National Geographic Traveler: Romania

Excellent guidebook. Thorough information, beautiful pictures by Steve Weinberg and interesting articles about culture (music, resistance fighters, Constantin Brancusi, myths, mining, fauna, healing waters, romanian art, gypsies, winemaking). It features a guided walk of old Bucharest, a few driving tours across the countryside (Muntenia, Oltenia, Transylvania, Banat, Maramures and Moldavia) and boat tour of the Danube Delta. I'm giving it 4 starts because the only city map featured is that of Bucharest. It includes some logistics details and lodging/dining options, but I always check the Internet for the latest news about that. All in all, a great guidebook.

It's great to see a book on Romania published by the prestigious National Geographic. There are many attractive pictures, maps and travel ideas and it is overall a great resource for someone who is introduced to this East European country. However, as an amateur photographer and someone who lived and traveled through Romania for many years, I have to point out 2 cons. First, the book is very much oriented towards the old and traditionalism, and you will have a hard time finding any buildings built after WW2, yet alone after the fall of communism (1989). I love the old yet it would have been nice to see at least a few pages dedicated to the more modern facade of Romania. To some degree, it feels like a National Geographic Magazine from the 60s. Second, I am very surprised at some of the choices for photographs. As a prime example the village of Vinga is represented by an ordinary church when it has one of the most famous and impressive churches in Western Romania - a huge Bulgarian Cathedral. Arad, a city of close to 200,000 which used to be called "little Vienna" due to its architecture, gets one picture: a glimpse of a local market.