Living România · The Good Life
The good life. Ten ways Romania surprises.
Wine from vineyards thousands of years old, chef-led restaurants, Belle Époque palaces, world-class theatre, mountains and hot springs. Here are ten areas of the good life in Romania, each with what is worth seeing, tasting and doing, and facts checked against sources.
Taste
Wine, food, and the cafés and bars of Bucharest.
01 · The good lifeNewWine, freedom and love in Romania: the wine road, fairy-tale towns, the Danube and a wedding that lasts till dawnThe EU's sixth-largest wine producer that drinks its own wine, a wine road less than an hour from Balotești, a medieval citadel, the Danube between mountains and a Romanian wedding.
02 · The good lifeNewFood, Michelin and everything in between: Bucharest's new chefs, the Romanian classics and where the scene is headingNo Michelin star yet, 25 places to stay in the Keys selection, new Romanian cuisine in Bucharest, the classics worth tasting and products with a protected name.
10 · The good lifeNewCafés, bars and nightlife in Bucharest: from specialty coffee on Lipscani to a rooftop view and a club till dawnSpecialty coffee since 2013, a beer hall whose story began in 1879, a rooftop bar above Lipscani and clubs open until six in the morning. With average prices.Culture and beauty
Architecture, art, fashion, theatre and music.
03 · The good lifeNewArchitecture in Romania: from a Brâncovenesc palace near Bucharest to the wooden churches of MaramureșA 1702 palace 23 minutes from Balotești, the 1888 Athenaeum, Peleș Castle in Sinaia, and three UNESCO sites of fortified, painted and wooden churches.
04 · The good lifeNewArt in Romania: from Brâncuși in Târgu Jiu to the painters of ClujThe Endless Column in Târgu Jiu joined the UNESCO list in 2024, a Brâncuși sculpture sold for $107.6 million, and Bucharest has opened the first Romanian Art Week.
05 · The good lifeNewFashion in Romania: from the embroidered blouse on the UNESCO list to Sibiu's fashion weekThe hand-embroidered ia joined the UNESCO list in 2022, Matisse painted it in 1940 and Dior caused an uproar in 2017. And there is more: designers, Sibiu and shopping in Bucharest.
06 · The good lifeNewTheatre in Romania: Sibiu's giant festival, Bucharest's stages and the Yiddish stage848 events in 10 days in Sibiu, a National Theatre from 1852, Yiddish theatre with roots in 1876, and tickets from 30 to 120 lei. And what about the language.
07 · The good lifeNewMusic in Romania: from Enescu and the Athenaeum to UNTOLD, Bucharest minimal and the doinaA hall from 1888, a classical festival from 1958, festival fields of hundreds of thousands, Bucharest's minimal sound and the doina protected by UNESCO.Nature and rest
Mountains, the Delta, hot springs and spas.
08 · The good lifeNewNature and mountains in Romania: the Carpathians, the bears, the Transfăgărășan and the Danube DeltaMore than half of the Carpathians, about 10,000 to 13,000 bears, a road above 2,000 metres, a 1,600 km trail and a UNESCO delta, with the mountains starting about 105 km from Balotești.
09 · The good lifeNewSpa and wellness in Romania: from Therme near home to a warm salt lake and an underground salt mineTherme ten minutes from home, the baths of Hercules, a salt lake that is warmer at depth and a salt mine with a Ferris wheel. And what is closed right now.The information in this section is general. Opening hours, prices and programmes change, so check the venue website before you go. Correct as of 23 October 2026.