Palace in Bucharest
Also known as Palace Of Parliament Bucharest
The Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world and the second largest administrative building after the Pentagon. Guided tours are paid at a modest price and must be booked in advance. The scale of the marble halls, the chandeliers, and the absurd excess of Ceausescu’s vanity project is something that has to be seen to be understood. Budget travelers book the standard tour (not the full building tour) and get enough of the experience at the lower price.
Practical
On foot
Free and low-cost routes that stop at Palace of the Parliament.
The Bucharest Contrasts Walk is a self-guided route through the city's layered history, from Revolution Square to the old town to the dictator's palace. Free. Budget travelers walk from democracy to dictatorship in two hours and understand why Bucharest is the most complicated capital in Europe.
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Bucharest's Old Town (Lipscani) is a compact grid of pedestrian streets between Calea Victoriei and the Dambovita River. Free to walk.
Calea Victoriei is Bucharest's most historic boulevard, running from the Dambovita River to Piata Victoriei. Free to walk.
Cismigiu Gardens is Bucharest's oldest and most central park, 16 hectares of shaded paths, an artificial lake with rowing boats (cheap in summer), a Roman Garden, and a Writers' Alley lined with busts of Romanian poets. Free.
Also known as the Old Princely Court Church, this is the oldest surviving church in Bucharest, dating to the 16th century. Free to enter, it sits next to the ruins of Vlad the Impaler's court in the heart of the old town.
Herastrau Park is Bucharest's largest park, wrapping around a lake in the northern part of the city. Free.
The Macca-Vilacrosse Passage is a fork-shaped glass-roofed arcade in the center of Bucharest, built in the 1890s and bathed in amber light from the yellow glass canopy. Free to walk through.
Working out what Bucharest costs?
The whole of Bucharest