Date of visit: July 22 and 23, 2018
After the sightseeing in Transylvania, we went back to Wallachia. On this day, I said goodbye to the car which I had rented in Bulgaria for about a week. Since the next day’s flight was early in the morning, I returned the car at the airport and decided to stay near the airport.
Returning a rental car
The first step was to return the car. The return of the car at Henrico Linda Airport was not in the airport grounds, but along the national road from Bucharest to the airport. I forgot to take a picture of it, so here is the map. Here it is.
I had checked the return location on Google Maps, but I was worried that it was really here. But I was able to return it without any problem. You can also check the street view, so you can rest assured.
To an apartment near the airport
Next is the hotel. We did some research and found no accommodation within walking distance of the airport grounds. In the end, we arranged an apartment with the best reputation nearby. Fortunately, it was within 10 minutes walking distance from the rental car return point, which was a big help. We could have arranged a taxi from the rental car return point, but we didn’t know what the situation was until we actually got there, so we chose a place we could walk to.
The apartment has a new atmosphere, which was built recently. It was a newly built place for foreign tourists who are probably increasing in recent years.
お世話になったアパルトマン：Bucharest Airport Suites & Villas
There is no front desk at the apartment, so you have to communicate with the owner via email (dedicated address on booking.com). The manager of the apartment was very trustworthy and responded quickly and accurately to emails.
I believe you will receive an email from the destination about a day before asking about your arrival time. It is better to let them know what time you will be arriving by the morning of the day at the latest. In the case of requesting a taxi, it was at least the day before. Here is the contents of the email I received the day before.
Dear Yuichiro
The address is: Street Drumul Gării Odaii nr 2-4, bloc 4, apartment 204, Otopeni.
Do You take a taxi? We can offer transportation to and from the airport , charged at 10 euros/service during the day (7-22), and 15 euros during night time (22-7).
This service depends on availability , and it needs to be confirmed at least one day prior to your arrival.
If your flight is late or early (not the time you provided), please notify us in advance in an sms or call us.
Please contact us if you need further details.
Do you have Whatsapp for sending the location map?
Kind regards,
As for the way to enter, you will be told the code of the entrance by e-mail and enter inside. The message of the email was something like this.
Dear Yuichiro
We will not be able to welcome you in person today. Please use the details below to self check in.
Your apartment is 204, block 4.
The name of the residential complex is Airport Residences. Block 4 is the last one at the back.
Coming from the main road, you turn right immediately after Hotel Angelo/Vienna House and in 50m on the right you will see the barrier to enter our complex.
Please make sure your gps takes you to the address that is 800 m across the street from the airport, because our street is new, and not all gps have it.
The code to enter the building: *********
After that, when you get to the apartment, the lock box is next to the entrance in the apartment.
****** is the code for the lock box where you will find the keys.
Please send a message when you are inside, so that we know everything is ok.
Wifi password will be on the panel next to the entrance door.
Kind regards,
Bucharest Airport Apartments
The room was very clean and comfortable. The room was very clean and comfortable.
The next day, we decided to ask the owner for a taxi at 7:30am because it is a bit far from the apartment to the airport on foot. I asked the owner if he could arrange a taxi for me. Of course we were able to contact them smoothly via email as well. On the day, the car came to the front of the building (the block where the room is located) on time.
By the way, if you stay in this apartment and take a taxi to the airport the next day, you should keep in mind the following. If you are going to take a taxi to the airport the next day, you should keep in mind the following: for a while, taxis will not go to the airport unless you go in the opposite direction, towards the center of Bucharest.
It feels like you keep going in the opposite direction for more than five minutes, so this can be a bit of a rush for a moment if you don’t understand the road conditions nearby. The reason why you are going in the opposite direction is because you can’t turn left on the big highway in front of you. Therefore, you have to turn right once and go to Bucharest direction to make a U-turn.
It does not mean that the driver is ripping you off. Just keep in mind that even though they’re taking the best route, they’re not as efficient as the quicksand, so you’ll be wasting your money.
The airport is not so far from Bucharest city, so I think I could have stayed in the city and went to the airport from the city next morning.
Dining options in the area
To be honest, there are not many places to eat around the airport, but there happened to be a restaurant nearby that had a good reputation, so we were able to have dinner there. The food was quite common, but the volume and taste were very good. There was also plenty of wine, and we drank a lot.
お世話になったレストラン：Casa RomâneascăCasa Românească
I don’t know the details, but there was something like an after-party for a local wedding, and it was very lively. It was noisy, but…. Well, it was like a karaoke contest that often happens in the countryside. But this is the suburbs of the capital.
Airport Facilities
The next day, I went to Henri Coanda International Airport, the gateway to Bucharest. This trip was the first time for me to use this airport because I came from Sofia, Bulgaria. The airport was recently renovated and it was very clean. I had breakfast at the airport after check-in because breakfast was not available at the apartment.
After completing the procedures safely, we finally departed. I’m going back to Tokyo via Istanbul. However, we had a very long transit time in Istanbul, so we did a little sightseeing in Istanbul. It was my wife’s first visit to Istanbul, but it was my third visit to Istanbul, and I did a lot of sightseeing on my first visit, so I won’t introduce it this time.
This concludes my travelogue of Bulgaria and Romania, which took me almost a year to finish. Both countries are very worth seeing, and one visit was not enough for me. So, I am sure that I will revisit both countries. (End)
