World Cup 2014: 10 best places to watch the action in Bucharest

The World Cup experience will be a bittersweet one for Bucharest, given that Romania has failed yet again to qualify for the biggest football spectacle on Earth. All that being said, there are still fun and interesting locales around town where you can enjoy a match in a friendly football-loving atmosphere.

Now that the weather has improved considerably in the Romanian Capital, it’s the perfect time to make a few suggestions, including grand open-air locations.

Promenada
Calea Floreasca Nr. 246B, Sector 1

The best place to enjoy the World Cup matches in open air could be the Promenada roof terrace where you will find a giant screen (8 by 6 meters) that broadcasts in HD. TVR partnered with the mall to deliver the experience, which means the matches will also have Romanian commentary. The organisers do like to boast about the unique projector with a capacity for 35,000 luxes.

The full program for the World Cup matches that will be broadcast at Promenada can be found here.

Stadio
Ion Campineanu 11

Stadio is one of the most famous sports bars in Bucharest and they are eagerly expecting their client traffic to spike during the following weeks. Stadio bar updates its Facebook page daily with the matches it will broadcast at the bar. It’s a bit pricey (most main dishes start at RON 25 – 30) with the cheapest beer (Strong Silva Dark) costing you RON 8.5. Check the menu here so you won’t get faulted by the waiters.

Grand Cafe Van Gogh
Smardan 9

The Van Gogh coffeehouse is one of the more select options in the historical center. The owners announced they will broadcast the matches starting at 19:00 and 22/23:00 every night, with the 1.00 match being announced early if it’s going to be shown or not. Van Gogh also has a special “match menu” that includes Quesadillas, toasties, nachos and other “healthy snacks” along with a special kind of draft-beer, brought just for the festivities.

RePublic Fan Zone
Strada Șelari nr. 14

We’ve talked about RePublic before. Especially for the World Cup, the owners created a special “Fan Zone” where you can watch all the games on a giant screen with a 3 meter diagonal. There are also fussball tables and, lots of beer, good food and special offers for groups.

Champions
Calea 13 Septembrie 90

Stay at the Marriott hotel? Well the, luckily for you, Champions, one of the fanciest sports bars in Bucharest, is housed by the Marriott hotel.

St Patrick’s Irish Pub
Smardan 23-25

The lads at St Patrick’s Irish Pub, the officially recognized best Irish Pub in town, have a special set of offers for World Cup enthusiasts: beers at special prices depending on the teams that are playing.

Fabrica
11 Iunie 50

The Factory has one of the coolest terraces in town and the food they serve here is pretty cheap. So you can have fun watching the game in a modern, bohemian environment and save a pretty penny on World Cup snacks on top of that.

Halftime
Gabroveni 14

If you find yourself smack dab in the historical center on a Monday or Tuesday night at around 5 minutes to 1 am wondering where the hell you are going to watch the 1:00 am World Cup match, then wonder no more. Halftime is one of the most dedicated sports bars in town, filled to the brink with flags, t-shirts and other football paraphernalia. There is even a TV in the bathroom so you don’t miss anything.

Hanul cu Tei (The Linden Inn)
Blanari 5-7

The Linden Inn was built in 1833 by Anastasie Hagi Gheorghe Polizu and Stefan Popovici, both of them merchants who became partners in order to see their project come to life. Today, the Linden Inn offers 12 plasma screens to football fans that want to enjoy the match in the most authentic example of a typical inn in Bucharest.

Oktoberfest 3

Oktoberfest has a new location on Str. Franceza that seems to be “the good twin”. It is more roomy and bright but still has the same prices that simply cannot be beat.