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Fact Sheet |
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About
This page is aimed to gather useful general information about Romania for those who intend to visit the country but are completely new to it.
Time zone
Romania is in the Eastern European time zone (GMT+2).
Currency
The new Romanian leu (RON) was created in 2005 from the old leu (ROL) by chopping off the last 4 zeros (so that 10,000 old lei - plural of leu - is 1 new leu). While nowadays the banknotes in use are the new ones, sometimes it happens that people tell you prices in old lei, but doing it in units of thousands, which can be quite confusing. An example: "80" can easily mean 80,000 old lei, which is actually 8 new lei... What really helps is to convert the amount to a currency that is familiar to you (exchange rates can be found on xe.com, for instance) and compare it with "Western European" prices for the same thing. The Romanian price should generally be less (or about the same but never higher).
Road toll
If you decide to go by car, be aware that road toll has to be paid for the usage of main roads in Romania. You shall buy an e-vignette (called Rovinieta) at the nearest petrol station after entering the country. Vignettes are available for 7 days, 30 days and 1 year. Fees vary according to vehicle type, for up-to-date info check out the official rovinieta website, also available in English.
Hint: After crossing the border, people (not officers) might try to stop you for exchanging Romanian money and selling Rovinieta. Do NOT buy vignette from these "roadside" people because the purchase has to be entered in a computer system and they apparently do not have that...