Photo above: Neptun - Olimp on the Romanian riviera

The Romanian Riviera from Mamaia in the north to Mangalia in the south is about 75 km long. All resorts have plenty of hotels and pensions - and plenty to offer a person on a holiday. Some resorts are purpose-built, while others are thriving towns with a life of their own off-season.  Each summer thousands of Romanians from other areas visit the riviera along with thousands of other nationalities. But still the Romanians themselves are in majority when it comes to tourism to this part of the world. The average number of foreign visitors over the last year has been more than 54000 each summer while the natives number almost 2 million. We will briefly describe the main resorts in this article, based on our own visits to the coast throughout several years.     Eforie Nord

CONSTANTA	MAMAIA
READ ABOUT CONSTANTA HERE Links CONSTANTA VIRTUAL City Map Constanta County Map Constanta	READ ABOUT MAMAIA HERE Photo link: 360 VIRTUAL VIEW MAMAIA

 NAVODARI  | REAL ROMANIA A STEP FROM MAMAIA            

This non-touristic town is situated just north of Mamaia and 25 km from Constanta - and has more than 40000 souls - and growing. From the Constanta airport there is a shortcut to Mamaia via Navodari, but you will not discover the town centre from the road. 

City dwellers in Constanta who find their personal budget about to collapse, tend to sell their city flats and move to Navodari where housing is cheaper. Back ages the small town had a 80% Roma population, but this has altered completely. 

Navodari is an industrial town with some huge factories nearby, symbols of a Stalinist past - with mega dimensions on the plants that were created. If Mamaia is colourful and appealing, Navodari is right the opposite, dull, grey and poor by the first look. However, looking closer it is the real Romania with a working centre and a working class to fit in it. If you stay for a while you may even find it refreshing after being stuck in tourist machine like Mamaia.

There are nice shops, small bars , nice pizzerias and prices are half of those in Mamaia during the peak season. And Navodari Camp outside the town is enjoyable, a combined fun fair and camping site aimed at kids from all over Romania , who used to be sent here on summer camps. And still do to a certain extent. A huge disco is the last attraction and it faces up to the twin discos in Mamaia in all ways. 

The locals believe that Mamaia and Navodari will be one in a few years time, and they may be right looking at all the houses now being constructed among the sand dunes between the two resorts. The seaway channel outside Navodari is enormous, and the view from the bridge is overwhelming. 

Moving out and about from Mamaia to Navodari is a lesson in the differences of Romania , and  worth the experience.  

EFORIE NORD is situated 10 km south of Constanta , and is hidden in a pine forest on a few hills overlooking the Black Sea . Eforie is one of the few small resorts on the Romanian seaside which is open the year round and is in fact also a town with a Romanian lifestyle. Which the main resort, Mamaia, lacks completely.

Eforie is a world famous spa resort, offering a great variety of massages, mud baths and electro-therapy. The service is good, even though the entire resort seems to be a bit out of date like it has been left behind by investors until rcently. Eforie is close to Lake Techirghiol with its even more famous health treatments and nudist beaches close to the village Techirghiol . Link: www.techirghiol.com

The sea is cleaner here than in Mamaia, but some of the beaches themselves are trashy. A small walkway on top of the steep hills with the sea in front is connecting the small beaches dotted around what is Eforie Nord. The resort is one of the cheapest around, the atmosphere relaxed and the Romanian middle class the main visitors. Several Romanian football teams also host their summer camps here for a shorter period of time. Down-to-earth all the way and actually charming though not yet a hotspot. However, times are a-changing also in Eforie Nord, the seaside's most impressive hotel - Hotel Europa - has been reconstructed to an extent that critics would say is dominating the town centre completely. Anyhow, this four star mega hotel has come to stay and having your holiday there is probably more than just nice.

It’s easy to get around in Eforie because everything is within walking distance. The resort has about 10 discos and several really good restaurants, and the town has a charm that grabs the visitor. One of the most well-known folklore restautants in Romania – NUNTA ZAMFIREI – is right outside the town centre. You pay a fixed entrance fee and you eat and drink till you drop. During the night you will observe brilliant Romanian folk dances and be a paying guest in a Romanian stage wedding. In the end you will learn a few dancing steps yourself. The programme and opening hours differ according to bookings, so check in advance. 

Eforie Nord also has several good tennis courts, especially on the outskirts in the Constanta direction. There are a couple of markets and shopping centres as well , - and buses to and from Constanta run more than often, but not after 10 pm . The bus station is vis-à-vis the post office. Two internet cafès with slow connections have opened in the main street leading to the Bellona Beach . In July and August Eforie Nord is the arena of great concerts and theatre performances. This is not Mamaia of course, but the top artists who pay Mamaia a visit seem also to include Eforie Nord on their way to and from, so who cares.

