Life in Bucharest
What families love about Bucharest
Bucharest is a wonderful place to live. The city is full of beautiful buildings, cosy cafes, and green parks where you can relax and spend time with friends and family. The food is delicious, the cost of living is low, and the people are warm and welcoming. There is always something to see or do.
Beyond the campus, Bucharest is a city with its own food culture, history, and pace: concerts at the Atheneum, weekend markets, and so much more.
Vienna and Istanbul are easy to reach by air. Brașov is two and a half hours by road. The whole of Romania can become a weekend destination. Vienna, Istanbul, Budapest, Athens, Rome, all within two hours by air.
For relocating families, AISB offers an welcoming first community. Groups like the International Women’s Association (IWA), coupled with local embassy and industry networks, quickly expand that support system and help families settle into life in Romania.
Lower than most Western European cities. Dining out, domestic help, and everyday expenses are more affordable than what most international families are used to.
Advice from our community
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Read about the country and its history. Take language lessons. Read translated versions of the news. Talk to people who already live here. See if your priorities in life match what Bucharest can offer.
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There is a camaraderie that forms within an expat community which is important to a sense of community. But it’s important to attempt to balance that with interaction with the Romanian community.
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Driving all over the country. Visiting places outside of Bucharest has been so rewarding — Sighisoara, Cluj, Sibiu, Brasov, Sinaia, Viscri, the Salt Mines, Valea Verde.
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Romanian language lessons and all that entails — you learn a lot about the culture and mentality by learning from a teacher and mentor.
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Rewarding — meeting new people from all over the world, feeling safe, belonging to an expat community. And challenging — traffic, lack of convenience, the language barrier.
Weekend destinations
Brașov
Medieval city at the foot of the Carpathians.
Sighișoara
One of Europe’s finest intact medieval citadels.
Sinaia
Mountain resort town with a royal castle and ski terrain in winter.
Sibiu
Beautifully preserved old city, a consistent top-ranked European destination.
Viscri
A fortified Saxon village that feels like a different century entirely.
The Turda Salt Mines
An underground world unlike anywhere else in Europe.
The Danube Delta
One of Europe’s great wildlife reserves, accessible by boat.
A school community to help the transition
Before your family’s first day, AISB & Co is already in touch.
We are an active, welcoming community. It is made up entirely of people who have done exactly what you are doing.
One family even tells a story of meeting their Romanian neighbors on their second day. On day four, the neighbors took them to Obor market for zacusca shopping. By day five, they were making it together, enough jars for the whole winter!
