: : Special offers - Bucharest

Bucharest itself is a grandiose place, with wide boulevards, neoclassical public buildings and ornate private villas. Its transformation into the Paris of the East began in the 1860s (it even has its own Arc de Triumf. The most visible of Ceausescu legacies is the gargantuan Palace of the People (now known as the Palatul Parlamentului). Twelve stories high, it has more than 1,000 halls and rooms, as well as its own nuclear bunker.
The smarter districts, such as Primaverii, where Ceausescu and his communist cronies used to live, have spectacular 1920s villas, which go for anything from L 300,000 to well over L 1m.

Further out towards the airport in the Herastrau, Baneasa and Pipera districts are their modern equivalents: luxury apartments and villas in gated communities aimed both at the Romanian nouveaux riches and the growing number of western expat managers working. Some of the price tags in these parts are close to L 1m or more, but you could buy a two-to three-bedroom villa, suitable for letting to an expat family,for L 200,000-L 300,000. An alternative would be a more modest apartment in one of the blocks in Bulevardul Unirii, the avenue that leads to Ceausescu's palace, or an off-plan flat in one of the new developments in the west aimed at young Romanian professionals. Prices are about L 1000-L 2000 per square meter, and you should earn 8%-9% in rent.