It was to leave Bucharest again, but not quite Romania! This day was actually mostly about getting from the capital to a tiny village in Transylvania, where we were appropriately welcomed for the Transylvania Halloween Hash 2025!
After one more breakfast at my hotel, packing, and checking out, I had time for one more coffee, at Black Habit, before boarding my train to Braşov.
Black HabitGara de NordGara de NordCFR IC 531 Bucureşti Nord ➔ Braşov
From Braşov to Șimon we used a Bolt taxi, that conveniently dropped us off in front of Mama Cozonacilor, the centre of operations for the Transylvania Halloween Hash 2025.
My home for the weekend would actually be an eight minute walk from there, in hotel Casa Albă.
And remember where the bar crawl started, Hop Hooligans? They actually sponsor the event, and their beer Crowd Control is served throughout the event!
Hotel Casa AlbăMy room in hotel Casa AlbăDinner at Mama CozonacilorDinner at Mama CozonacilorDinner at Mama CozonacilorThere’s proper craft beer!
The second and already last full day in București was used to tick off some more local food boxes. It was also the day that a large number of hashers with the same destination as I arrived, which usually means one thing: bar crawl!
I had breakfast in my hotel: rather unusual for me on any day but the last one of a stay, but since it was automatically included in my booking, I better use it! There I already bumped into another hasher from BMPH3, who had also arrived the day before.
I skipped the coffee in the hotel—it it ever any good anyway?—to try some in the nearby espresso bar Coffee District instead.
Breakfast in my hotelBreakfast in my hotelBreakfast in my hotelCoffee at Coffee District
Today’s museum of choice was the Muzeul Municipiului București, the municipal museum. I actually had to pay more than I paid for the ticket itself to be allowed to take photos!
Muzeul Municipiului BucureștiMuzeul Municipiului BucureștiMuzeul Municipiului BucureștiMuzeul Municipiului BucureștiMuzeul Municipiului BucureștiMuzeul Municipiului BucureștiSelfie at Muzeul Municipiului București
After another coffee at the Sfinx Espresso Bar, I headed to the Obor Market to try some mici, as supposedly the best ones are to be found at Terasa Obor. There was a short queue, but luckily not as bad as I’ve seen in some vlogs! Simple but tasty, and that’s another one from the list!
To continue checking off food items, I set course for In House Pastrami & More for something I never realised was originally Romanian: pastrami.
Sfinx Espresso BarSfinx Espresso BarSfinx Espresso BarSfinx Espresso BarMici at Terasa OborIn House Pastrami & MoreIn House Pastrami & More
After a last coffee at the rather fancy Sloane Specialty Coffee, it was time to get to the hotel and change, in preparation for tonight’s programme…
And the evening activity was the Bucharest H3 Pre-Lube Bar Crawl!
It started at the Hop Hooligans Taproom—which I definitely wanted to visit—but I had no clue where it would lead us after that. Luckily most bars did not feature on my Wednesday itinerary, so I didn’t put my liver at risk by squeezing in all the bars on my wish list for nothing. After QP Pub, Londohome, and PaRdon Pub, we ended up at the Ironic Taproom, where I had been the night before. Well, I thought I had, but apparently the space next door was also part of it, with another thirty different beers!
Bucharest H3 Bar Crawl: Hop Hooligans TaproomBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: Hop Hooligans TaproomBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: Hop Hooligans TaproomBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: QP PubBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: LondohomeBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: LondohomeBucharest H3 Bar CrawlBucharest H3 Bar CrawlBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: PaRdon PubBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: PaRdon PubBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: Ironic TaproomBucharest H3 Bar Crawl: No Room Taproom
A new day, a new country! It’s absurd I hadn’t been to Romania yet, considering you can’t even spell the country’s name without “Roman”! Ready to discover which local dishes and beers Bucharest has to offer!
My Ister sleeper train wouldn’t even arrive until just before noon, so I had plenty of time to take in the views of the Carpathian Mountains and the Romanian countryside. Such a late arrival had the benefit I could check in straight away and have a shower at my ibis Styles Bucharest City Center. My room even has a balcony! Although judging by the presence of an ashtray there, it might have something to do with the prevalence of smoking in Romania…
Morning views from my sleeper trainArrival of the sleeper train in Bucuresti NordThe tram between the station and my hotel. I took a bus instead…ibis Styles Bucharest City CenterMy room in the ibis Styles Bucharest City CenterMy room in the ibis Styles Bucharest City Center even has a balcony!
Since I didn’t pack much of a breakfast for my train ride, I enjoyed The Pulled Pork Sandwich—and coffee of course—at Meron even more.
MeronMeronPulled pork sandwich at Meron
Time to delve into some Roman history at the Muzeul Național de Istorie a României. Here they have casts of all the reliefs of Trajan’s Column, and full-size replicas of the base and top of the column. With the Museo della Civiltà Romana now closed, this might very well be the only place where one can still see casts like this! There’s also a lot of gold in the museum, but I’m not much of a pirate…
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
The museum was smaller than I expected, so I already had some time to visit my first beer destination in Bucharest: the Ground Zero Beer Taproom.
Ground Zero BeerGround Zero BeerGround Zero BeerGround Zero Beer
Another coffee at Origo, and since I still had some time left before my dinner reservation, a couple of beers at Ironic Taproom.
Then it was time to start ticking off dishes of my Romanian cuisine list! Although it’s quite touristy, even experienced travellers and locals recommend Caru’ cu bere as the place to go for local food and a unique experience. Three checks in one go for me: zacuscă, tochitură muntenească, and papanași. While the main dish alone would have been enough to fill me up, they seemed to have given me a double portion of the dessert. So while every course was as tasty as I could hope for, it left me feeling quite stuffed. Maybe I should have joined the dancers when they asked me!
