Romania's National Day falls on a Tuesday this year, and with St. Andrew's Day on the Monday, schools close for a four-day weekend from Saturday, Nov 28. The big moment is the military parade under the Arch of Triumph on Dec 1, and the Christmas Market at Piața Constituției opens on Nov 27. Here's what we checked, from kids' theater on Saturday morning to the Village Museum's farmsteads.
On Romania's National Day, soldiers of the Romanian Army parade through Piața Arcului de Triumf, the square around Bucharest's own triumphal arch. Families watch from the street as the columns march past.
It suits kids who like uniforms and marching and can stand in a crowd for a while. It is an outdoor event in December, so toddlers may find the cold and the waiting hard.
Bucharest's central Christmas market fills Piața Constituției with 133 market stalls, food trucks and a Christmas tree. Kids can visit Santa's house and take a turn on the Ferris wheel or the carousel.
There's music most days, from carol choirs and folk ensembles on the main stage to DJ and solo sets in a covered gazebo.
An interactive Christmas play built on the Grinch story. The Grinch and his dog Max plot to steal the holiday from Cine-Ville, and the kids in the audience stop him: they sing, dance and take on challenges to wreck his plan, with plenty of humor and colorful characters along the way. It suits kids who like to join in rather than sit quietly.
A stage version of the story of a sly fox who fills her sack with fish, teaches the bear to fish, and fools a hunter along the way. Actors play the Fox, the Bear, the Hunter, the Rooster, the Dog and the Rabbit.
It's part of the Caravana cu Spectacole series at Clubul Țăranului, performed in Romanian, so it suits kids who can follow a story in the language.
The museum fills the former Palace of the Posts, built in the 1890s. The Historical Treasure holds over 3,000 pieces of precious metal and gems, including Dacian gold bracelets from Sarmizegetusa Regia. A full-size cast of Trajan's Column is laid out in sections in a hall built for it, with over 100 scenes of the Dacian wars. The Lapidarium shows inscribed and carved stone from Roman and medieval times.
An open-air village on the shore of Lake Herăstrău, made of 62 farmsteads moved here from regions across Romania: 40 houses, three churches and 15 craft workshops and technical installations, from the 17th to the early 20th century.
Kids walk 9 hectares of lanes, look into furnished peasant homes and compare gates and roofs between regions. The museum also hosts a folk craftsmen's fair and a winter customs festival.
An ethnographic museum in a Neo-Romanian building, holding more than 100,000 objects of village life: folk costumes, textiles and rugs, painted icons and pottery. The star is a whole peasant house from Gorj County rebuilt indoors, with a platform for peering into its attic.
A basement room keeps a wry display of Communist-era leftovers, and a wooden church brought from Bejan, in Hunedoara, stands in the inner courtyard.
A former infantry barracks holds Romania's military history, from medieval helmets and armor to World War uniforms and objects from the 1989 Revolution. Look for royal swords and Queen Marie's uniforms.
When fully open, the aviation hall shows a Coandă 1910 replica and the capsule cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu rode back to Earth in 1981, and an outdoor park lines up tanks, artillery and MiG jets.
Romania's National Day falls on a Tuesday this year, and with St. Andrew's Day on the Monday, schools close for a four-day weekend from Saturday, Nov 28. The big moment is the military parade under the Arch of Triumph on Dec 1, and the Christmas Market at Piața Constituției opens on Nov 27. Here's what we checked, from kids' theater on Saturday morning to the Village Museum's farmsteads.
On Romania's National Day, soldiers of the Romanian Army parade through Piața Arcului de Triumf, the square around Bucharest's own triumphal arch. Families watch from the street as the columns march past.
It suits kids who like uniforms and marching and can stand in a crowd for a while. It is an outdoor event in December, so toddlers may find the cold and the waiting hard.
Bucharest's central Christmas market fills Piața Constituției with 133 market stalls, food trucks and a Christmas tree. Kids can visit Santa's house and take a turn on the Ferris wheel or the carousel.
There's music most days, from carol choirs and folk ensembles on the main stage to DJ and solo sets in a covered gazebo.
An interactive Christmas play built on the Grinch story. The Grinch and his dog Max plot to steal the holiday from Cine-Ville, and the kids in the audience stop him: they sing, dance and take on challenges to wreck his plan, with plenty of humor and colorful characters along the way. It suits kids who like to join in rather than sit quietly.
A stage version of the story of a sly fox who fills her sack with fish, teaches the bear to fish, and fools a hunter along the way. Actors play the Fox, the Bear, the Hunter, the Rooster, the Dog and the Rabbit.
It's part of the Caravana cu Spectacole series at Clubul Țăranului, performed in Romanian, so it suits kids who can follow a story in the language.
The museum fills the former Palace of the Posts, built in the 1890s. The Historical Treasure holds over 3,000 pieces of precious metal and gems, including Dacian gold bracelets from Sarmizegetusa Regia. A full-size cast of Trajan's Column is laid out in sections in a hall built for it, with over 100 scenes of the Dacian wars. The Lapidarium shows inscribed and carved stone from Roman and medieval times.
An open-air village on the shore of Lake Herăstrău, made of 62 farmsteads moved here from regions across Romania: 40 houses, three churches and 15 craft workshops and technical installations, from the 17th to the early 20th century.
Kids walk 9 hectares of lanes, look into furnished peasant homes and compare gates and roofs between regions. The museum also hosts a folk craftsmen's fair and a winter customs festival.
An ethnographic museum in a Neo-Romanian building, holding more than 100,000 objects of village life: folk costumes, textiles and rugs, painted icons and pottery. The star is a whole peasant house from Gorj County rebuilt indoors, with a platform for peering into its attic.
A basement room keeps a wry display of Communist-era leftovers, and a wooden church brought from Bejan, in Hunedoara, stands in the inner courtyard.
A former infantry barracks holds Romania's military history, from medieval helmets and armor to World War uniforms and objects from the 1989 Revolution. Look for royal swords and Queen Marie's uniforms.
When fully open, the aviation hall shows a Coandă 1910 replica and the capsule cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu rode back to Earth in 1981, and an outdoor park lines up tanks, artillery and MiG jets.
