Changes

|BW = RO|hitch = {{very good}}<rating country='ro' />

'''Romania''' is one of the newest members a country in southeastern Europe, a member of the [[European Union]], located in South-East Central Europebut not yet a member of the Schengen zone. It shares a border with [[Hungary]] and [[Serbia]] to the west, [[Ukraine]] and the Republic of [[Moldova]] to the northeast, and [[Bulgaria]] to the south.

In Hitchhiking in Romania payment is usually very easy. Payment for the ride is often expected, although foreigners often arenhowever. Make sure to tell the driver that you are travelling without money (''fără bani'' ‘without money’ or ''nu am bani''t asked for anything‘I have no money’) before you get in the car. People expect Most drivers will agree to be paid for giving a ridetake you anyway, but if you don't tell them in advance that beforehand, they can aggressively demand payment when you get out later. If you are unable wish to paydrivers like local hitchhikers do, 1 out of 2 will take you anyway. It it is still cheaper than trains and buses though. The local currency is the Leu , about 5 lei (pl€1. Lei25). When hitchhiking, it's best to hold a sign with the name of the place you want to go. The most common method is using the 2-letter county code for the place you want to goevery 100 km.

Getting Sometimes it's possible to find some drivers that will ask you for a ride can sometimes be difficult, as some lot of the cars that pass seem tinymoney, ancient and packed with more maybe even €100 for a short trip. Some people than there are seats. This is probably trying to work as illegal drivers taking people from one place to another, due to the low rate high unemployment. When they see foreigners they will try to convince them to go with them and ask for lots of car ownership in some areasmoney, even if local travellers just pay 5 lei. Recently, and the fact that hitching is still a common way Romanian government has forbidden asking for locals to travelmoney when taking hitchhikers, particularly in the country. Getting a lift in a truck is fairly rare in Romania compared to the surrounding countriesbut not hitchhiking itself.

Many At the exits of most cities, such as Timișoara, have specific there are established places where one can to hitchhike from. They are interspersed around the city, so just ask someone where the nearest one is. They look like bus stops but and you may find yourself competing with local people who will notice they have no bus numbers or mapspay drivers. Some are intended for short distancesIn some cases, e.g. towns and villages within 50 kilometers of it is better to walk a little bit down the city, road and others for longer distances, such as hitchhike where you can stand alone. The common practice is to hold a sign with the next major town or city. At these stops, there are unofficial taxis (called sharks) waiting there at most times of day that charge a fixed rate name of about 6 lei (less than 2 USD) per person for a short distance, but they will only go if the car is full. If place you are willing want to pay for go; Romanian usually write the two-letter code of the other seats county seat they will take you straight awayare going to (e.g. Regular cars often pick people up as well, and the advantage to this is that they will take you without demanding the car be full and you can give them a 5 lei note "CJ" for about a 20k ride. However, that rate is not fixed, so some may argue a different price is appropriateCluj).

Romania has just a long established hitchhiking tradition from the communist era. Back then, few people had cars, and there was a constant fuel shortage, so sharing a ride was the best way to get from A to B. Romania has very few couple of hundred kilometers of real motorway, in the south of the country. Elsewhere, long-distance traffic is going on national roads with E numbers. You can stand directly on the national roads and thumb, though junctions are always best because cars go more slowly there.

Romanian is one of the few non-Slavic languages of Eastern Europe. It uses the Latin alphabet and is related to French, Italian, Spanish etc. Speakers of one of these languages will find it easier to pronounce and understand Romanianthough speakers of Slavic languages will find it easier to pronounce as its sounds have been influenced by its neighbours.

* [[Template:Phrasebook/Romanian|Romanian phrasebook]]

* The [[A1 (Romania)|A1]] going 127&nbsp;km from [[Bucureşti]] to [[Piteşti]] – the only fully operational motorway in RomaniaA 1 parts 2016 situation : Sibiu to Deva 140km ready /Traian Vuia, Lugoj, Timisoara, Arad, Nadlac to Szeged (Hungary) +/-170km ready.* The [[A2 (Romania)|A2]] or ''Sun's motorway'', going 204&nbsp;km from [[Bucureşti]] to [[Constanţa]] – only 75 % completed.* The [[A3 (Romania)|A3]] or ''Transylvania motorway'', going 588&nbsp;km from [[Bucureşti]] to the border with [[Hungary]] – under construction, due 2013.A3 parts 2016 situation [[Bucuresti]] to [[Ploiesti]] 60km in use, Turda to Gilau in use.

