If you follow us on Twitter, or ever browse an issue of Bucharest In Your Pocket, then you would have noticed that we have more than a passing interest in the state of Bucharest’s parks. Not merely because we want to bring people the most up-to-date info, but also because, as parents, a large slice of our spare time is spent in the city’s parks and green spaces.
Earlier this summer, we were very impressed with the total makeover of Parcul Titan, in the east of the city. (There’s more here).
Titan is not the most picturesque area of the capital, but the park is now magnificent, a hundred times better than Herastrau, the city’s so-called showpiece park and still considered the best. It has long been anything but. (And for our opinion of Cismigiu, see this post).
Indeed, Herastrau is now not even in the running for second place. For Titan’s nearest competition is now Tineretului, a park the Bucharest Life family went to this weekend.
We used to live near Tineretului, and it was always a bit of a dump. Not any more it isn’t. The local council has spent a small fortune on the place (at least a part of it, anyway), which now comes complete not merely with great playgrounds, but with pony trekking, go-karting (welcome, seeing as the Herastrau track was demolished to make way for a fitze nightclub), gazebos with cooling waterfalls, cycle tracks, fitness circuits, barbecues and even – get this – a ski slope. (OK, the ski slope is not of course open now, but will be in Winter).
Go karting in Tineretului Park, Bucharest
Pony trekking in Tineretului Park
Tineretului Park ski slope (snow not pictured)
Basically people, if you need to take the kids somewhere in Bucharest on a nice day, make it Titan or Tineretului. Don’t even bother with Herastrau or Cismigiu. It shouldn’t make any difference that the mayor of Sector 4 (in which Tineretului Park is found) is in deep trouble for having bought his driving license from corrupt police officers, or that less than a kilometre from the park are streets without running water and sewerage. No. Simply enjoy a park which – when it comes to things to do with kids – is as good as any in this part of the world.
[...] Tineretului. Most kids ignore the sign… Last summer we posted a rather detailed description of Bucharest’s best parks. To all intents and purposes, what we wrote then remains valid today: the best parks in the city [...]
[...] inceput de luni seara, cu cateva teste pe pista de automodele din Parcul Tineretului, acum intr-o stare de invidiat. Din pacate, pista nu are iluminare pe timp de noapte (iar noi am ajuns pe inserate), iar masina [...]
Oh, he drives a blue Cadillac, registered B-63-JFK
[Reply]
The mayor of my sector is a very good mayor! A few days ago I caught him on a bench in a small garden that he made in the Nitu Vasile area and thanked him for repairing my street. However, the company that made the repairs cut 2 trees that were exactly next to the wall of the block that I live in and I had to file a complaint with the mayorship and now I also told him about the situation and he told me that he will take care for the 2 trees to be replanted.
That’s a good mayor, better than the one of sectorul 3!
[Reply]