Where to Live in Romania: Large City vs Small Town vs Village

One of the most important decisions you will make before relocating to Romania is choosing where to live if you have that option. So – should you choose to live in a larger city or a smaller town? Or maybe you should go for a village and experience that rural living with all the nature’s beauties around?

In most cases and for most people, I think that the best place to live in Romania is one of the larger cities, from the capital Bucharest (which might be a bit too much for many) to the budget-breaking Cluj Napoca, to expat-friendly Brasov or Constanta, as well as Timisoara, Sibiu, Oradea or Iasi.

(Note: you can click the links on each of the larger cities above to check out my in-depth overview of each and learn more about them).

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Large city living vs small city vs village

Despite some obvious Cons, we have important Pros to consider when it comes to living in one of the smaller cities in Romania. And by “small” I mean those that have at least some 30,000 people living there, not smaller.

Anything smaller would enter the “village” category, even though in most cases you will still find more amenities than you would in villages, as well as options for entertainment, but not a lot more.

Romania has grown tremendously over the years, with smaller cities offering many of the things that the larger ones do, and I’ve seen villages taking advantage of European funds and starting to improve a lot, too.

It’s not uncommon now to have in the village (or within a decent distance to it) some larger supermarkets like Profi and even Lidl, which should be enough to cover all groceries and most of the other necessities, even though prices are higher than in the larger supermarkets.

However, for the vast majority of people – mainly everybody who is NOT particularly looking to live in a village – I think that you should cross living in a Romanian village off your list.

I wrote an in-depth article on why you might not be able of living in Romanian village and I recommend checking it out.

Even though challenging, it can still be done if you don’t mind some challenges: I have a story from Angela who moved from the UK to spend a summer in a Transylvanian village, and several of this website’s readers also live in villages – like Shane, who also enjoys it a lot.

However, for those who are looking for a more active type of life, with restaurants nearby, shopping malls and cinemas/theaters nearby, as well as various options for spending their free time, villages should be out of the question – and many of the really small cities too.

So the real question remains: where type of city is best for you in Romania? A small city or a large one?

There are 20 cities in Romania with a population over 100,000 while just 9 have over 200,000 inhabitants, with Bucharest being the largest (around 2 million people live there).

Trust me when I say that the differences can be huge when comparing living in a smaller town to a large city. I will cover them all below, also best on my recent, 2-year-long experience living in Constanta, Romania.

Main differences between living in large Romanian city vs a small one

1. Walkability and public transportation

Small cities have little to no public transportation options. Any buses they might have, will generally be few and far in between, in most occasions connecting the nearby villages to the cities themselves.

However, since they are small, almost everything is within walking distance. You can also use a bike to get around easily – and if you have a car, probably everything in the small city will be maximum 10 minutes away.

Larger cities have some sort of public transport options, with Bucharest being the only city in Romania where there’s a metro line (Cluj Napoca is working on theirs, but it will take time).

Even in the larger cities, the public transportation is not smartly built and you’ll still have to do a lot of waiting or walking to reach your final destination, but at least you will reduce the overall time of travel.

In Bucharest, for example, expect buses and trams and even metros to be extremely crowded and waiting times to be nerve wrecking sometimes. For more about the city, check out my guide to public transport in Bucharest.

The family that moved to Brasov from the US, on the other hand, told me that the buses there are rarely full and they usually get to sit during most of their rides.

But, to put things into perspective, it’s worth mentioning that larger cities are generally not that walkable (hence the NEED for public transportation). So if you prefer to spend as little time as possible traveling from one place to another, smaller cities are better even with the fewer public transportaion options.

2. Closed- vs. Open-Minded

People in smaller cities might not be as open-minded as those in the larger ones. I was extremely surprised to hear a story from a friend living in Alba Iulia who knew a lady that had a child with an African man.

Their child faced a lot of obstacles and problems every now and then, some of them reminding us of the medieval ages: for example, doctors would not release the generic papers stating that she’s healthy (although she was) which were needed for her to start school, she was the victim of differentiated behavior from teachers and even some of the kids treated the girl poorly.

In the city I live in, for example, there are no people of African descendants living here, but I believe that a small portion of the population would behave similarly to those in Alba Iulia.

Things will slowly change, as diversity is finally becoming more and more common in Romania – especially thanks to the influx of workers coming mostly from South East Asia countries, but I expect racism and xenophobia to be more of a problem in smaller cities. And you should also add sexism to that list, since we’re here.

The lack of education and the fact that many of the people living in Romania are either grown under the close-minded communist regime or educated by people who grew under the communist regime is, in my opinion, part of the problem and even though most of the people I know – especially the younger ones – are open minded, you should expect outdated mentality from many, especially in the smaller towns and even more so from the older individuals.

