Learn Romania before you go

10 phrases to learn

In Romanian. Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.

At the table

• Before eating, people wish each other 'Poftă bună' (enjoy your meal).
• When glasses are raised, people say 'Noroc!', which means both cheers and good luck.
• Bread comes with almost every meal, and garlic is everywhere, raw or as the garlic sauce called mujdei.
• Hosts will insist when they offer more food. A first polite 'no' is often not taken as a real no.
• When you are invited into a Romanian home, expect to take your shoes off at the door.
• Many Orthodox Romanians fast on certain days and seasons. Ask for 'mâncare de post' if you want a dish without meat, eggs or dairy.

Local tips

Dishes to try

• Sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls) (sarmale): Sour pickled cabbage leaves (or vine leaves) rolled around minced pork, rice and onion and simmered for hours, often with smoked meat. They are served with mămăligă and sour cream and are often called the national dish.
• Mămăligă (maize porridge) (mămăligă): A thick porridge of yellow maize flour, much like Italian polenta. It is eaten as a side dish instead of bread, or as a meal of its own with salty sheep cheese and sour cream.
• Mici (grilled meat rolls) (mititei or mici): Small skinless rolls of minced beef, lamb and pork seasoned with garlic, thyme and pepper, grilled over charcoal and eaten with mustard, bread and pickles. Mici and mititei both mean "little ones".
• Ciorbă de burtă (sour tripe soup) (ciorbă de burtă): A creamy, sour soup of beef tripe thickened with sour cream and egg yolks, sharpened with vinegar and served with garlic sauce and hot peppers. It is said to be a good cure for a hangover.
• Ciorbă de perișoare (meatball sour soup) (ciorbă de perișoare): A vegetable soup with small meatballs of minced meat and rice, soured with borș and usually flavoured with lovage leaves.
• Zacuscă (roasted vegetable spread) (zacuscă): A thick spread of roasted aubergine and red peppers slowly cooked with onion and tomato. Families make big batches after the autumn harvest and keep it in jars for the winter, to eat on bread.
• Salată de vinete (aubergine salad) (salată de vinete): Aubergines grilled over an open flame until the skin is black, then peeled, chopped very finely and mixed with oil and chopped onion. It is spread on bread, often with tomato slices.
• Tochitură (pork stew with egg and mămăligă) (tochitură): Small cubes of pork and sausage slowly cooked in their own fat and juices, sometimes with a little tomato, and served with mămăligă, salty cheese and a fried egg on top.

Cities to see

• Bucharest (capital): The huge Palace of the Parliament, The Romanian Athenaeum concert hall, Its Arch of Triumph, modelled on the one in Paris.
• Cluj-Napoca: Babeș-Bolyai University, the largest in the country, Being named a UNESCO City of Film in 2021, The Turda salt mine nearby.
• Timișoara: Starting the revolution of December 1989, Electric street lamps as early as 1884, European Capital of Culture in 2023.
• Iași: The Palace of Culture, The linden tree of the poet Mihai Eminescu, Being called the Cultural Capital of Romania.
• Constanța: The Casino on the seafront, The statue of the Roman poet Ovid, who died in exile here, Its port, the largest on the Black Sea.
• Brașov: The Gothic Black Church, Council Square in the old town, Bran and Peleș castles within easy reach.

Landmarks and the city map are on the Romania trip