By air: State-owned Tarom is Romania’s main carrier. Based in Timişoara, Carpatair also runs domestic flights. Sometimes return fares are only slightly more than one-way fares.

By rail: Rail has long been the most popular way of travelling around Romania. Căile Ferate Române runs trains over 11,000km of track, providing services to most cities, towns and larger villages in the country. Its website lists timetables. Sosire means arrivals and plecare is departures. On posted timetables, the number of the platform from which each train departs is listed under linia.

Buying tickets:
Tickets are sold in advance for all trains except local personal ones. Advance tickets are sold at an Agenţie de Voiaj CFR, a train-ticket office found in every city centre. When the ticket office is closed you have to buy your ticket immediately before departure at the station.

Theoretically you can buy tickets at CFR offices up to two hours before departure. Sometimes they don’t sell tickets for same-day trips, so try to plan a day ahead.

If you have an international ticket right through Romania, you’re allowed to make stops along the route but you must purchase a reservation ticket each time you reboard an accelerat or rapid train. If the international ticket was issued in Romania, you must also pay the expres train supplement each time.

By bus: A mix of buses, microbuses and maxitaxis combine to form the Romanian and Moldovan bus systems spread across a changing array of bus companies. Finding updated information can be difficult without local help. Sometimes the bus stations (autogară) themselves move around, particularly the migratory lots from which maxitaxis depart. Posted timetables are often out of date; it’s better to ask someone.

SUV-sized maxitaxis have emerged this decade. They usually fit 10 to 20 people and tend to rush along the same routes as buses, but often lack any real storage space.

By tram: Trams and trolleybuses provide transport within most towns and cities in Romania, although many are crowded. They usually run from about 5am to midnight, although services can get thin after 7pm in more remote areas. Purchase tickets at street kiosks marked bilete or casă de bilete before boarding, and validate them once aboard. Some tickets are good for one trip; others are for two trips, each end of the ticket being valid for one ride. Tickets cost from €0.20 to €0.35.

If you travel without a validated ticket or with no ticket at all you risk a €10 on-the-spot fine.

By bicycle: Intercity roads are generally in decent condition but are often more trafficked than the hellish roads inside villages and towns. Take note that motorists are not as used to sharing roads with cyclists as in some western countries, and may drive accordingly.

It’s possible to hire or buy bicycles in most major towns, for €5 to €12 per day. Many towns have bike-repair shops, but it’s not a bad idea to bring spare parts.

Bicycles can be taken on trains. Most trains have a baggage car, marked by a suitcase symbol on train timetables. Bicycles stored here have to be labeled with your name, destination and the bicycle’s weight. But it is easier and safer simply to take your bicycle on the train with you. On local and express trains there is plenty of room at either end of the carriage next to the toilet. Don’t block passageways. You might be charged a minimal ‘bulky luggage’ fee.

By car: Many roads are best suited to 4WD; some mountain roads require it. But driving allows access to some pockets of rural villages and mountains that are hard to reach otherwise.

Only drive if your car is in good shape and has been serviced recently. Romania has only a few short stretches of motorway. Some major roads have been resurfaced, but many remain in a shockingly poor, potholed condition. Secondary roads can become dirt tracks, and mountain and forestry roads can be impassable after heavy rain. While roads are being repaved all the time, roughly half of the country’s roads are unpaved – and paved ones are sometimes rougher than dirt roads.

Western-style petrol stations are easy to come by (but fill ’er up before heading on long trips through the mountains or remote village areas). A litre of unleaded 95E costs about €1. Most stations accept credit cards.

By Local Transport - Horse Carts: In many rural parts the only vehicles that pass will be horse- or donkey-powered. Horse and cart is the most popular form of transport in Romania and you will see numerous carts, even in cities (although some downtown areas are off-limits to them).

Some recommended dishes:

• Mamaliga (polenta) – (a bread substitute)
• Saramura - grilled carp in brine
• Sarmale - cabbage leaves are used to wrap minced meat, rice, onions and spices
• Tocanita or tochitura -  meat stew seasoned with onions and/ or spices
• Zacusca - popular dish made of vegetables      

• Black Church (Braşov, Romania)
• Churches of Moldavia (Moldavia, Romania)
• Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains (Transylvania, Romania)
• Danube Delta (Tulcea, Romania)
• Great Synagogue (Timişoara, Romania)
• The Black Sea Coast (Romania)

• Embassy of Romania in Singapore (email: comofrom@starhub.net.sg)
• Romania Tourism
• Lonely Planet Romania