Over the last years things have really changed in Eforie Nord. For the better.The amount of trash that could be found on the Bellona beach was unbelievable by any standard, Nobody seemed to care about this nor the rubbish that were dropped in loads along the beach walkways - until spring 2005 when the state body DIRECTIA APELOR took over the care of all beaches alonmg the Romanian coastline. Trashbins and cleaning machines were introduced and a new and more pleasant Bellona is the result.

The best hotel in Eforie Nord is the huge ANA HOTEL EUROPA, as mentioned above, four stars and dominating the town centre with its long reception, wonderful pool area and park lawns. It alos has a spa department and is open the year round. The beach area belonging to Hotel Europa is one of the best run in Romania. If you are on a budget, the summer of 2005 was a change. 10 - 12 new villas or pension motels opened. Good standard and good value.

A nuisance to the mature crowd may be five outdoor discos on the Bellona beach which obviously compete in playing their cd’s as loud as possible and makes the beach a non-stop rave party in daylight. We suggest to the local licence bosses that one is enough. However, if you want a peaceful beach you may find several stretches of sand in the direction of Eforie Sud where waves are the only sounds around.

" The best time to arrive in Eforie Sud is late July and early August when the rest of the Romanian seaside resorts are overfilled  and Eforie Sud  still is spacious and peaceful, friendly relaxed with its great avenues and cool parks, cheap restaurants, wonderful beaches and just a sufficient number of tourists to have fun and enjoy nights out "  

EFORIE SUD has since the 1960's been the seaside resort of the Romanian working class, and has at times been overshaddowed in attention by her big sister, Eforie Nord. While Eforie Nord is booming and overcrowded, Eforie Sud is a bit more hesitating, peaceful and a resort reminding of the old times. It's possible to walk from Eforie Sud to Eforie Nord and the other way round, using the beaches and passing along a few rocky cliffs.

Eforie Sud has bungalows and broad avenues with big trees on each side, and in the resort itself you have plenty of space. The beaches however may be crowded during summer, but mostly only in the weekends when the natives have days off from work. Foreign tourist are few, however the Russians and the Germans have discovered the pleasures of Eforie Sud and the number of these nationalities in the resort is growing rapidly.

Hotels, eating out and shopping are cheaper in Eforie Nord than elsewhere on the Romanian riviera, and the offers are plenty. A half secret in Eforie Sud are a few very neat bungalow towns hidden in small woods not far from the resort centre, housing tourists in a more private style. If you are a big city dweller and want a change, this is the place to be.

Beach services are common also  in Eforie Sud, but you may also find beaches on your own southwards from the main beaches if you like to be alone.

The most beautiful part of Eforie is the view of the beaches from the Faleza fronting the seaside, a pedestrian street on the top of sttep hills down to the beachshire itself. Also the huge and peaceful parks between the beach and the highway Constanta - Mangalia. Small villas surround the park like small castles away from it all. Such a small place with such huge parks is the immidiate impression. And a real getaway.

 

CASA CARP EFORIE SUD - Pension villa offering rooms in Eforie Sud

Hotels in Eforie Sud

Hotel Bistrita (3*) – Str. Mihai Viteazu, nr. 48,  0040 722 405 093
Hotel Ancora (2*) +40 241 748 638, fax: +40 241 748 889
Hotel Cosmos (2*) +40 241 748 354, fax: +40 241 748 889
Hotel Excelsior (2*)+40 241 748 754
Hotel Dumbrava (2*) +40 241 749 410, fax: +40 241 748 779
Hotel Capitol (1*)  +40 241 748 182, fax: +40 241 748 889

 ROUND AND ABOUT IN EFORIE SUD  

• Shopping in Constanta. Take a bus or minibus from the Eforie Sud Post Office. Serious shopping can be done in METRO 1 or 2 in Constanta ( DORALY Constanta, METROPOL Constanta ( clothes) or more expensive TOMIS MALL www.tomismall.ro  or  SELGROS www.selgros.ro/  | Link | about 5 km from Eforie Nord on the highway to Constanta City. Better: REAL | CARREFOUR | CITY PARK MALL all in the Constanta area.

• Techirghiol, the monastary and treatment spa centre( Taxi 4 km)

• A folklore night at the restaurant Nunta Zamfirei in Eforie Nord

• Stroll the flea markets one early noon in Eforie Sud

• A pop consert in Eforie Nord or Eforie Sud. Posters annonuce several great Romanian star concerts during peak season.

• Outdoor cinema

• A day in Costinesti, the neighbouring resort which claims to be the Ibiza of the Romanian Riviera, the place to be for the young, the beautiful and those young in minds.

• A day in Mangalia, the white Greek town on the border to Bulgaria.. 

• If you haven't been there before, have a day in Mamaia, the main Romanian resort with gondolas and water parks - and a Mallorca-look-alike feeling.

• Get yourself a massage or treatment. Check www.spas.ro

Intended as a summer resort for the young people, Costinesti is placed at 31 km south of Constanta , near the villages Costinesti and Schitu. The latter has been created at the end of the 19th century by the German colonists. The central area of the resort was built in 1949, when the first vacation camp for young people was planned here.

