Travel information
A) Do I need a visa?
Please look at the site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs If you need an official invitation letter, you can request one via the registration form.
B) How to get to Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital city and largest city of Romania. The best way to get to Bucharest is by airplane to Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport, also known as Otopeni Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Coandă_International_Airport). Other ways to get to the city are by train or by bus; however, due to old infrastructure, trains are really slow, so we honestly discourage you from choosing train transportation.
C) How to get from Otopeni Airport to downtown Bucharest
1) By public transport
There’s only one public airport in Bucharest: Otopeni – Henri Coandă International Airport, which is connected to downtown Bucharest through two bus lines: 780 (terminus at North Railway Station – Gara de Nord in Romanian) and 783 (terminus at Union Square / Piața Unirii), both operated by the Bucharest Transport Company (abbreviated STB in Romanian). To get to the buses, look for the sign “Bus to Bucharest”, which is located in front of the door of international arrivals as you exit the customs area. Under the sign, there is an escalator on the right hand side. Go one level down and you should find the bus stop there. There’s a 24-hour-a-day ticket kiosk.
If you wish to buy only one trip, select “Metropolitan travel tickets” (option in the middle), then “Metropolitan 90 minutes tickets valid 60 days” (the last, fourth option), then “purchase 2 trips”. You will not be able to buy only one trip since the minimum for purchasing the ticket, which is a sort of card, is 6 RON (approx. 1.21 euro), exactly the price of 2 trips. You can use the other trip for your return to the airport. You can pay by a(n international) credit card. You should validate your ticket in the bus.
To get to the conference venue, take the bus 783 and get off at Universitate. From there, you can take buses no. 122, 137, 138, 268, 381 to Facultatea de Drept.
There’s also an improper train line from Otopeni to Gara de Nord, but we discourage you from using it.
2) By taxi
Make sure you only take a cab ordered from the touch screen terminals for taxi requests, situated to your left as you exit with your luggage (fares between 1.89 lei/km and 3.5 lei/km; good prices should be no more than 2.3lei/km). Very few take credit cards, so make sure you have cash (and exact change). These cars will be situated on the ground floor, in front of the Arrivals terminal.
DO NOT, under any circumstances, enter into negotiation with a fake taxi-driver (unfortunately, you won’t be able to ignore them easily, since you are perfect targets for them). Approaching customers, both by taxi drivers and by middlemen, is sanctioned by taxi law (Law 38/2003). Any violation of the law in the airport area shall be handled by the Transport Police (phone number: +4021 201 3242). The National Authority for Consumer’s Protection phone number: +4021 9551. (http://www.bucharestairports.ro/en/transport/bus
3) Using ride sharing apps
A handy way to get around town is to install from (Google) Play Store some apps which can order taxis and ride sharing vehicles: we recommend the Star Taxi App and Free Now App (both allow ordering taxis from all the companies, you can pay from the app once registered with your payment card in the app – even the tip is allowed :)). These 2 apps aggregate also some ride-sharing cars, you can choose before the order. You have also the traditional ride sharing apps Uber and Bold.
There are also a lot of electric scooters, through the apps Lime, Bolt, Splash, iVelo (if you prefer, there is an aggregation app which includes all of them, named UrbanAir).
Currency and payments
Romania’s national currency is the leu (or RON). The plural is lei. All shops and stores take lei. In more touristic areas, euros or dollars may be accepted (at a disadvantageous rate). Exchange offices are available everywhere downtown, and their commission is, by law, 0%. Banks also can change your money. Cards and contactless payments are accepted virtually everywhere, as long as they bear the logo of Visa, Maestro or Mastercard. American Express may be accepted in some places (especially international brands), but Discover, JCB or Diner’s Club are virtually unknown and are not accepted.
Venue of the conference
All the activities of the Bucharest SLE meeting will be held at the Faculty of Law, which is in the city center at the address 36-46 Mihail Kogălniceanu. The venue is easily reachable by bus, trolley, tram and subway.
From the airport: express line 783; change at Piata 21 Decembrie 1989: buses no. 122, 137, 138, 268, 381 to Facultatea de Drept.
Buses and trolleybuses that stop in front of venue: 122, 137, 138, 268, 381, 336, 601; 61, 69, 90, 91. For more details about the public transportation: https://stbsa.ro/index
Subway stop near the venue: Eroilor. For more details about the Bucharest subway system: https://romaniatourism.com/maps/bucharest/subway_map.html