How do I get around Bucharest?

Bolt for everything, metro for the skeleton. That's the hierarchy. Bucharest's metro runs 4 lines, M1 through M4, connecting Piața Unirii in the center to Gara de Nord rail station, Piața Victoriei, and the northern residential blocks near Pipera. A single ride costs 3 RON ($0.66), and a 10-trip card runs 15 RON ($3.31). Buy a contactless card from any Metrorex kiosk at the station entrance. The ticket machines are Romanian-only, but the kiosk staff speak enough English to help. Trains run every 4-8 minutes during peak hours, stretching to 10-12 minutes after 21:00. The last trains leave around 23:30. Mind you, the stations feel Soviet-era spare. Bare concrete, fluorescent lights, the faint metallic smell of old escalators grinding upward. They work fine. They won't charm you.

Bolt is the default ridehail and likely your most-used app in Bucharest. Uber operates too, but Bolt tends to have more drivers and lower fares by about 10-15%. A ride from Piața Romană to the Palace of the Parliament runs about 15-20 RON ($3.30-$4.40), and a cross-city trip from Herăstrău Park to the Old Town rarely tops 35 RON ($7.70). Surge pricing exists but stays mild compared to Western European capitals. The app works in English, accepts international cards, and shows the fare upfront. No negotiation, no meter games. Taxis still cruise the streets, and the honest ones run meters at 1.99 RON per kilometer. The problem is telling honest from dishonest at the curb. Unless you call a known fleet like Speed Taxi or Meridian through their posted dispatch number, stick with Bolt.

Bucharest's tram network is the workhorse most visitors overlook. Lines run north-south along Boulevard Lascăr Catargiu and east-west through Piața Romană, covering corridors the metro misses. The vehicles range from new Astra Imperio cars with air conditioning to 1970s-era units where the windows rattle at every curve and the brakes squeal through each stop. A single STB ticket costs 3 RON and covers buses, trams, and trolleybuses for 90 minutes. Buy from the STB app (search "STB Bucuresti" in your app store) or from kiosks near major stops. Paper tickets from the driver are gone. Worth noting, Google Maps routes STB transit accurately in Bucharest, which is not true for every Romanian city. Trust it for connections and estimated arrival times.

Walking Bucharest's center works, with caveats. The stretch from Piața Romană south along Calea Victoriei to the Old Town district of Lipscani is about 1.5 kilometers and takes 20 minutes at a comfortable pace. You'll pass the National Museum of Art of Romania (founded 1948 in the former Royal Palace), the CEC Palace, and the Pasajul Macca-Vilacrosse, a glass-covered arcade where the smell of hookah smoke drifts from the cafes below. The sidewalks outside Calea Victoriei, though, test your patience. Cars park on them routinely, forcing you into the street. Broken paving and uneven curb cuts are normal, not occasional. In summer, the asphalt south of Piața Unirii toward the Palace of the Parliament radiates heat that makes midday walks feel punishing. That 3-kilometer boulevard north from the parliament has almost no shade. After dark, the center stays busy and well-lit around Lipscani and Piața Universității.

Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) sits 18 kilometers north of the center. The Express Bus 783 runs from arrivals to Piața Unirii every 15-30 minutes and costs 3.50 RON ($0.77) with an STB card. The ride takes 40-60 minutes depending on traffic along the DN1 corridor. Bolt from the airport to the Old Town runs 60-90 RON ($13-$20) and takes 30-45 minutes, which is still cheap by Western European standards. The taxi queue at arrivals has improved since the official stand system was introduced, but the Bolt pickup point on the departures level remains the smoother option. If you land after midnight, when the 783 stops running, Bolt is your only reasonable choice. One thing to sort before landing. Download Bolt, the STB Bucuresti app, and Google Maps with the Bucharest offline map. Romania uses Type C and F plugs, same as most of continental Europe, so visitors from North America should have an adapter ready.