Travelling to Romania

Getting to Romania is easy from nearly all parts of the world, due to its position between Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the fact that it is served by an array of transport types and companies.

Entry requirements to Romania in the past few years have been liberalized, and consequently, citizens of the European Union, United States of America, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand 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.

To make sure, check the official visa information provided by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Romania has 17 civilian airports, out of which currently 9 are served by scheduled international flights. Bucharest's Henri Coanda (Otopeni) Airport is the largest and busiest, but Aurel Vlaicu ( Baneasa) Airport the second airport of Bucharest, fields as well some flights, direct services to Timisoara , Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Constanta, Bacau, Iasi, Suceava, Targu-Mures, Craiova and Baia Mare being available.

There are three important Romanian airlines:

1. -TAROM, the Romanian flag carrier, based in Bucharest Otopeni offering flights to major cities in Europe and not only, as well internal flights
2. -Carpatair, based in Timisoara, connects this city with Italian, German, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, and Moldova destinations and also has collector/distributor flights to the following Romanian airports: Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Craiova, Constanta, Oradea, Sibiu, Targu Mures, Iasi, Suceava, Satu Mare and Bacau
3. -Blue Air, the only Romanian low-cost airline, based in Bucharest Baneasa offers flights to London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Koln, Stuttgart, Milan, Lyon, Torino, Verona, Treviso, Bologna, Venice, Roma, Torino, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Madrid, Lisbon, Larnaca, Istanbul and has collector/distributor flights to the following Romanian airports: Arad, Sibiu, Bacau and Bucharest.

The Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air, introduced direct flights from London Luton to Bucharest in January 2007. Several others (Wind Jet, My Air, Sky Europe, AlpiEagles, Ryanair) are already operating flights in Romania and Ryanair will start in spring 2008. Easyjet is operating flights from London, Milan and Madrid.

A direct flight is available through Delta Airlines from United States (New York -JFK), the flight being less than 9 hours, Austrian Airlines offering direct flight into Iasi Airport from Vienna. Airfares always depend on the season with the highest being around June to August; fares drop during March to May and September to October, the best prices being during the low season, from November to February (excluding Christmas and New Year when prices are rather high).

Traveling by train from other European countries to Romania takes from 6 hours (Budapest to Timisoara) to about 46 hours (London to Bucharest). Most train tickets allow several stopovers en route so train travel can be an affordable and relaxing way to include Romania in a European trip.

Romanian National Railways (SNCFR) operates service from Bucharest to many European cities. First and second-class sleepers are available for journeys longer than 10 hours and for overnight trains.

Information on train schedules and fares can be found on www.infofer.ro.

For advance ticket reservations please visit RailEurope SelectPass, and Romanian RailPass.

Border crossing between Romania and its western neighbors is just a formality since the joining to European Union. When renting a car in Europe please check with the car rental company about its policy regarding taking the car across national borders.

Insurance can be purchased at any Romanian border crossing point. Documents required by Romanian Customs are the vehicle's registration, proof of insurance and a valid driver's license from the driver's home country.

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, but also from Western Europe, e.g. Germany and Switzerland. 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.

There are many bus routes that connect Bucharest and Romania's main cities with Athens, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, and Vienna. Atlassib is a very well known international bus company.

Several river cruises on Danube are offered by cruise companies based in Germany or Austria, very expensive though, starting from Passau or Vienna and having a final destination in Danube Delta and Black Sea Coast. These cruises will stop in every major port along the road, in Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania.

Once you reached the Danube Delta you can travel by rapid boats, fisherman's boats on endless channels to watch huge colonies of pelicans, cranes or small migratory birds. You can enjoy a local dish, fishermen's borsch prepared using different species of fish. It is the only way to travel around the Danube Delta, and the only way to get to the city of Sulina.

Customs Romanian Customs regulations are in line with those of most European countries. A traveler can enter and leave Romania with up to $10,000 in cash or traveler's checks. Amounts over $10,000 have to be declared at Customs.

• Tobacco: 200 cigarettes (one carton) or 40 cigars
• Liquor: 4 liters of wine or 2 liters of liquor
• 20 rolls of camera film
• A reasonable quantity of gifts
• Medicines for own use

Customs officers do not usually check the luggage of individual travelers or tour groups. However, you must know that, as in any other country, custom officers have the authority to check passports and to conduct enforcement examinations without a warrant, ranging from a single luggage examination to a personal search. More information on customs regulations at www.customs.ro