ARAD
Arad (114 thousand. residents) it is situated in the land of vineyards on Marusza (Mures), which, sailing around the local 18th-century citadel, goes further west to Szeged in Hungary. The fortress is still occupied by the military and cannot be visited, but in the parks surrounding it, crowds of sunbathers linger in the summer. Apart from elegant houses from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries., erected, when Arad was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there is hardly anything to see in the city. You can stay here, to spend the last funnels before crossing the border with Hungary, away from 20 km to the west.
Orientation
The train station is a few kilometers north of the center. It is a tram ride from there #1,2 the 3 South (i.e.. left, standing with his back to the station) bulwarem Revolutiei. The bus station is on the main boulevard two blocks to the west.
Luggage storage in the main building at the train station is open 24 hours a day.
Information
Tourist offices – Zarandul Travel Agency (tel.257473), the boulevard of the Revolution 76, opposite the town hall, sells city maps (3 $) and tickets for buses to Hungary. You cannot count on any addresses of private accommodation here.
Automobil Clubul Roman branch (tel.281445) located at the strada 1 December 1918, next to the Astoria hotel.
Money – Romanian Commercial Bank, the boulevard of the Revolution 72, exchanges travelers' checks and withdraws money to a Visa card (pn.-sb. 8.30-12.00).
Several exchange offices at the Revolutiei boulevard in the center offer more favorable rates. Money exchange for forints and vice versa are also money changers hanging around the street, but by doing business with them, you have to be very careful.
Post and telecommunications – Telephone exchange at the Main Post Office, przy boulevard Revolutiei 44, is open every day. 7.00-21.30. Direction to Arad: 057.
Sightseeing
After the suppression of the revolution in 1848 r. in the local citadel (gum. for tourists) at the behest of the Habsburgs, thirteen Hungarian generals were executed. There is an obelisk in memory of them in front of Sub Cetate camp site.
Neoclassical town hall (1876), przy boulevard Revolutiei, it is the most magnificent structure in Arad. In the back, in the Palace of Culture (1913) przy George Enescu Square, there is a Historical Museum (closed. pn.). The extensive exhibition shows the entire history of the region, but the explanations are only in Romanian.
Walk south along the attractive Revolutiei boulevard to the neoclassical State Theater (State Theater; 1874). Two blocks away, na rogu Piata Plevnei, standing (in front of the house) pniak, to which the young blacksmiths, joining the guild, hammered a symbolic nail.
Accommodation
Camping – For the well-run Sub Cetate campsite, Street 13 General 13, you go over the bridge near the Parc hotel, then right and 1,5 km downstream to the board "Popas Turistic”. Nothing pushes here, but the walk is quite nice. You pay for accommodation in a tent or in a cottage 5,50 $ from person. There is a restaurant / bar on site from March to mid-October.
Hotels – Best to stay at the Muresul Hotel (tel.280766) from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the boulevard of the Revolution 88. After a complete renovation in 1993 r. it was restored to its former splendor; a single without a bathroom costs here 20 $, and a single / double room with a bathroom 26/30 $.
If there are no vacancies, you can look for the Arad Hotel (tel.280894), Decebal Boulevard 9. You pay for en-suite rooms there 21/31 $.
Hotel Ardealul (tel.280840), near the State Theater, przy boulevard Revolutiei 98, it's a beautiful neoclassical building (1841) with a music lounge, where Brahms performed, Liszt i Strauss. Single / double ensuite costs here 31/45 $.
In the modern 5-story Central Hotel (tel.253108), at the Horia strada, the service is surly, and the rooms are exorbitant prices – 35/42 $.
Having hotel vouchers, instead of the outrageously expensive Hotel Astoria (tel.216650), with doubles included 120 $, you'd better have a look at the nine story Parc Hotel (tel.280820), Dragalina street 25; for a room with a bathroom you have to pay here (no coupons) 38/60 $.
Gastronomy
Pizza and pasta dishes are served at Pizzeria Taveina, the boulevard of the Revolution 73, at the bottom of the building opposite the town hall.
Come de Mamma Restaurant, Avram Iancu Square, it's a small, unpretentious eatery, in which they serve standard Romanian dishes.
There are two open-air markets in Arad: jeden na Piata Mihai Viteazul, and others, smaller, in the Cathedral Square, at the west end of the Mejin Strade.
Entertainment
Theater Agency (wt.-nd. 11.00-13.00), offering tickets for shows, located at the back of the State Theater.
Journey
Train – The main railroad from Arad to the east leads to Hunedoara, Sybina and Sighisoary, and south to Timisoara. Local trains run north to Oradea (121 km, 2,5 time.), east to Deva (149 km, 4 time.) i, often, south to Timisoara (57 km, 1,5 time.). There is also a night train to Bucharest from here (589 km, 11 time.).
Hungary – Arad is an important stop for Carpati Express, Muntenia, Getting started, Ister, Dacia, Ovidius and Pannonia from Budapest to Bucharest (the first of these, Carpathians, is coming from Warsaw). Some express trains are separated in Arad: hello to Bucharest follows the line through Sibiu and Brasov, and some by Timisoara and Craiova. You have to reserve seats for all of them, and tickets for international journeys are sold exclusively by the CFR office on bulevardul Revolutiei 99, next to the State Theater (pn.-pt. 8.00-20.00).
There are also two local trains running to Hungary from Arad to Bekescsaba (68 km), but the departure times must be carefully checked.
You can also take one of the six passenger trains running daily to Nadlać (52 km, 1,5 time.) and beat on foot, by taxi or hitchhiking 6 km to the border crossing, and on the other side of the border take the train from Nagylak to Szeged (7 daily; 47 km, 1,5 time.).
Bus – From the station (bus) in Arad, two blocks west of the train station, several coaches depart for Hungary. One goes to Szeged every afternoon (106 km, 3 $), the second three times a week, also in the afternoon, do Bekescsaby (87 km, 2 $), and the third one goes to Budapest early in the morning four times a week (276 km, 7 time., 7 $). Tickets to Budapest and Bekescsaby can be bought at the box office, while to Szeged from the driver. Instead of trusting the train station timetable, better to ask in the info.
Bus connections to Hungary are also offered by offices at boulevardul Revolutiei – it's worth coming out and comparing the prices. Marco Polo is a solid company (tel.254473), the boulevard of the Revolution 59, serving the line to Budapest (pt. 19.00, 5 time., 5 $), and also to Poland, Austria and Germany.