We always love it when we find islands of tranquility in the heart of major cities. As much as we love urban life after a couple of days of visiting large metropolises we do feel the need to break the pace once in a while and take a step back from all the hustle and bustle.
If you ever find yourselves in Bucharest and you want to leave the city’s commotion behind, The “Dimitrie Gusti” village museum is the place to go. Set inside Bucharest’s largest park (Herastrau) it is not only a refuge into tranquility but also a wonderful opportunity to taste the history and culture of all regions in Romania in the heart of its capital city.
Even for us, inhabitants of Bucharest, the Village Museum is frequently a wonderful weekend day out and we always consider it a must to show to all our foreign friends visiting our city for the first time.
The season you come here is absolutely irrelevant, and that makes the Village Museum a Bucharest highlight all year round. Wether you get to see the houses basked in the warm sun of spring, coloured in autumn’s superb shades of bronze and red or covered in winter’s snow – the place is magical at all times.
Painstakingly moved beam by beam, the houses that dot the museum’s grounds date even from the XVIIth century and are original traditional dwellings from different rural areas of Romania.
Many of our friends that joined us at the Village Museum said it was like visiting all of Romania in a couple of hours.
Some of the houses are open or you can peek inside through the narrow windows. Many of them have original furniture and decorations on display inside, and you do get to catch a glimpse of how Romanian villagers used to live (and in some parts of the country still do).
Tip:
- You can combine a visit to the Village Museum with a wonderful walk through Herastrau Park. Enjoying the two can easily take up a full day.
- If you don’t have a lot of time to spend in Bucharest but you would still like to see the Museum, it is conveniently placed on the main route that links downtown Bucharest to Henri-Coanda International Airport. So you can leave your hotel earlier, stop and visit the Museum for an hour or two and then continue onward to catch your flight. Many of our friends visited the Museum exactly like this. It works! – that is if you have little luggage or you don’t mind dragging your luggage behind you, of course 🙂 )
Useful links:
- The museum’s official website: http://muzeul-satului.ro/en/
- Reaching the Village Museum in Bucharest:
We hope you liked our Bucharest Village Museum Photo Diary and until next time: Happy Lives and Joyful Journeys everyone!