Europe

Insurance

 

We recommend that you obtain comprehensive medical insurance before travelling.  You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for all the activities you want to undertake.  For more general information see Travel Insurance.

If things do go wrong when you are oversees then see the When Things Go Wrong page.

Registration

Register with our LOCATE service to tell us when and where you are travelling abroad or where you live abroad so our consular and crisis staff can provide better assistance to you in an emergency.  More information about registering with LOCATE can be found here.

 

Emergency services

 

The telephone number for all of Romania's emergency services is 112.  They have English speaking operators.

 

Customs Regulations

 

Travellers entering the UK from European Union countries do not normally pay any UK tax or duty on excise goods they have bought tax and duty paid in EU countries for own use. But there are special rules for cigarettes and some other tobacco products from some EU countries.

 

The UK is maintaining limits on the amount of cigarettes and some tobacco products that travellers are able to bring in to the UK for own use from nine European Union Member States (including Romania), without paying UK duty.

 

The limits are:

 

Estonia - 200 cigarettes or 250g of smoking tobacco.

 

Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - 200 cigarettes.

 

Anyone who is carrying more than the limits should pay UK duty on those goods by entering the Customs red channel or by using the red point telephone.  If travellers enter the Customs blue channel with more than the limits, then all of their tobacco may be seized.

 

Money

 

New legislation on the controls of cash entering or leaving the EU will apply in all Member States from 15 June 2007.  Any person entering or leaving the EU will have to declare the cash that they are carrying if this amounts to 10,000 euros or more; this includes cheques, travellers’ cheques, money orders, etc.  This will not apply to anyone travelling via the EU to a non-EU country, as long as the original journey started outside of the EU nor to those travelling within the EU.

 

We recommend that you carry Euros in Romania.  Dollars and Sterling are not always easy to exchange for the local currency especially outside of Bucharest.  You may also have difficulties using travellers’ cheques and credit cards.  Romania is largely a "cash only" economy.  While an increasing number of businesses do accept credit cards, you are advised to use cash due to the risk of credit card fraud.  There are an increasing number of ATM machines throughout the major cities.

 

Romania has redenominated its currency, moving from ROL to RON.  10,000 ROL = 1 RON.  The new banknotes and coins are now in circulation.  Most shops, restaurants and taxis now only show prices only in RON.  Others may still show prices in both RON and ROL, though this is becoming less common.  This can be confusing for foreign visitors.  There is a helpful guide on the National Bank website.