What To Do in Iasi, Romania

Palaces with rolling hills, hotels designed by Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, book-shaped benches was not we expected to find in Iasi, Romania’s third largest city and cultural capital. In eastern Romania near the Moldovan border, Iasi offered a lot in the 3.5 days we visited.

Here are a few highlights.

Eat:

• Banana bread from Cafeneaua Lattente Specialty Coffee, a tiny cafe with outdoor seating and a quality coffee menu.
• “Happy Luca” (a hot dog with mustard and ketchup inside a warm roll) from Luca, a takeout-only bakery chain throughout the city.
• Carbonara from Pasta House, a takeout pasta shop.
• Soup from Ciorbărie, a small shop that sells ten different kinds of soup with white bread.

Drink:

• Latte with a double shot of espresso from Capuchin Roasters, a design-forward cafe along a pedestrian-only street.
• Strawberry lemonade from Noir Coffee Roasters, cafes inside black vans throughout the city.

Do:

• Play on two shaded playgrounds inside Exhibition Parc, a large park with fountains, gazebos, and snack stands.
• Roll down the hills outside the Palace of Culture, an early 20th century palace that’s now museums.
• Take your kids to the Palas Mall to ride flashing unicorn rides.
• Walk up the stairs at the Yellow Precipice built in the early 20th century.
• Zip line at SuperFun, an adventure park that hosts private parties.
  • They let us inside for an hour before a party started for fun.

See:

• Book-shaped benches at Copou Park and throughout the city.
• Brutalism in every neighborhood.
• Grand Hotel Traian, a hotel designed by the same man behind Paris’ Eiffel Tower.
• Neoclassical architecture at Metropolitan Cathedral Iasi and elaborate stonework at Mănăstirea Sfinții Trei Ierarhi, a 17th century monastery nearby.
• Roses in the gardens at the Anastasie Fătu Botanical Garden, the country’s oldest and largest botanical garden.
• Subtle public art throughout the city.