Caru’ cu bereZacuscă at Caru’ cu bereTochitură at Caru’ cu berePapanași at Caru’ cu bereCaru’ cu bereDancing at Caru’ cu bere
Then it was Beer O’Clock! No seriously, that was the name of the bar! They only serve their beer in half litres though, which is not ideal for tasting… At Tap Craft Beer next door everything was available in a much more reasonable 200ml, so I had a couple of beers there.
The last stop for the night was the NoRoom Taproom—serving Maktoob and OneTwo beers—a place so small I first couldn’t find it, an literally no room to sit inside.
Starting the day with a visit to the ruins of Aquincum, the Roman border settlement and origin of Budapest, and ending it on the Ister train, which is the Latin name for the Danube, part of the northern border of the Roman empire. It was a very Roman border themed day!
Check-out day usually means breakfast in the hotel, to save precious packing time.
Breakfast in ibis Budapest CityBreakfast in ibis Budapest City
Once that was done, I discovered the suburban rail network to get to Aquincumi Múzeum & Archaeological Park. Apparently there a two hour trail that takes you to even more remains, but I stuck to the main park and the nearby amphitheater this time. The park could use some TLC, but it was a nice discovery nevertheless.
Back in the centre of Budapest, I resumed my mission: eat Hungarian specialties! there is one that I found out about when I first planned my trip in 2020, and it sounded so tasty, I actually looked up a recipe and I’ve made it myself quite often: rakott krumpli. So yeah, I actually never tasted the original, until today! And GRUMPY didn’t just serve that dish, but also sweet Túrógombóc for desert.
GRUMPYRakott krumpli at GRUMPYTúrógombóc at GRUMPYGRUMPY
After that late lunch I had just enough time to visit Tamp & Pull, one of the oldest specialty coffee bars in Budapest, and Constellation, a taproom and restaurant for both Gravity—whose brewery I visited on the second day—and Brew Your Mind.
Metro station architectureMetro station architectureTamp & PullCoffee at Tamp & PullTamp & PullConstellationConstellationConstellation
By then it was really time to get ready for my train. Since every train trip is better with a nice beer, I stopped by at Beerselection to get one, but it had slipped my mind that this beer shop had some beers on draught as well. It would have been rude to not try some, wouldn’t it?
BeerselectionBeerselectionBeerselection
After picking up my bag at the hotel, I headed to the Budapest Keleti business lounge, to charge my phone a bit—you never know if the power on the train is working—and eat a bit, although I hadn’t quite digested my large, late lunch yet.
Budapest KeletiBudapest Keleti LoungeBudapest Keleti LoungeGood in the Budapest Keleti Lounge
Time to find out if I have better luck with this Romanian sleeper than I had with my Hungarian one! Turns out I had: the one and only sleeper car was present and functional—running water and electricity present—and I think this is the roomiest room I ever had on a train.
On my way to Bucureşti Nord!
The IC/IRN 473 Ister from Budapest Keleti to Bucureşti NordMy room on the IsterMy room on the IsterThe window in my room on the Ister opens!My room on the Ister is pretty secure#TrainBeer
After catching up on some sleep, it was time to properly discover Budapest: visit a museum, do some sightseeing, and finally eat something local!
First things first: breakfast and coffee at the London Coffee Society. The Hangover 2. 0—think breakfast burrito meets shakshuka—certainly was enough to get me started!
London Coffee SocietyLondon Coffee SocietyThe Hangover 2. 0 at London Coffee Society
And that start involved some climbing, all the way up to the castle, to visit the Budapest History Museum.
Budapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History MuseumBudapest History Museum
Coffee at the heavily goat themed Zërgë, and then some proper sightseeing, in daylight, this time.
ZërgëZërgë
Then it was finally time to eat something typically Hungarian: lángos. I headed to the Hunyadi Square market hall, because there is supposed to be a food stand there serving pretty authentic lángos, according to some Hungarian vloggers, but when I got there, it was closed due to renovation works! Luckily—while having a coffee at Cube Coffee Bar—my new Budapest friend suggested an alternative, so thanks to her I was able to tick off one of my Hungarian food boxes at Gozsdu Lángos Bizstro.
With this greasy snack in my stomach, I was ready for some beer. Of course I drank (at) Onlygoodbeer, or Csak a Jó Sör as it’s called in Hungarian.
Csak a Jó SörCsak a Jó SörCsak a Jó Sör
Beer Point turned out to be a weird mix of craft and macro beer, so I didn’t stay for long. HOPAHOLIC on the other hand had a great selection, and as it turned out, I had stumbled upon a tap takeover by Metalhead, a Bulgarian brewery.
Beer PointHOPAHOLICHOPAHOLIC
Then I was ready to tick of another box on my Hungarian food bingo, but the restaurant I picked turned out to be a daytime affair, and already closed at five! So instead, I had a quesadilla dinner—and beer of course—at Beer Brothers.
Beer BrothersBeer BrothersBBQ Csirkés quesadillas at Beer Brothers
The last stops of the evening were the Gravity Brewing brewery and taproom—an awesome space, with a great view on the shiny brewing installation—and MONYO Tap House.
Gravity BrewingGravity BrewingGravity BrewingGravity BrewingGravity BrewingMONYO Tap HouseMONYO Tap HouseMONYO Tap HouseMONYO Tap House
