Timișoara, Romania – Cultural Capital of Europe 2023

Before I flew to Vienna, I made a rough plan of where I wanted to go with my Eurail pass. Well, plans change quickly! I made it to my first stop, Budapest. Next, I was planning on Lesce Bled, Slovenia, but it was a long train ride, the weather looked bad, and I couldn’t find a place to stay that felt right. Searching around on the Eurail site, I looked at the destinations in Romania and found Timișoara. It had a fun name, so I googled it for a few pics, found an Airbnb that looked good, and made a quick decision to re-route. Timișoara is the third largest city in Romania and often called “Little Vienna” for it’s colorful architecture resembling that of Vienna.

I boarded the first train and soon pulled out of Budapest. About 30 minutes later a woman came to check my ticket and informed me my train car would not be going to Romania so I had to move up three cars. I’m so happy she told me! We finally made it to the boarder where we made one stop for passport checks to exit Hungary, and one to enter Romania. Romania is not a Schengen country, so this will save me some days on my visa for later in the summer! We stopped again in Arad, Romania, where I had to change trains after about a 2 hour wait at the station. The second train was even more rustic, and had several cabins with 8 seats within each car. I ended up with three random Romanians who spoke great English and one older man who sat quietly. The four of us had a great chat and they were so excited to share all of their favorite towns and sights they felt I should visit. This gave me lots of ideas to work with! It was nice to have something to distract me from the extreme heat and stuffiness as there was absolutely no air movement on the train and we were all sweating like pigs!

Finally, I made it to Timișoara and the sweet girl I met on the train walked me to the bus stop across the street from the station to make sure I found the right bus. A nice older man at the bus stop slid over and offered me a seat and we chatted through Google Translate for 15 minutes until the bus arrived. I really appreciated the warm welcome into Romania and felt like the universe had guided me in the right direction!

My Airbnb was right on Unirii (Union) Square which was definitely the most picturesque square in town! I couldn’t believe I had a small balcony overlooking all of the action in such a beautiful place. The building had recently had an exterior facelift and was a bright, cheery yellow. The inside of the apartment was a bit tired and quite interesting with a giant double queen bed above the dining table which could have sat about 15 people. The bedroom was also quite interesting with some really special wallpaper. I decided it was a good place to sleep since I certainly didn’t want to keep my eyes open! Hahaha!

After getting settled, I went out to explore the square and the surrounding area. As it turns out, Timișoara is one of the three cities that was elected Cultural Capital of Europe for 2023. Pretty cool! They had a little trailer setup on the square with a schedule of several music events and happenings around town as well as several easels with photos of the town over the years.

There are many restaurants around the square, so I chose one with Romanian food and tried the Sarmale (cabbage rolls) that had been recommended by my friends on the train. Not too bad! Also, the sunset around Unirii was beautiful!

Over the next few days, I was surprised that there were almost no tours and public transportation was extremely lacking to get to the nearby sights of Transylvania, etc. that I really wanted to see. I had booked five nights, so I decided to just relax and enjoy the vibrant little city and enjoy it for what it had to offer.

The arts are a way of life here, from street art, to sculpture, to music and dance, to museums, and the amazing culinary arts! I found a bit of everything as I explored all of the nooks and crannies.

Here’s a look at some of my favorite street art:

One of my favorite surprises was this amazing couple with their driving piano who took on the town day and night, even in mild rain to share their beauty with everyone. He played amazing music as she danced on the piano. They had quite a following and it was absolutely gorgeous to watch!

I also took several walks just to enjoy the architecture and local life. Here is some of the beauty I encountered from Liberty Square, to Victory Square, to St. George Square, and beyond into the quaint neighborhoods and along the Bega River. In Victory Park, they have installed a temporary scaffold where everyone is welcome to climb up and enjoy the views from a different perspective. Locals and visitors were all filled with excitement as they took in the 360^o views. This town gave me so much peace and happiness as I just allowed myself to “be” with no agenda.

Timișoara is also known as the “City of Flowers” for to its large number of parks and it’s history of flower growers, especially the rose growers who lived here in the 19th century. There is even a Roses Park which smells so wonderful and has so many interesting types and colors of special roses.

And, here are a couple of my favorite culinary delights I experienced while in Timișoara! So delicious!

During my seafood risotto lunch, the craziest downpour came, but the restaurant staff was so amazing keeping the water pushed off of the umbrellas so we could all enjoy our special meals. The evening back at Unirii Square was awesome too with the reflections in the pools of water left by the storm! My balcony is the uppermost one on the right in the yellow building!

And that’s a wrap on Timișoara. I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of this amazing city.

Next up, Cluj-Napoca, where we will have the change to visit a cool underground salt mine and several of the historical Transylvania sights! See you soon!

Hugs, Michele