Travel Guide Giurgiu

65 kilometers south of Bucharest, amidst mudflats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube, this town of some 55,000 inhabitants is above all a gateway to Bulgaria for tourists. Separated from its pretty Bulgarian cousin Ruse by the river, it is a major industrial center, with shipyards and chemical plants... If you'd like (or need) to linger a while, you can visit the town's large central square, where you'll find an attractive 22-metre hexagonal watchtower, built by the Turks in the 18th century and to which a clock was added in the following century. It was also the first town to be linked by rail to the capital, in 1869, to export grain from the Wallachian plain via the Danube and the Black Sea. Three small islands face the city, the largest of which houses the port of Smârda. The Friendship Bridge between Giurgiu and Ruse crosses the river nearby. Here you can visit the ancient Theodoropolis. For the rest, there's little of interest, so we advise you to move on quickly.