I’m proud to say that I’m a female solo traveler. I’ve always been very independent, but I’ve never had the courage to make a solo trip abroad, until April 16: on that day I went on my first solo travel abroad to Bucharest, the heart of Romania.

This travel was a double challenge for me: demonstrating that I’m capable of traveling alone and, most of all, demonstrating to everybody that Romania is absolutely safe if you’re a female solo traveler.

I guess I could talk about this experience for an entire day, but I’ll try to keep it short and give you important information and tips to arrange a solo trip to this beautiful city that just needs to be discovered!

✳️ Is Romania safe for solo female travelers?

All I can say is that I’m so grateful to have chosen this city for my solo trip: I’ve never felt unsafe walking alone, Romanians are very welcoming, and be sure that if you need help, you will find a Romanian ready to help you. Romania has so many things to offer, it’s only up to us to go there and discover them all.

And I guess that on a solo trip you never stop meeting new people and that day I had the chance to meet so many of them, especially the guide who knew that I was there alone and, therefore, we spent all the free time together talking (in my funny Romanian) about so many different things.

✳️ Can I use Euro in Romania?

Even though Romania is in Europe, they don’t have Euros. Instead, they use a currency called the Romanian leu. But don’t worry because a credit card is accepted everywhere, so you can survive easily without changing your money.

✳️ How can I go downtown from the airport?

The airport “Henri Coanda” is well connected to the city center with 🚌 the 783 bus that goes back and forth every 20 minutes, so let the adventure begin: I got on the bus and in half an hour I arrived at the hotel (Tip #1: always book a hotel located in the very city center so you would feel safe going out at night or simply coming back to the hotel after dinner, and in this city, you can find a lot of good-for-value hotels).

✳️ Where are your favorite places in Bucharest?

After checking in, I immediately started to explore the city Bucharest has a lot of streets full of cafes, cute shops, and beautiful places.

1. Grand Café Van Gogh

The most beautiful cafes in Bucharest

2. The Carturesti Carusel

One of the most beautiful libraries in Europe.

3. Parliament of Romania

The Parliament is actually the heaviest building in the world (Tip #2: it’s definitely worth a visit inside, the interior is very pompous and if you’re a student the ticket is only 4€). It was quite far from the city center. But, despite all, I’ve never felt unsafe walking down the street alone and the Romanian people, 😀as I expected, were so kind, some men even changed the sidewalk so they wouldn’t give me the impression they were following me and I really appreciated it.

4.  Bran Castle

It is called Dracula’s Castle

5.  Peles Castle

The most beautiful castle I have ever seen so far. If you come to Bucharest, you need to visit these two castles. So the next morning I took part in this tour to the two castles and the city of Brasov, and visiting these places covered with snow was the cherry on the cake. Romania is one of the most beautiful countries to good to go to during the Christmas season.

6. The ethnographic museum of Dimitrie Gusti

On the last day, I left the hotel early so I could have one last walk to the city that, apparently, at 10 am is still sleeping and I walked for almost 10 km until the last attraction: the ethnographic museum of Dimitrie Gusti. This is an open-air museum where there is a village made of small houses coming from all parts of 19th-century Romania. The ticket is only 4€ euros and I’ve been there until the afternoon when I took the bus to the airport and said goodbye to this city.

✳️ Could you recommend a restaurant that is good to go?

🍷 Caru' cu bere restaurant

Finally, dinner time has come and I want to be honest with you, I was a little bit “afraid” that people would judge me for going to a restaurant alone, but I was wrong because basically, no one looked at the in a bad or “pity” way.

I went to the restaurant Caru’ cu bere which is considered one of the most beautiful restaurants in the city and it really was. The food is amazing, the waiters were very kind, and every now and then there were dancers and singers going around in the restaurant and interacting with customers.  

After dinner, on my way back to the hotel, I decided to have a walk through the cute streets of the center taking some pictures.

If you are planning to go on your first solo trip, I strongly recommend Romania as the country that you are looking for. As a woman traveler,  you feel safe, see beautiful scenery and meet kind people. You feel welcomed wherever you go.

👩 Denise Laniro is from Italy. After her first solo trip to Romania, she falls in love with this country.  She loves to travel around the world and meet people. Do you want to follow up on her next trip? Then find her in the NomadHer community. She is waiting for women travelers to share their travel stories and inspiration right now! You can connect to her through the NomadHer community now!