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COSTS, MONEY AND
BANKS |
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Travellers will find costs low in Romania, and even when prices rise,
the exchange rate soon tends to compensate. The more expensive hotels,
flights, car rental and ONT (national tourist board) excursions are
priced in US dollars, but must be paid for in lei, together with a
receipt to show that the money has been exchanged officially. You may
also need to show an exchange receipt in order to buy international
train tickets.
Travelling independently, a few savings and reductions are possible.
InterRail passes are valid; students studying in Romania can claim a 30
percent discount on international rail and air fares booked in Romania
with TAROM, while ISIC and IUS student cards theoretically entitle you
to a reduction of up to 50 percent on the price of camping, and free or
reduced admission to museums. In practice, however, the relevant
officials may say no, and there's little you can do about it.
Basic costs
Accommodation is likely to be your main expense: although the lowest-grade
hotels charge from just £3/$5 for a single room, £4/$6 for a double, you
could pay as much as £150/$250 for a room in the most expensive hotels.
For rock-bottom budget travellers, the alternatives are cabanas (£2/$3
per bed), or campsites (around £2/$3 per person; slightly less with a
student card). Such accommodation is usually situated out of town, and
can be awkward to reach by public transport.
The cost of eating out varies considerably, but you can get a meal with
a glass of wine or beer for between £1.50/$2 and £7/$10 providing you
avoid restaurants in the most expensive hotels, imported drinks (especially
whisky) or such delicacies as caviar or sturgeon - and providing that
there's a restaurant to be found.
Public transport is cheap - it costs less than £3/$5 to take an express
train from one side of Romania to the other - but car rental involves
various charges on top of the basic rate of around £17/$26 a day.
Currency
Romania's currency is the leu (meaning lion; plural lei ), which comes
in coins of denominations up to 500 lei and notes up to 100,000 lei.
Theoretically the leu is divided into 100 bani, but these fiddly little
coins are no longer used and should be refused, as should any L100
notes.
The exchange rate is currently around L35,000 to the pound sterling
(L22,000 to the US dollar), and the rate seems to have stabilized at
last. The leu is not an international currency, but if you want to check
the current rate, the Thomas Cook European Timetable is a good place to
look, as well as the Web sites www.xe.net/currency and www.oanda.com/converter
.
Banks and exchange
Changing money involves least hassle at the private exchange offices (
casa de schimb valuta ) found in most towns, or at ONT offices and major
hotels; you'll need to show your passport, and as a rule no commission
is charged. Queuing and piles of documents are the norm in any bank (
banca ), and they're usually only open for a few hours on weekday
mornings anyway, usually 9am-noon. Avoid the sharks hanging around the
tourist hotels and exchange counters, as the risks outweigh the slim
gains.
Keep your exchange receipts ( borderou de schimb ), since you may need
to show them before you can use your cash for accommodation or
international tickets, or to obtain a refund in hard currency ( valuta )
when leaving Romania. Note that few places will exchange lei for hard
currency, and you cannot spend your lei in the duty-free shop at Otopeni
airport, so it's advisable to change only small amounts of hard currency
into lei at a time. It's safest to carry a bit of money in travellers'
cheques , but also wise to take plenty of dollar bills; Deutschmarks are
also in demand, with sterling and other currencies less welcome. The
private counters much prefer cash and are only just beginning to accept
travellers' cheques. Even in a bank you may have to show the receipt
from the issuing bank, or another cheque to prove continuity of serial
numbers; in any case rates are far better for cash, and you may be
charged up to $7 per travellers' cheque. American Express and Thomas
Cook are the only brands of cheques that are generally recognized, and
only the former has a Romanian agent (see Bucharest "Listings") and can
guarantee a speedy refund in case of loss.
Hotels, airlines, the big car rental companies and the more upmarket
stores and restaurants will usually accept credit cards - Amex,
MasterCard, Visa and perhaps Diners Club - but elsewhere, plastic is
useless. Visa cash machines ( Bancomat ) are now to be found in major
towns (usually at the Banca Comerciala Romāna, or BCR); these should
accept cards from almost any Western bank and are well worth seeking out
(most, we list). If you can draw money from a current account you'll get
a good rate and pay just £1.50/$2 per transaction. Credit-card cash
withdrawals tend to be expensive, costing at least 4.25 percent in
commission plus high daily interest charges, and the bank will probably
insist on giving you dollars or Deutschmarks and then changing them into
lei, charging you each time. Hotels and the like will add a credit-card
surcharge of between 5 and 20 percent.
Money transfers are also possible, either by MoneyGram (tel 0800/018010
in the UK; tel 1-800/543-4080 in North America; tel 1800/230100 in
Australia; and tel 0800/262263 in New Zealand) to branches of the BCR;
or by Western Union (tel 0800/833833 in the UK; tel 1-800/325-6000 in
North America; tel 1800/649565 in Australia; and tel 09/270 0050 in New
Zealand) to main county post offices.
The black market
There is now little profit to be made by changing money on the black
market . The exchange rate at the street kiosks is almost as good as
with the black marketeers, and it's a much safer deal - the police do
not inspire as much fear as they used to, so rip-off merchants are
common. If you do need to raise extra funds, you could do as the locals
do, and sell your foreign goods at one of the many consignatie shops.
Obviously, things like personal stereos fetch a good price, as do unused
trainers and other trendy gear.
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