Herăstrău & Aviatorilor

Herăstrău and Aviatorilor are the green lungs of Bucharest and, at the same time, one of its most elegant residential areas. This is where King Michael I Park unfolds, known to everyone simply as Herăstrău, the city's largest park, laid out in the 1930s around a generous lake on which boats and pedalos glide in summer. It was built on former marshland along the Colentina, and its alleys, islands and terraces have been a favourite escape for generations.

The park is more than green space: it is home to the Village Museum, an open-air museum founded in 1936 with peasant houses, churches and windmills brought from every region of the country, a lesson in folk architecture you take in on foot. At the southern end, Bulevardul Aviatorilor leads to the Triumphal Arch, designed by the architect Petre Antonescu and inaugurated in its current stone form in 1936, raised in honour of Romanian soldiers and the point around which official parades take place each December. On the surrounding streets, interwar villas and embassies set the tone.

What to see

• Herăstrău Park (King Michael I), for long walks along the lake
• The Village Museum, the open-air heritage village from 1936
• The Triumphal Arch, the 27-metre monument on Aviatorilor
• Bulevardul Aviatorilor, with its villas and embassies

The vibe

This is an open-air Bucharest, for morning runs and evening strolls. Families come with children, runners loop around the lake, rowers train on the water, and the terraces inside the park fill up at sunset. Compared with the centre, the pace here is slower and the air cleaner. It is the ideal area for a day when you want greenery and space without leaving the city.

Getting there

The Aviatorilor metro station drops you right at the entrance to the park, while Aurel Vlaicu serves the eastern side; see the metro. The public transport lines along Aviatorilor and Kiseleff are convenient and frequent. For cultural landmarks see the attractions, and for a meal after your walk the area's restaurants.