Oh mercy, now time to address the heavyweight Romanian travel writer of them all, Leif Pettersen. My first travel guide I ever used in Romania was from the Lonely Planet and it is the one I still see most often clutched in tourists’ hands. And it is this same Leif Pettersen who has done a large share of the writing and researching that goes into … Continue reading Crappy Travel Guides: Leif Pettersen of Lonely Planet
From here, which is mostly a review of a Romanian movie, comes this anecdote from Lea Lane, an American who brags about being a travel writer for over 30 years. This is yet another example of the kind of thing I’m talking about when it comes to the quality of written travel guides to this country (in English). Our riverboat stops at a small Romanian … Continue reading Crappy Guides to Romania: Lea Lane
Many moons ago when I landed in Romania, knowing but a single word of the local language, I carried under my arm a well-thumbed guidebook written in English to help me and yes, even to guide me. Unfortunately, it was full of errors and misinformation and even caused a slightly hairy scene with one of my hosts when he saw a photograph of a peasant … Continue reading Crappy Guides to Romania – Tim Dowling of The Guardian
Well I’ve flown out of there twice now this year so time for a current (for now) guide to Romania’s busiest and biggest airport, officially called Henri Coanda Airport. Despite serving Bucharest, it is actually located near a tiny village named Otopeni in the next judet (“state”). For years and years and years the airport was called Otopeni (oh-toe-pen) as well. The airport’s international three-digit … Continue reading My Guide to Otopeni Airport
If you ever find yourself in a Romanian city of a decent size, sooner or later you’re going to see a lot of buses trundling about and you may begin to wonder how you too can climb aboard and enjoy the adventure as you are whisked on your way by the reliable and earth-friendly scions of public transportation. The first thing you need to know … Continue reading How to Ride a City Bus in Romania
All Things Romania 