1. The Palace of Parliament, also known as the People’s House, is a massive government building located in Bucharest, Romania. It was built during the reign of Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu in the 1980s and is considered one of the largest administrative buildings in the world. It has 12 stories above ground and 8 underground levels, spread across a surface of over 330,000 square meters. It contains more than 1,000 rooms, numerous halls, and galleries, including the opulent Nicolae Balcescu Hall, which is used for official functions. Interestingly, much of the building remains incomplete, as construction was halted in 1989 due to the overthrow of Ceaușescu’s regime.
2. The Palace of Parliament is open for guided tours every day except on Mondays and public holidays. The working times are from 10 am to 3:30 pm from Tuesday to Friday and from 9 am to 4:30 pm on the weekend. There is a dedicated ticket office inside the Palace, and the contact number is +40 21 311 36 11.
3. Visitors can choose between several types of tickets, depending on the areas they want to explore. There are guided tours available for the main attractions, such as the chambers, lobbies, and halls, as well as separate tickets for visiting the National Museum of Contemporary Art, located inside the building. Prices range from 35 Lei (7 USD) for the guided tour to around 20 Lei (4 USD) for visiting the museum. The Palace is situated in the center of Bucharest, so it’s easily reachable by public transportation, via bus, tram, or metro.