By Plane to BUCHAREST: - You can reach the Bucharest-Otopeni airport (OTP) ("Henri Coanda" International Airport) by one of the numerous flights that connect the Romanian capital with the major Europeans airports. OTP is close to Bucharest and on the highway to Sinaia at ~110 km. Sunday, September 1st, two buses will leave from the airport at 15:00 and 19:00, respectively. Volunteers (young students from the host institute) will wait in the arrival area of the airport with placards showing the Pontecorvo School poster. Look for them if you want to board the buses. Tuesday, September 10th, buses will take the participants to the airport. Special arrangements will be made to transfer the lecturers from the Airport to Sinaia and back.

By Train - SINAIA is a major station on the main railway routes from West and Central Europe to Bucharest. The schedule of trains Bucuresti to Sinaia is at http://www.cfrcalatori.ro/ .

By Car rental - If you have reserved a car, or you want to rent one with the many agencies present in the airport, after you pick the car, you have to drive out of the airport complex, then turn right on DN1 (E60) in direction Ploiesti-Brasov. After about 110 km you reach Sinaia. Hotel International is on your left hand side on str. Avram Iancu, corner with M. Kogalniceanu str.

Others... f you arrive at the Bucharest (Otopeni) airport and do not have an arrangement for bus/car to Sinaia, you can take a taxi to the "Bucuresti Nord" railway station (ask the taxi-driver for "Gara de Nord", ~15km and ~15 Euro), then the train until Sinaia (~125 km). Or, you may take the city bus no. 780 to Gara de Nord (you go down to the ground level at airport, buy a two-way ticket to town for 7 RON (3 Euro) and board buses circulating from 5:20 to 23:05 with ~ 30 min frequence) to the end station. Bus no 783 , from the same location at the airport and same cost, takes you to the center of Bucharest. You can find more details below.

Getting Around

Sinaia is a well known Romanian resort located at 130 km North from Bucharest (about 110 km from the Henri Coanda International Airport) in the Carpathian mountains. There are good connections by car, bus and train from Bucharest (about 2 hours).

During the school, we shall also organize excursions and social events in order to create a nice atmosphere and to provide the participants with a flavour of Romanian landscape and culture. Sinaia is "the Pearl of the Carpathians", close to the geographical centre of the country, itself a prime tourist attraction and in close proximity to many first class natural and historical attractions of Romania. Extra activities, from visiting the Peles Castle with its beautiful art collection or the open-air folklore exhibit and market, to dinning and wining at restaurants with live Romanian and international music, to mountain climbing, are all available within walking distance, in Sinaia.

Visits to old Transylvanian cities, like Brasov, Sibiu and Sighisoara, or to the Bran castle ("Dracula's castle") and Poiana Brasov, are possible by car, bus or train.