Granted, I did spend almost all of my time in Bucharest , so this could have made the difference. I spent 2 days in Brasov and went to see the Bran Castle nothing special at all!!!
Brasov was certainly nice, clean, charming, etc. I would recommend Brasov as a rest from Bucharest. Bucharest on the other hand was very big, very spread out which made taking taxis necessary for moving around at night, caotic, dirty and noisy. I did see dogs on the streets, but nothing to really alarm me. Beggars were also visible, but nothing bothersome. I never felt unsafe walking around and did see a good police presence.
I will say that Bucharest has a number of very beautiful buildings. I am not talking about the palaces that they talk about in guide books.
I highly recommend simply walking around down any random block. You will be amazed at the number of majestic buildings and palaces.
I really enjoyed this. The city, though, just did not live up to what I expected. These cities are more "western European", whereas in Bucharest I really felt like it was "east Europe". I could count on one hand the number of people I saw actually with a smile on their face.
