Things to see – Bucharest

Driving around the city centre in Bucharest, you wouldn’t be wrong in sensing that the place has an air of French influence about it, for example the wide boulevarded streets and the Arcul de Triumf.  This is because the aristocracy in the past used to send their kids to France for studies and they in turn imported French ideas and designs.  The Arcul de Triumf is an example of this and was built in 1922 to commemorate the dead from Romania’s Great War. 

Another example is the Carol I Park which was designed by the French landscape artist Eduard Redont and installed by the city’s authorities from 1900-6.  Today it is dominated by the massive Monument to the Heroes of the Struggle for Freedom and Socialism. 

Driving north of the city, you’ll come across Herastrau Park which extends for 187 hectares from the Arcul de Triumf to the Baneasa Bridge.  The lake in the park is also called Baneasa lake.  Ban in Romanian means prince and Baneasa is a little less than a prince.  Herastrau Park is a nice place for strolling around and you could also take a ride in the lake.

Helen