== Number plates Border crossings == * [[FileBulgaria]]:Map_romania_regions_and_districts.jpg** [[Ruse-Giurgiu border crossing|thumbRuse-Giurgiu]], the major international route** [[Calafat-Vidin border crossing|rightCalafat-Vidin]]** [[Durankulak-Vama Veche border crossing|floatDurankulak-Vama Veche]]* [[Hungary]]** [[Ártánd-Borş border crossing|Ártánd-Borş]]** [[Nădlac-Nagylak border crossing‎|Nădlac-Nagylak]]* [[Moldova]]** [[Galaţi-Giugiuleşti border crossing|Political map of Romania: historical regions and countiesGalaţi-Giugiuleşti‎]]* [[Serbia]]** The most used type of license plate uses a ''cc[[Iron Gates]]** [[Stamora Moravița-99Vatin border crossing|Stamora Moravița-xyz'' format, where ''cc'' is the 2Vatin]]* [[Ukraine]]:** [[Dyakove-letter county code, ''99'' a random 2Halmeu border crossing|Dyakove-digit number, and ''xyz'' 3 random letters.<br />Halmeu]]It's quite possible to see ** [[BucharestSighetu Marmației-Solotvyno border crossing]] registered plates ('''B'''''** [[Siret-99Porubnoe border crossing|Siret-xyz'') all over Porubnoe]]** There is no border crossing between Ukraine and the country, as all the leasing companies Danube Delta region of Romania. Travelers going between eastern Romania and southern Ukraine must pass through Moldova. There are based in Bucharestprivately owned boats that may takes travelers, and people are obliged but they ask up to use Bucharest plates while their cars are in leasinghundreds of euro for the service.

==Personal Experiences = County license plate codes ==={|| County || Code || Residence || County || Code || Residence || County || Code || Residence || County || Code || Residence|-| Alba || AB || [[Alba Iulia]] || Buzău || BZ || [[Buzău]] || Gorj || GJ || [[Târgu Jiu]] || Prahova || PH || [[Ploieşti]]|-| Arad || AR || [[Arad]] || Caraş-Severin || CS || [[Resiţa]] || Harghita || HR || [[Miercurea Ciuc]] || Satu-Mare || SM || [[Satu-Mare]]|-| Argeş || AG || [[Piteşti]] || [[Cluj]] || CJ || [[Cluj-Napoca]] || Hunedoara || HD || [[Deva]] || Sălaj || SJ || [[Zalău]]|-| Bacău || BC || [[Bacău]] || Călăraşi || CL || [[Călăraşi]] || Ialomiţa || IL || [[Slobozia]] || Sibiu || SB || [[Sibiu]]|''In total I spent around three months in Romania. I hitchhiked from Bucharest to Timisoara, Brasov and Iasi and also spent a few weeks camping in Transylvania. I hitchhiked to many landmarks such as Dracula's Castle, Rasnov Castle and the National Park in Zarnesti. Romanian people are incredibly friendly and happy to see travelers. I never found safety to be a problem and camped out at night in the national park in special spherical huts built for shepherds (I think they are for protection from bears). There are maps of the park which indicate the location of these huts and the best trails. Romania was the first country where I traveled for more than two days with the one truck driver. You should be OK to get around speaking English although if you have Italian that's a huge bonus and maybe learn a few basic Romanian words to be polite with any elderly farmers who pick you up in the country (Hungarian instead in many parts of Transylvania). Some drivers are quite lethal here too, so be prepared to take bends while overtaking gypsy carts at worrying speeds! Twice I was asked to contribute to the gas expenditure (out of maybe 30 lifts). I found hitchhiking at the side of the road with thumb out to be more time effective than petrol stations, many towns have hitchhiking spots where locals can be seen with their thumbs out. This country can't be skipped on a Europe trip if you like sheep's cheese, nature and castles'' -| Bihor || BH || [[Oradea]] User:HoboSpirit|| Constanţa || CT || [[ConstanţaHoboSpirit]] || Ilfov || IF || [[Bucureşti]] || Teleorman || TR || [[Alexandria]]|-| Bistriţa-Năsăud || BN || [[Bistriţa]] || Covasna || CV || [[Sfântu Gheorghe]] || Maramureş || MM || [[Baia Mare]] || Timiş || TM || [[Timişoara]]|-| Botoşani || BT || [[Botoşani]] || Dâmboviţa || DB || [[Târgovişte]] || Mehedinţi || MH || [[Drobeta Turnu-Severin]] || Tulcea || TL || [[Tulcea]]|-| Braşov || BV || [[Braşov]] || Dolj || DJ || [[Craiova]] || Mureş || MS || [[Târgu Mureş]] || Vâlcea || VL || [[Râmnicu Vâlcea]]|-| Brăila || BR || [[Brăila]] || Galaţi || GL || [[Galaţi]] || Neamţ || NT || [[Piatra Neamţ]] || Vaslui || VS || [[Vaslui]]|-| [[Bucureşti]] || B || – || Giurgiu || GR || [[Giurgiu]] || Olt || OT || [[Slatina]] || Vrancea || VN || [[Focşani]]|}