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|capital = [[BucharestBucureşti]]|map = <map lat='46' lng='25' zoom='6' view='0' float='right' height='320' country='Romania' />

|currency = Leu ( RON )|BW = RO|hitch = {{Very Good}} (''very good<rating country='ro')/>

'''Romania''' a country in southeastern Europe, a member of the [[Image:ro-mapEuropean Union]] but not yet a member of the Schengen zone.gif|thumb|right|300px|Map It shares a border with [[Hungary]] and [[Serbia]] to the west, [[Ukraine]] and the Republic of Romania[[Moldova]] to the northeast, and [[Bulgaria]]to the south. In Hitchhiking in Romania is usually very easy. Payment for the ride is often expected, however. Make sure to tell the driver that you are travelling without money (''fără bani''‘without money’ or 'Romania'nu am bani'' payment for ‘I have no money’) before you get in the ride is often expectedcar. Most drivers will agree to take you anyway, although foreigners often arenbut if you don't asked for anythingtell them beforehand, they can aggressively demand payment when you get out later. It If you wish to pay drivers like local hitchhikers do, it is still cheaper than trains and buses though. The local currency is the Leu , about 5 lei (exchange rate: 1 Euro = aprox€1. 3.5 Lei25)for every 100 km. When hitchhiking,  Sometimes it's best possible to hold find some drivers that will ask you for a sign with the name lot of the money, maybe even €100 for a short trip. Some people are trying to work as illegal drivers taking people from one place you want to goanother, due to the high unemployment. People expect When they see foreigners they will try to be payed convince them to go with them and ask for giving a ridelots of money, but even if you tell them in advance that you are unable to local travellers just pay5 lei. Recently, 4 out of 5 will take you anywaythe Romanian government has forbidden asking for money when taking hitchhikers, but not hitchhiking itself.<br />Getting a ride can sometimes be difficult, as some At the exits of the cars that pass seem tinymost cities, ancient there are established places to hitchhike and packed you may find yourself competing with more local people than there are seatswho will pay drivers. This In some cases, it is probably due better to walk a little bit down the low rate of car ownership in some areas, road and the fact that hitching hitchhike where you can stand alone. The common practice is still to hold a common way for locals sign with the name of the place you want to travel, particularly in go; Romanian usually write the two-letter code of the countrycounty seat they are going to (e.g. "CJ" for Cluj).<br> Romania has just a long established hitchhiking tradition from couple of hundred kilometers of real motorway, in the south of the communist eracountry. Back then, few people had carsElsewhere, long-distance traffic is going on national roads with E numbers. You can stand directly on the national roads and there was a constant fuel shortagethumb, so sharing a ride was the though junctions are always best way to get from A to Bbecause cars go more slowly there.

Romanian is one of the few non-Slavic East-European languagesof Eastern Europe. It uses the Latin alphabet and is related with 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]]

== Roads ==[[File:Romania Motorways DE 1.svg|thumb|Highways in Romania (in 2021). The white middle line depicts sections in use, dotted middle line depicts sections under construction, while light green represents proposed expressways.]]There is an excellent [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_in_Romania Wikipedia article] about the roads in Romania. A lot of money is put into building roads as of 2023, so the roadnetwork is under constant change.Summing it up, these are some important Motorways or ''Autostrada'':*The [[A1 (Romania)|A1]] going 580&nbsp;km from [[Bucureşti]] to the border with [[Hungary]] at [[Nădlac-Nagylak_border_crossing]] – partly finished * The [[A2 (Romania)|A2]] or ''Sun's motorway'', going 204&nbsp;km from [[Bucureşti]] to [[Constanţa]] - completed.* The [[A3 (Romania)|A3]] or ''Transylvaniamotorway'', going 588&nbsp;km from [[Bucureşti]] to the border with [[Hungary]] at [[Ártánd-Borş_border_crossing]] – partly finished.Most of the other roads are in poor condition, the European routes being the best. Even so, hitching a ride is quite easy, especially on the major European roads that get a lot of traffic. == Number plates ==The first two letters of the number plates show you in which of the 42 [sic] counties the car was registered, which might be useful when talking to people at gas stations or resting areas. Red letters mean it's a temporally registered vehicle, green means electric. Further information can be found in the excellent [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Romania wikipedia article].[[File:Romanian license plate codes.png|thumb|Romanian license plate codes]]  == Border crossings == * [[Bulgaria]]:** [[Ruse-Giurgiu border crossing|Ruse-Giurgiu]], the major international route** [[Calafat-Vidin border crossing|Calafat-Vidin]]** [[Durankulak-Vama Veche border crossing|Durankulak-Vama Veche]]* [[Hungary]]** [[Ártánd-Borş border crossing|Ártánd-Borş]]** [[Nădlac-Nagylak border crossing‎|Nădlac-Nagylak]]* [[Moldova]]** [[Galaţi-Giugiuleşti border crossing|Galaţi-Giugiuleşti‎]]* [[Serbia]]** The [[Iron Gates]]**[[WallachiaStamora Moravița-Vatin border crossing|Stamora Moravița-Vatin]]*[[MoldaviaUkraine]]:** [[Dyakove-Halmeu border crossing|Dyakove-Halmeu]]** [[Sighetu Marmației-Solotvyno border crossing]]** [[Siret-Porubnoe border crossing|Siret-Porubnoe]]** There is no border crossing between Ukraine and the Danube Delta region of Romania. Travelers going between eastern Romania and southern Ukraine must pass through Moldova. There are privately owned boats that may takes travelers, but they ask up to hundreds of euro for the service. == Personal Experiences ==''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'' -[[DobrogeaUser:HoboSpirit|HoboSpirit]]

== Number plates Nomadwiki & Trashwiki ==[[Image:Map_romania_regions_and_districts.jpg|thumb|right|float|Political map of Romania: historical regions and counties]]Romanian license plate numbers usually have two formats:* Regular number plates: XX-yy-ZZZ (black writing on white background, blue strip on the left, with the country code "RO" and the Romanian or EU flag)* Temporary leasing number plates: XX-yyyyyy (red writing on white background, blue strip on the left, with the country code "RO" and the Romanian or EU flag)Where XX is the two letter code of the county (see below), y is a random number, and Z a random letter.