Constanta Private Shore Excursion: Bucharest City Tour with Palace of Parliament

Your private driver-guide will meet you at the pier at 8am, right after you leave the ship. On the 2-hours drive to Bucharest, your private driver-guide will introduce you to the history and culture of Romania, giving you also a great insight into present-day Romania.

Both on the way to Bucharest and back water, juice and snacks will be complementary.

In Bucharest, we will first embark on a panoramic tour of the city and see the main landmarks of the Romania capital. Many beautiful old buildings from different epochs can be admired on Bucharest's large tree-lined boulevards.

In the Village Museum, a beautiful open-air museum, you can see old houses from all over the country, built in different architectural styles.

We will also explore the Revolution Square: the former Royal Palace, which is now the National Arts Museum, the equestrian statue of King Carol I, the first Romanian king, the Atheneum, a beautiful concert hall built 1888 is one of the symbols of the city, the University Library and, of course, the former headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.The Revolution Square is connected to the anti-communist Revolution from December 1989. The former Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu held his last speech here, we will also see the balcony from where on December, 21st 1989 he was trying to calm down the Romanian protesters.

One of the highlights of this excursion is a visit inside the former Ceausescu Palace, also know as the Palace of Parliament, the second largest building in the world! The tour lasts one hour and will give you a good idea about Ceausescu's megalomania.

Our next visit is the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch's church on a nearby hill. We will visit the 17th century Romanian Orthodox church and find out more about the Orthodox faith.

After the visit, you can have lunch in the Old Town. We will have then a stroll along the streets of this former merchants quarter. Many merchants of Bucharest were Armenian, Jewish and Greek, who left the city after the communists took over. Now, this whole area is full of street cafees and restaurants. You will visit the very fine 18th century Stavropoleos monastery, see the ruins of the former princely court and the impressive Manuc Inn, built in 1808, serving the caravans of merchants coming from the Orient and going further to Transylvania, Budapest and Vienna.

In the afternoon, we will drive back to Constanta port and arrive at the ship in time for your departure.