hspeight

Hi, are there are any UK expats out there who live in Bucharest? I have just moved to the city and would love to share advice and tips!

Mitzyboy

Welcome to the forums

Sorry I cant help you with that, but hopefully someone will sign on who is in the same area to you

Azarel

Hello,

I'm a UK expat in Bucharest. I've been here for seven years so I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about the place.

susiecy

been here since November .. hope to leave in the next 3 months .. anything you need to know, ask!

the troubadour

Any comments on how life is there for an expat? Is there much to do? How is contact with locals?
Any thoughts on life ouyside of Bucherest? Is it a country to retire in,in yoir opinion?

Azarel

Hi there,

Quite general questions so I can only answer very generally:

It obviously depends largely on what you like to do and in what context you are here. It's good for EU citizens (no permits needed for living or working) but work can be hard to find unless you speak Romanian. The cost of living is low so if you're sent over here by your company and maintain the same income, you'll live very well.

Other than that, the weather is generally good, access to products ok (some things are hard to get), crime is low, transportation is cheap(-ish).

If you're in Bucharest you can do all the usual things. Pubs, clubs and restaurants are everywhere. There are parks for rollerskating and cycling, and ice-skating in winter. There are lots of cinemas and the theatre and opera are reasonably priced.

Outside of Bucharest you have the mountains for walking, climbing and skiing. Fishing is popular here, too. You have the Danube Delta for boating and birdwatching. There are plenty of historic places to visit.

Like people everywhere, there are the good and the bad. In Bucharest the people are typical city people; rushed, rude, pushing and shoving, complaining. There are also those who'd seek to exploit foreigners and try to befriend you to further their own aims. However, there are also plenty of friendly, generous, fun people to hang out with if you make the effort.

Life in the large cities outside Bucharest would probably be pleasant (I'm thinking here of Brasov, Sibiu, Cluj, Timisoara and Iasi). Access to work would be more limited but you'd be closer to the more beautiful areas of the countryside. Life in smaller provinial town might be difficult; the people are friendlier but you might find it harder to break into already-developed and close-knit circles of friends, work would be even harder to find, and access to products even more limited. All depends on what you're looking for, how adaptable you are, and what kind of life you'd like to live.

Possibly, depends again on your personality and situation. Pensions are low and healthcare limited. If you were financially solvent then it could work out, especially if you're selling a property in a more expensive country and buying something cheaper here and investing or capitalizing on the difference. If you have a pension (private or state) from abroad which you can continue to collect here, then you might end up living better.

susiecy

We have found Romania to be expensive .. a weekly shop is double what it was in the UK - standards of fresh food are lower, choice of fruit/veg/meat very limited - one week the supermarket has something - the next week none - always a queue for Bananas .. strangely enough. Our neighbours have been broken into and the locals can be rather abrupt and customer service hasnt arrived yet.
When we needed medical assistance - hospital was shut on a sunday - not quite an EU country yet.

Azarel

Hi susiecy,

Do you shop in the big supermarkets, the likes of Cora and Carrefour (known affectionately here as 'care fura' - 'those that steal')? They are indeed more expensive, especially if buying pre-packaged and/or imported goods. They are also hidiously crowded at weekends. I can't bear them.

I generally stock up from local shops and farmers' markets, buying fresh, in-season produce. It's much tastier and cheaper than the mass-produced shite you get in the supermarkets. For example, now it's sweetcorn season. One corn on the cob, cut in half and vacuum-packed is about 6 RON in the supermarket, but I get ten fresh ones from the smallholders at the local piata for about 10-15 RON.

johncf

Maybe she was eating beans on toast back in UK and now the steak looks expensive.
And the quality of food is considerably better (taste, organic, etc)...
Have you ever been to Romania, Susiecy?

susiecy

wow johncf what a helpful reply! ....
if you`d read my previous posts you will find we have been living in Romania nearly 11 months now - forum member `Azarel` has been very helpful with practical replies & local information which we very much appreciated.
if you are interested we have lived an `expat` life in several other eu and middle eastern countries - other expats we have spoken to find bucharest expensive as do the locals we are friends with.
hope you enjoy your time in Romania ... if you find baked beans locally good for you! I`m not partial myself.

Forums are a great source of `on the ground` information where expats can share their personal experiences in a constructive way - hope you continue to enjoy.

Azarel

I'm still surprised to hear that so many expats find Romania expensive as it's really not been my experience.

For example, here I pay about 26 Euro/year for council tax. A similar property in the UK would cost about 1600 Euro/year! I did a quick comparison a few weeks back and calculated what I would be paying for the basics in the UK compared to what I pay here, looking specifically at council tax, internet, cable TV, electricity, gas, heating, Tv licence, and water rates. The total for the UK came to just over 4000 Euro/year, whereas here the same things total up to 700 Euro/year.

Then there's public transport - a full one-month travelcard for London costs about 280 Euro, whereas a RATB pass (under and over ground) costs 25 Euro.

On Saturday I went to my local restaurant for dinner and paid about 12 Euro for the two of us. Nothing fancy, just something like a pub lunch, which would probably cost 35-40 Euro in the UK.

Some things are kind of 'expensive'. Not so much in terms of comparison, but for what you actually get for your money. I find hotels a little overpriced here (considering the quality of the services they provide). Clothes too tend to be a little costly - an item in M&S here seems to be about 25% more than in the UK, possibly because they are branding themselves in the upper-middle market sector in Romania.

Food can be a lot more expensive or a lot cheaper, depending on what you buy and how you shop. Let's take baked beans (as they seem topical at the moment!). A can of Heinz baked beans costs about 50p back in the UK, but double that here in Romania. Why? Because they sell by the million in the UK and nobody really eats them here. I just buy a kilo of dried white beans and some tomatoes and make a big batch myself. Tastier (IMHO) and certainly lower on sugar and salt content. I generally make what amounts to about 6 cans' worth and it would work out at about 20p per can.

Basically, if you adopt the same shopping/living habits here in Romania as in the UK, it probably will end up being more expensive. A like-for-like weekly shop will certainly cost more here. It's always cheapest to shop like a local. In the UK, most people buy pre-made stuff from supermarkets, so that's the cheapest. Here people still mostly shop at markets and cook things up from scratch (although it's now getting rarer), so that's the cheapest.