In the larger cities, since you have more educated people living there (as well as better traveled individuals), younger people who have access to information and life-changing bits that those in smaller cities don’t necessarily have, plus even more expats to bring some sense into their minds, this lack of open-mindedness should not be as prevalent.

3. Not much to do

In smaller cities, you will have way fewer options in all areas of life. From entertainment to culture, restaurants and bars, events, shopping and health care, everything is on the low side in the smaller cities.

Romanians – especially those in the smaller cities – don’t have a “going out” or “eating out” mentality, and as a result you will see fewer options in this area too.

Again, things are changing here a bit as more Romanians adapt the Western style of living and consumerism increases, but generally the options are limited.

Entertainment and cultural events are extremely limited in the small cities, even though will have a concert here and there, a fair to celebrate something, or a new play at the theater once per season.

Also expect the healthcare options to be limited, equipment to be old and the overall level of the professionals to be relatively low.

For example, I still remember when I had to visit an ENT specialist in the small city I live in and I was horrified with the equipment the doctor used: the tool used to press my tongue was “disinfected” over the flame of an oil lamp! I was shocked.

Also, the nurse wrapped her hand in bandage, grabbed my tongue and pulled it out for some reason (probably she didn’t think I’d be able to open my mouth wide and say “Aaaaaa”) while the doctor looked down my throat.

The cherry on top? That was a private clinic!

On another occasion, my wife went the to get herself tested for allergies and the doctor didn’t have those special, disposable plastic thingies to puncture her skin with, but instead used a syringe’s needle to scratch her skin – all while my wife was looking at me terrified, with tears in her eyes.

While these two events happened several years ago and things have fortunately improved since, don’t expect the same level of quality from smaller city clinics or hospitals.

4. Job opportunities

Finding work in smaller cities is difficult. Salaries are also lower in the smaller cities, even though the cost of living is also generally lower.

While there are specific areas nowadays that are in desperate need for personnel – from jobs in the agriculture sector to construction, restaurants and even the medical sector, you’re still generally expected to speak Romanian in most cases and options will be fewer in smaller cities.

If you don’t have a guaranteed income (like a job offer or a remote job), I would personally suggest you to stay away from the smaller cities, especially if you don’t speak Romanian.

There are few – if any – options to get hired and the most you can probably hope for is a job that requires no specialized training, which is paid minimum wage and not enough to live on.

Finding jobs in the larger cities is a bit easier, even if you don’t speak Romanian, although there are no real guarantees here either.

The best idea in case you don’t have a guaranteed income is to find a job before getting here, as making the move hoping to get hired might prove difficult even in the larger cities. Having a job also makes it a lot easier to get a residency permit if you’re not an EU citizen.

5. Cost of living differs

One of the biggest advantages smaller cities have over the larger ones is the general cost of living.

Apart from the large supermarket chains that have the same prices everywhere in the country, everything else is cheaper in the smaller cities – especially when it comes to the optional expenses, like entertainment or eating out.

The delicious “merdenea” (a salted cheese pasty) that cost me 7 lei in Constanta is 3 or 4 lei in Drobeta Turnu Severin. Eating out is also significantly cheaper here, just like the price for all services – from visiting the doctor to any other type of service-based thingie.

Property and rental costs are also A LOT more affordable in the smaller cities. You can check out the sites recommended in this article to see the offers in various cities – you will be surprised with the differences.

While a decent 1-bedroom apartment in a good area can’t be found nowadays under €450 per month in the larger cities, you can still find one in a small city for as low as €300 per month. This alone will help you save a lot of money.

Overall, since moving from Constanta, our cost of living has drastically decreased. While we’re on a quest to cut expenses as much as possible due to life circumstances, even if we weren’t, we would’ve still spent a lot less here than in Constanta.

6. Slower vs faster-paced living

Life in smaller cities is slower paced, the cities are quieter and sometimes less polluted.

This can be either a pro or a con, but it certainly is like that: there are fewer people on the streets, fewer cars and less noise, more parks and green spaces and you have more chances to be and remain relaxed in a smaller city, in my opinion.

Wrapping Up

There are surely even more differences between the small and large cities in Romania and, up to a point, they’re probably similar to those in any other country.

My personal advice would be that if you are retiring and not planning to party a lot or be a social butterfly, go for one of the smaller cities.

They are quieter, they are cheaper, they are less insane and they offer a bigger bang for your buck.

If you are in constant need for something to do, you like going out to a different place every night, you want to be part of multiple clubs and have a very active social life – or you need constant, special hospital care – then you should choose a larger city, knowing that it will be a bit more expensive, among other things.

So, with all these in mind, what would you choose? Would you go for the tranquility and cheaper costs in smaller cities or you’d choose a bustling, more expensive, larger city?