We were very lucky in that we had friends in Bucharest who helped us find the perfect apartment. It’s really important to take care in choosing a Bucharest nest, probably more than anywhere else we’ve stayed. The good thing is that Bucharest is inexpensive, so this really is the place to go upscale.

Location is key. Our apartment was at Piata Unirii, and we loved where we were. We were right by metro, trolley and bus lines. We were near to lots of shops, and very close to the Old Town. The area was safe, and the beautiful fountains were right outside our door. Another place I’d consider would be just north of the Old Town, near Victoria Avenue. That’s where the big name hotels are, so there are lots of nice restaurants and you’ll be near museums and music venues. North along Victoria Avenue is generally the more upscale part of the city, and can be very nice. I’d avoid south of Piata Unirii and the area around the train station, especially west because it’s a little grittier and there’s not a lot of things in those areas that are interesting for nesting. While Old Town itself is fun, it can be very, very noisy at night.

The next thing to consider is the building. Bucharest had a terrible earthquake in 1977 and there are still hundreds of condemned buildings in the city. Condemned buildings have a large red, white or black dot painted on them (unless the landlord painted them out.) Unscrupulous landlords have been known to rent out apartments in these buildings on AirBnB and services like that and the tenants don’t know. We were on a tour our first week there and met a couple who didn’t know that the AirBnB they were staying in was in a condemned building. It’s important to know that the building you are renting in is safe. It’s good to see a picture of the outside of the building.

Apartments built in the communist era are very often very poor quality. It’s said that you can hear every word your neighbor says, and smell what they are smoking and what they are making for dinner. If you can find a place in a new building, that would be a good choice. Our apartment was communist era, but was on the main avenue down from the Parliament of the People, and so was built as a luxury, upscale apartment for the time. Even our Romanian friends commented on how quiet it was. Anyway, it would be helpful to know when the building was built and also get assurances that it is quiet.

Even with all that, you have to be a little bit patient. Utilities are not as reliable as you will most likely be used to. In our building, we had electrical outages twice, water outages three times, and for three days, the elevators didn’t work. (We were on the 7th floor!) People would just shrug and say, “Well, that’s Romania.”