If you've been following us on www.funkytravel.ro or on Instagram and Facebook , you've seen that we went on a trip through Romania in an attempt to achieve a #christmasmarketchallenge. The first destination was Craiova , then Bogdan wrote about Iași , I told about the experience in Sibiu , and now it's the turn of the Capital.
There are two Christmas markets in Bucharest . One located in sector 6, West Side Christmas Market , and one in Constitution Square, in front of the Parliament building. I will write in the order of visiting them!
West Side Christmas Market, a good debut, but fine tuning needs work
The West Side Christmas Market is located in Drumul Taberei Park in sector 6. It takes advantage of one of the most spectacular open-air locations, encompassing the Bengaulles Bridge and stretching into the dry basin of the park's lake.
Under the patronage of UNTOLD, the West Side Christmas Market catches your eye when you arrive. A Ferris wheel more than 30 meters high, the bridge covered in a net of lights hundreds of meters long and wide, an ice rink, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and a stage where performances are organized.
What caught my attention was the combination of the traditional with the new. Santa's sleigh is actually an installation, similar to the "vehicle" pulled by reindeer, but the little ones who choose to get on, get VR glasses through which they are projected images from a roller coaster.
More of a food market than a Christmas Market
West Side Christmas has 60 houses, according to the organizers' announcement. Unfortunately, most of them only sell food! I understand that most visitors will taste the dishes, but I don't think they will eat non-stop while they are at the Christmas Market. Bucharesters and tourists (many Constantinians asked me what it's like on the West Side when I published pictures from there) will want more than food. The advantage is that the prices are lower compared to Craiova and Sibiu. For example, the two reinterpreted langos were 30 lei.
There are also a few gift boxes, but the traditional Christmas ones are missing, as we saw in Sibiu. That is precisely why I wrote that the organizers must work on the fine adjustments. If I admired that each booth in the market explains to you through an announcement what you will find for sale, I would have liked them to be lit with installations, so that the scenery is enchanting. Loredana, attentive to details by nature, says that the design of these small winter shops lacks the specific inspiration of those from Untold.
A tip for those who want to visit West Side Christmas: try to arrive around 15.30pm if you want to find parking spaces in the area. In the evening it is extremely difficult to drive and I recommend you to use the transport alternatives. For the people of Constanta, I think the best solution is the train and then other possibilities of transportation to the fair.
A plus of West Side Christmas: all boxes have POS so you can pay for anything with your card.
The Christmas market in Piata Constituției, the place where we only lasted 15 minutes and would never return
The second Christmas market in Bucharest is in the Constitution Square, in front of the Parliament building. Our biggest mistake was trying to drive at least a kilometer away.
Paid parking spaces do not exist, and those available on the streets are under the "patronage" of boys who scratch your car if you don't leave them ..."at least ten lei". On the way to the market, you are attacked by street vendors of all kinds of Chinese goods. And then you enter the market. Barbecue with mince and pork neck under a lighted curtain and a decorated Christmas tree... just to be.
At the market stalls it looked like we had arrived at Dorally. In the only one where the saleswoman boasted that they were selling traditional things, they were... made in China.
If I had to describe the experience of the Christmas Market in Constitution Square in one word, it would be "disappointment".
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