A good place to stay are Hotel International, Mercure or NH hotel. Those hotels are close to each other and offer parking places and easy access to the center.
The first night we stayed at Hotel International, second night at Mercure Hotel.
Walking route and landmarks:
Bulevardul Unirii (Boulevard of the unification): walking along the long boulevard in the morning sun. This day there was a marathon in Bucharest and most of the streets have been closed for cars.
Palatul Parlamentului: with 330.000 m² builded space the second largest government administration building in the world, the largest is the Pentagon. I am wondering how a small country needs such a large building for the administration work…
We passed the park “Parcul Izvor” and continued on Bulevardul Natiunile Unite, crossed the Dambovita river and then on Calea Victoriei. Palarul CEC Bank is one of the beautiful buildings on that street with a glass dome. On the opposite side is Zlatari church, one of the old churches of Bucharest center. It was mentioned first in 1667 and after several restoration it is one of the representative buildings for the Constantinopolitan style developed in Romania with oriental ornaments and influence.
For our morning coffee, we visited Origi coffee, a lively café offering specialty coffee from Ethiopia, Kenya and Burundi. You can choose from various brewing methods and various small sweet side dishes.
We walked back to Lipscani, the “old Bucharest” town center which grew during the 17th century around the Curtea Veche Domneasca, a boyar palace. Many shops, restaurants and bars line up between various 19th century monumental buildings, among them the University, its bibliotheca, several museums and the national bank.
Biserica St. Nicolae, or Biserica Rusa, a Russian church with beautiful golden domes which makes you feel like in Moscow. The church was donated by Tsar Nikolaus II and build between 1906-1909.
Biserica Buna Vestire, build 1559 is the oldest church of the city. It is build from red bricks and white stones in typical Wallachian – byzantine architecture style. The church is located next to Curtea Veche Domneasca, the Lord Draculas palace and was used for inaugurations of several kings. The ruins of Draculas palace are closed for renovation – not know how long it will take.
Biserica Stavropoleos is another small church located in the center. It is small but full of beauty and small treasures. All over painted with fescues, the altar is smaller as the others but rich in details.
Caru cu Bere is an old brewery and restaurant. Besides local dishes and house-brewed beer in traditional atmosphere the guests can enjoy life music. That day classic Hungarian and Russian violin and piano. Great!
Paine si Vin was the last stop of our day tour. Fresh house made bread and pizza with specialties from Romanian farmers. You can choose from handcrafted wine from all over the county.