Driving Romania

Mike07

Has anyone driven through Romania? Is bucharest as bad as I have heard?---One recent comment I heard was "If you havnt been in a headon collision, you havnt driven in Romania"

If you have, did you rent & can you recommend?

steppen

Mike07 wrote:

Has anyone driven through Romania? Is bucharest as bad as I have heard?---One recent comment I heard was "If you havnt been in a headon collision, you havnt driven in Romania"

If you have, did you rent & can you recommend?

I live close to it and have driven in it many times, Bucharest is a lottery. One word of advice I would advise you not to forget, when driving in the countryside never stop, no matter what 'accident' you see, keep driving and if you like report it at the nearest police station.

also the police are pretty corrupt, so make sure you find out if the roads you're travelling on require you to buy a sticker to put on your window, some highways require this tax, usually costs about €16

about renting, you can get a car like a suzuki 1.0lt for about €30/day, but be careful..... there are so many con-artists

C_Breeze

Apparantly overtaking is a Big part of daily driving over there and other eastern european countries, so you need a powerfull and torquey car.

Hence all the easter reg cars that we see here are all big TDI's or big 6cyl petrol engines. Beemers and audi's etc.

Im not sure wether that would apply in Bucharest but ceratinly on narrow country roads where a convoy could build up.

..Watch out for gyppos lol

Mike07

Sounds like i'm going to have some fun!!

Cheers folks

watchinpaintdry

While I wasn't the one doing the driving in Bucharest, I spent a good bit of time in the passenger seat there and have to say I thought the local's driving habits were pretty similar to those in Ireland.

oli_ro

steppen wrote:

I live close to it and have driven in it many times, Bucharest is a lottery. One word of advice I would advise you not to forget, when driving in the countryside never stop, no matter what 'accident' you see, keep driving and if you like report it at the nearest police station.

also the police are pretty corrupt, so make sure you find out if the roads you're travelling on require you to buy a sticker to put on your window, some highways require this tax, usually costs about €16

about renting, you can get a car like a suzuki 1.0lt for about €30/day, but be careful..... there are so many con-artists

when was the last time you were there ?

they clamped down on pollice corruption in the last 3-4 years.

you are exagerating a bit. the cases you mention while they are real, they are not very common. it's nowere as bad as Bulgaria or Ukraine.

OP, just be careful and you'll be fine. You'll actually enjoy the trip as Romania has unrivalled scenery.

Post some feedback when you get back.

steppen

oli_ro wrote:

when was the last time you were there ?

they clamped down on pollice corruption in the last 3-4 years.

you are exagerating a bit. the cases you mention while they are real, they are not very common. it's nowere as bad as Bulgaria or Ukraine.

OP, just be careful and you'll be fine. You'll actually enjoy the trip as Romania has unrivalled scenery.

Post some feedback when you get back.

I drive through the countryside frequently, I dont know when was the last time you were there, but i assure you that the incidents I mentioned are quite real, and quite common. Having dealt with police in Hungary and Romania, both traffic cops and patrols I have found that money makes the problem go away, so yes they are corrupt, and will try their luck with foreigners,giving them ridiculous fines.

I havent been in either Bulgaria or the Ukraine, so cannot comment or compare the driving experience there, but what I have described is the one in Romania at present.

oli_ro

steppen wrote:

Having dealt with police in Hungary and Romania, both traffic cops and patrols I have found that money makes the problem go away, so yes they are corrupt, and will try their luck with foreigners,giving them ridiculous fines.

Welcome to Eastern & Southern Europe !

The point I am trying to say is that some corruption and foreigner rip-off is to be expected and part of culture unfortunately. Makes the trip more interesting :-)
If you don't want that go to Finland(lowest corrpution level in Europe).

But that should not stop you going there and enjoying your trip. Just be careful, buy a lonely planet guide and you'll be ok. Romania is a safe country and Bucharest is a nice and vibrant city.
I know a lot of Irish people who visited and loved it.