Summer resort of national importance, also called "The Youth Resort", situated in SE extremity of Romania, on the Black Sea coast, elevation 10 m, 31 km S of Constanta (seat of Constanta county). Seacoast climate with hot summers (July average temperature above 22°C) and mild winters (January average about 0°C). Reduced nebulosity in summer; Low precipitation (400 mm annually).

The long beach (around 2 kilometers long and 50-100 meters wide) with fine sand is orientated eastward, facing the sun for the entire duration of the day (privilege enjoyed by few European beaches). This wonderful beach is fitted for thalassotheraphy and heliotherapy (the sun shines here for 10-12 hours a day).

Natural cure factors are the excitant-stressful seacoast climate, the plentiful saline aerosols and solar radiation and the water of the Black Sea which is chlorided, sulphated, sodic, magnesian, hypertonic (mineralization 15.5 g). 

The resort benefits both healthy holidaymakers and ailing people, being recommended in the treatment of degenerative rheumatic diseases of articular or abarticular focus, in the dormant state, weakly conditions, secondary anemia, rachitis, decalcification, hypothyroidism, certain scaly dermatoses (psoriasis), etc. 

There’s lots of minihotels, villas, campgrounds, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, cinemas, etc. The resort is the site of a big and modern holiday compound for youth and an international student camp, which account for its well - deserved renown as a youth and students resort.

Every year, Costinesti hosts a series of cultural and entertaining events, among which we mention the ones organized under the aegis of the "Sea's Feast" ("Sarbatorile Marii"), the Assembly of the Young Actors ("Reuniunea tinerilor actori"), the Film Festival for the Young ("Festivalul de film pentru tineri") and the Jazz Festival ("Festivalul de jazz"). The youthful atmosphere is completed by the other numerous cultural-artistic events organised here, by the modern leisure centers, by the vivid brodcasts of "Radio Holiday" etc.

One of the nicest resorts on the Romanian seaside  is named Vama Veche, in English “THE OLD CUSTOM.”

In the Old times, Vama Veche was a little fishing village. As early as Ceausescu was President of the Romanian Communist State , Vama Veche represented an oasis of freedom on the Black Sea Coast . In the period of the summer season Vama Veche was the favourite sanctuary for the folk and rock music lovers. All over the resort you could hear loud music from groups like Beatles, Deef Lepard, Led Zeppelin, and Rolling Stones, music that was not applauded by the Communist elite.  

In the name of the ideology the rockers were punished cutting their hair, but that was not happening only in Vama Veche. The resort soon gained its nickname  " the Resort of Freedom". One of the reasons was that Vama Veche is next to the Bulgarian frontier, and a place difficult to control by the authorities. Beginning with the new democratic system Vama Veche was totally accepted as "the Seaside Village of Freedom". It remains the favourite summer destination for the Romanian and foreign young rebels. It's a place where prejudices do not exist, where tolerance prevails, in the good sense of the word.

It’s a saying that Vama Veche is a small kingdom of eternal friendship. One of the rules is  "If you are hungry, or thirsty, you may ask and you'll receive". So, in Vama Veche you don't have to walk around with a pocket full of money. And if you want to sleep, it's simple, just lay down on the sand, and the waves of dreams will be as beautiful as the sea waves.

Those visitors who are pretentious can rent a tent, 2 or 3 stars, and the air-condition is guaranteed by the sea breeze, the bathroom is in the salt sea and the light you need may be provided by a candle or a beach fire

There are many ways to have fun in Vama Veche. Young groups may rest on the beach, around a camp fire, with a cool drink, or a beer bottle, and someone always has a guitar for sing-a-longs. These parties go on night after night, while the days are spent in the sun.

Bars and discos in Vama Veche play old rock’n roll music and blues, never disco or manele.. Some bistros have  names  like "X-PIRAT", "To The Frontier” , - and they serve also food and drinks with strange names. - advertised on  the web site www.porumbulfiert.ro  

Nudism is okay in Vama Veche, you can see naked people everywhere, on the street, in the market, in the bistro, or even in the disco, where youngsters dance on the tables. The majority of the local establishments are built from RUSH (in Romanian - stuff) The most important rock festival in  Vama Veche -  called "RUSHSTOCK “, a game of words hinting at the Americam Woodstock festival – but is also a protest against the mainstream Romanian pop music produced only on commercial terms.

In the summer of 2003  - as a tribute to the art and musical currents expressed in Vama Veche, - the local administration organised another festival, that began with a parade and ended with a house music concert, under the name "LIBERTY PARADE". SInce then it has taken place every summer.

 If you want to visit the Romanian resort  Vama Veche , you should do it, not only for the music, the rebels,  the possibility of nudism or for the rush, but certainly for the real, natural freedom totally different from other Romanian seaside resorts.

LINK : www.vamavecheholidays.ro