Go, but pay attention.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Bucharest at 72/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Romania's national picture overall (75/100 vs 76/100).
City page · part of Romania
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Bucharest report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Romania's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
28.4
Safety Index
71.6
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Romania's national page, with crime swapped for Bucharest's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Bucharest, specifically
- • The emergency number in Romania is 112.
- • Bucharest is one of the safest capitals in Europe, far safer than Berlin, London and Rome.
- • Transportation: Be incredibly careful as a pedestrian in Bucharest.
- • Buses are safe, but use common sense, and put your things in internal pockets.
- • Taking taxis from areas frequented by foreign tourists may also pose a threat as some of these taxis may try to make the trip a bit longer than usual, in order to be paid more.
- • One rule of thumb is to go with older taxi drivers, since they will be more cautious and only try to get a bit extra out of you if they scam you, unlike young drivers who will claim a trip c…
Legal status (national law)
Legal since 1996; equal age of consent since 2002+ UN decl. sign.
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
C / F · 230V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 112 / ambulance: 112 / fire: 112
Tipping
A tip is usually 5-10% of the bill and is expected in restaurants, coffee shops, taxi, hair dressers.
SIM / Data
Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Romania. There are five networks - four GSM/3G (Orange Romania, Vodafone, Telekom and DigiMobil). Orange and Vodafone have almost full national coverage (98-99% of the surface of the country), while the German Telekom is expanding quickly.
Cash vs. Card
The national currency of Romania is the leu (plural lei), which means lion in Romanian. The leu is divided into 100 bani (singular ban). On 1 July 2005, the new leu (code RON) replaced the old leu (code ROL) at a rate of 10,000 old lei for one new leu. Old ROL banknotes and coins are no longer legal tender but can still be exchanged at the National Bank and their affiliated offices.
How this compares to Romania
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Bucharest at 72/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Romania's national picture overall (75/100 vs 76/100).
See the full Romania page and all receipts →