1. Romania is home to the world’s most stunning road
According to Jeremy Clarkson, English broadcaster, journalist, and writer, Romania has the “world’s best driving road”. The road he is talking about is a winding stretch of road in the Transfagarasan highway.
It is quite a site to see: the road is complete with tunnels, bridges and viaducts (which is similar to aqueducts if you are familiar with those). Even though it is a cool road to see, it can be tricky to drive down due to the hairpin twists and turns that you have to navigate through.
2. And the world’s heaviest building
The Palace of the Parliament has been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the heaviest building in the world. And weighing in at 9.0356 x 109 pounds, it is unlikely that there will be a heavier building ever, or at least not anytime soon! Today the Palace of the Parliament is an administrative building.
It is the second largest administrative building, second only to the Pentagon. You can enter only through a guided tour, and it is a good idea to book tickets ahead of time. You will also need to bring your passport to be able to tour the building. The tour will last about 45 minutes.
3. Romanians love good coffee…
Italians claim espresso, but actually the automatic steam espresso coffee machine (the first espresso machine) was created by a man named Francesco Illy. Illy was not Italian, but was born in Timisoara, Romania. Admittedly, he was not Romanian either, he was Hungarian. Italy claims espresso, however, because Francesco moved to Italy to open his first Illy Caffe.
4. And good booze!
Romania has been named the fifth booziest country in the world, only behind other Eastern European countries: Belarus, Russia, Moldova, and Lithuania. The average Romanian consumes 14.4 liters of pure alcohol a year! Romania also is a leading producer of wine and ranks 16th for wine consumption. Finally, Romania ranks 10th in wine production!
5. Roaming in Romania is Europe’s largest mammal!
The European bison was hunted almost to extinction, but it was recently reintroduced in several countries, including Romania. These giants weigh up to 1,400 pounds and can be found in the Tarcu range of the Carpathian Mountains.
6. Romania has one of the largest populations of brown bears
Aside from the bison, if you go to Romania, you could see Europe’s largest brown bears! Not only are they large, but there are a lot of them. Worldwide, there are only about 200,000 brown bears. Romania has roughly 6,000 of them, forming the largest population of brown bears in Europe outside of Russia.
7. Romania has super fast internet
On your cell phone at least – Romania has great 4G speed. A study was done by OpenSignal, comparing the internet speed of 78 countries, and Romania ranked fourth! We will tell you now, Romania’s internet speed is faster than the vast majority of the US and Britain.
9. Romania also has quite a rail network
Romania is only the 81st largest country in the world, but it has the 15th most extensive rail system on the planet. This is great if you are traveling to Romania and want to see as much of the country as you can!
10. Romania has plenty of beautiful churches
Seven of Romania’s churches have even been named as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of the named churches is Sapanta Peri, which is the tallest wooden church in the world. Also on the list are the eight churches of northern Moldavia – these are adorned with gorgeous frescos and are so beautiful that the Voronet Monastery has been nicknamed Romania’s Sistine Chapel.
11. Romania also has the biggest Gothic church around!
The Black Church of Brasov was built in the 1500s and is the largest Gothic church in Eastern Europe. There is no other church that comes close to its size between Italy and Istanbul. Now, before you get worried, it is called the Black Church because its walls were darkened n a fire that nearly destroyed in entirely in 1689. Inside the church you will find a huge Bucholz organ and the largest collection of oriental carpets in Europe.
12. Romania has the best preserved delta in all of Europe
If you aren’t sure, a delta is “a triangular tract of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river, typically where it diverges into several outlets.” The delta that we are talking about is the Danube Delta, found in southern Romania, rolling into the Black Sea. The Danube is quite impressive – it has 23 natural ecosystems and from March through September it is visited by over 300 bird species!
13. Romania has an underground glacier hidden in its mountains!
You read that right – the Scarisoara Glacier is deep within the Bihor Mountains. Weighing in at a total of 75,000 cubic meters, the glacier has been there for over 3,500 years and is the second largest underground glacier in Europe. Even though it is underground, you can still visit and see it! That is because it is within the Scarisoara Cave, which is a huge ice cave.
14. Romania has a museum that allows you to walk through an entire village
It is called the Astra Museum of Folk Civilization. This is a traditional open-air folk museum and one of the biggest in all of Europe. There a many traditional village houses that you can walk inside. In this museum, you really get a sense of what it was like to live in Romania before it was modernized. It allows you to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city and gives you a sense of serenity.
One piece of advice though is to not visit on a Monday. On Mondays, the price is the same as every other day, but most of the homes in the museum are closed, so you won’t get the full experience if you go on a Monday.