer (June to September) and includes
2 nights’ travel from Basel, arriving in Bucharest
2 days later. There are no through carriages from Basel,
which means moving to the Bucharest coaches in Vienna. As well
as day carriages, there are sleeping cars from Vienna to both
Bucharest and Constanta on the Black Sea coast. There
are also trains from other Eastern European cities. InterRail
allows unobstructed train travel in Romania.
Road
The most direct international routes to Romania
are through Austria, Germany
and Hungary. The best route from Hungary is the
E64 from Budapest to Szeged through Arad, Campina, Brasov and
Ploiesti. There is also a route from Szeged to Timisoara. A more
frequently used route from Hungary to Germany is via the E60 through
Oradea. Eurolines, departing from Victoria
Coach Station in London, serves destinations in Romania. For additional
information, contact Eurolines
(tel: (08705) 143 219; e-mail: welcome@eurolines.co.uk).
For permit regulations, see Documentation in the Getting
Around – Internal Travel section. |
