What's a good 3-day itinerary for Bucharest?

Day 1 stays below Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta. Reach Curtea Veche, the 15th-century princely court ruin, by 9am when the Lipscani cobblestones are still damp from street-washing and covrigi vendors on Strada Franceza are pulling warm pretzels from their carts at 3 lei each. The ruin takes 20 minutes. Walk 400 metres south to Stavropoleos Monastery, a stone church built in 1724 and no bigger than a large living room. Orthodox chanting sometimes drifts through the open door. Lunch at Caru' cu Bere on Strada Stavropoleos, operating since 1879, where the stained-glass ceiling alone is worth the visit and the sarmale (cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and rice) run about 45 lei, roughly $10. After lunch, take the M1 or M3 metro two stops south to Piața Unirii and walk to the Palace of the Parliament. Ceaușescu ordered it in 1985. At 365,000 square metres it is the heaviest building on earth. Book the standard tour online for 40 lei. The marble corridors feel cold even in June. End at Izvor Park next door, where the grass smells like cut hay in early summer.

Day 2 shifts north and west. Start at Revolution Square by 9am. The bullet holes from December 1989 are still visible on the former Central Committee building. Cross to the National Museum of Art of Romania, founded 1948 inside the former Royal Palace, where the Brâncuși collection is worth the 30-lei entry on its own. Walk 15 minutes west to Cișmigiu Gardens, Bucharest's oldest park, laid out in 1847. The sound of oars on the boating lake mixes with distant traffic. Lunch back in the Old Town at Hanu' lui Manuc on Strada Franceza, an inn open since 1808 that still serves ciorbă de burtă (tripe soup, about 35 lei), thick, sour, and better than it sounds. Afternoon, take the M1 metro west to Eroilor and walk to the Botanical Garden on Șoseaua Cotroceni. Entry costs 10 lei. The greenhouse air hangs warm and heavy, smelling of damp soil. Dinner anywhere on Strada Doctor Dimitrie Gerota in Cotroceni, where a full meal runs 50 to 70 lei.

Day 3 heads north. Take the M2 metro to Aviatorilor, then walk 10 minutes into Herăstrău Park, officially renamed King Michael I Park in 2017 but still called Herăstrău by every taxi driver and local you will meet. The park covers 187 hectares around a lake. Rent a bicycle near the southern entrance for 20 lei per hour. By 11am, lock it and enter the Village Museum, founded 1936, where 300 relocated rural buildings sit under old oaks. The smell of aged timber hits you at the gate. Allow 90 minutes. Lunch on one of the lake terraces, where grilled păstrăv (trout) runs about 65 lei and the breeze off the water drops the temperature a few degrees. Walk east after lunch to the Arcul de Triumf, built in 1936, then continue south through Aviatorilor toward Piața Victoriei. Dinner in Floreasca, the restaurant-heavy neighbourhood east of Herăstrău, where a craft beer costs about 18 lei and a solid main plate sits around 55 lei.

About 25 kilometres of walking across three days, none of it brutal. Bucharest's metro runs 5am to 11pm on four lines, and a single trip costs 3 lei on a contactless card. Uber and Bolt both work well. A cross-city ride rarely tops 25 lei, about $5.50. The leu currently trades at roughly 4.54 to the dollar. ATMs cluster around Lipscani, but skip the Euronet machines and their poor exchange rates. Tap water is safe. English works with anyone under 40. June temperatures hover near 25°C with occasional afternoon thunderstorms, so a packable rain jacket earns its luggage space.