What to do in Bucharest: three places to visit outside the city

Ladies, summer weekends are born to be spent outside the city. I want all our fellow wanderlusts from Bucharest to discover the city surroundings, they hide bits and pieces of the country’s history and charming characters. I thought I’d walk the talk this year and show you what you can visit in less than a day.

Mogoșoaia, the Green Park, Host of A Gorgeous Brâncovenescu Castle

I always wanted to visit this green park just outside Bucharest. It’s chic, it has a lake and lots of great places to hide from the sun. The focus point is the castle, built in the Brâncovenesc style, also known as Wallachian Renaissance and Romanian Renaissance at the end of the 17th century. The style found its glory during a Romanian ruler named Constantin Brâncoveanu, known as a founding father for a lot of monasteries. It was rebuilt and taken care of by an intriguing woman of the beginning of the 20th century, Martha Bibescu, a beautiful woman and a great writer of the age.

Stone book cover, They would not let me read it.

Bits and pieces of folklore scattered around the rooms.

Romanian castles look nothing like the western European ones. You find folklore pieces everywhere.

How to get there: by car, about 45 minutes ride from Bucharest
Tickets: 15 Lei entrance to visit the castle, it takes about 45 minutes.

Câmpina, a Stylish Small City, Host a Temple Built For The Spirit of A Prodigy Daughter

Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, a Romanian writer and philologist, a pioneer in many branches of Romanian philology and history, built a temple in memory of his 18 year old daughter. His daughter, a prodigy on her own (she wrote on philosophy, sang, was a poet), Iulia died of tuberculosis. His father is said to have built this place at her command. He was in deep mourning and claimed he could talk with her spirit, that her spirit gave him instructions on how to build it.

Start by taking a walk through the castle backyard. If you visit during the spring, you can find your zen on these traditional wooden chairs&table.

The entrance to the castle welcomes you with Galileo Galilei’s famous quote ‘E pur si muove'(And yet, it spins!).

Once you enter the temple-castle, you are welcomed by Jesus and a constellation of stars.

How to get there: by car, 1.5h ride from Bucharest

Tickets: 10 Lei entrance to visit the castle and its surroundings.

Târgoviște, The Former Capital City Where Ceaușescu Found His End.

The small city is the home of almost 80,000 people. Once known as a capital city of the old Țara Românească (a region of Romania) it housed its king. That is why you can visit the ruins of the former medieval court and Turnul Chindiei, a tower built by Vlad Țepeș (the inspiration for Bram Stokers count Dracula). Climb the stairs to the top to get the panoramic view of the tower rumored to house the remains of one of the most violent Romanian rulers, known to sentence to death by spearing anyone who dared harm his people.

That’s why it seems almost fitting that Ceaușescu, the communist dictator, found his end in this small city on a cold Christmas day. He was sentenced to death by an impromptu jury and was shot in a military base near the city’s train station. The base is now a museum, you can visit it and see the actual shooting range.

Old communist coat of arms

Cavalry knights have to be riders AND knights. Once a simple military base for knights of the Romanian Army, this base was turned into a law court and a shooting range.