24 hours in Timisoara : Nomad Edition
This summer , we had the pleasure of spending a month in Timisoara as digital nomads and it was a revelation. With some of the fastest internet in the world, some of the friendliest locals we have met on our travels, affordable places to rent, great range of coworking spaces to work from plus with lots of culture, cool bars and a fantastic cafe culture, Timisoara is perfect for digital nomads who are looking to embed themselves in the community, a slower pace of life compared to bigger nomad capitals of Europe and also looking for value for money.
To give you an idea, we have created a series of guides that cover what our nomad life looked like in Timisoara. We started with the cost of digital nomad life in Timisoara is like and now, we are following that with sharing an idea of what our typical day in Timisoara looked like like.
7am: Coffee in the Apartment
A typical day starts with coffee in our apartment. We spent the majority of out stay in the district of Josefin, one of the best preserved neighbourhoods of the city. Our abode was Carol Residence, apartment with kitchenette, dishwasher and espresso maker. There was air conditioning too which is handy for warm summer days. Rates are very reasonable and start from around €26 a night.
9am: Head to Stay Fit Bega Gym
Stay Fit Gym in the Bega Shopping Center was our gym of choice ( perfectly located just across from our coworking space, Devplant ) Spread over 2,000-square-metre this was a very well equipped gym with great range of equipment, plus lots of power and squat racks plus deadlift platforms so perfect for those weight training. There is a small sauna in the changing rooms plus showers.
10am: Head to Breakfast at the Garage Cafe
You can’t go wrong for breakfast here: great coffee, the eggs benedict was fab and the service is fantastic. Also a laptop friendly cafe so if you are looking for a cafe to work from, you will be warmly welcomed and looked after.
11am: Hop to out Coworking space: Devplant
DevPlant Cowork was our main coworking space during our stay and we loved worked here. Location is perfect, very central. The coworking space is huge, spread over 1,000 square metres in a historic building downtown, with standing desks, hammocks , lots of green potted plants which gives it a warm feeling, comfy sofas to relax in with a book and also a huge spacious kitchen to prepare meals. Hot desks are been around 100 lei, €20 a day and fixed dedicated desk from 900 lei, about €181 a month. They offer free trial days, so ask.
2pm: Lunch at Homemade
Strada Gheorghe Doja 40.
For lunch, you are spoilt for choice but one of my favourites was Homemade: stylish interior decor and ambience, it really feels like dining in a local’s home. Plus, the food here, true to its name is homemade and tasty. I tried their veggie meatballs with mashed potatoes and black pepper sauce-comfort food at its best. ( 63 RON ) while Sabrina enjoyed the Duck breast with orange sauce, baked pumpkin puree, broccoli and beetroot jam with horseradish ( 102 RON) Both excellent!
5pm: Exploring the city after work
Timisoara îs a very compact city and pedestrianized core so it is easy to crisscross by foot. After wrapping up work, our daily walk would take us through the interconnected three main squares: Piața Unirii, Piața Victoriei and Piața Libertății that make up the historic core. I never tired of my walk here, morning or evening. Such a ridiculous concentration of a wealth of stunning architecture here, plus lined with outdoor cafes, ice cream parlours and excellent bars. Another excellent place we loved to go for an after work walk or evening run, is the sleepy Bega River.
Another place we spent a lot of time in was the outposts of Romania’s best-loved bookshop chain, Cărturești. My preference was to hangout in Carturesti Mercy branch which had a strong English-language section and an excellent café upstairs. A perfect hideout where I spent many hours reading, writing
7pm: After dinner-German State Theatre
Timișoara in the only city in Europe where you can enjoy theatre in 3 different languages. We had the good fortune of watching one of the last performances of the summer season: ‘Love Money’ which while performed in German was simultaneously subtitled in English, making it accessible to any visitors to the city. The play was entertaining, the sets were cool and we really loved the whole experience. Priced at 35 Lei- €6.50, it is also one of the most affordable theatre tickets you will find anywhere in Europe. Note: the City is home to 4 fantastic cinemas so there is a range of choices available.
9pm: Nightcap
Our favourite bars for a nightcap was Scârț Loc Lejer, a bar in an old timber frame house in the Iosefin district, right across from Homemade restaurant. Part museum and part Bohemian pub with a fantastic outdoor terrace, this is perfect for an after work beer in Timisoara. Or… you could hop to the second taproom of One Two, a local craft brewery with rotating taps, experimental brews and they host regular DJ sets and gigs. Also you could hop to D’arc pe mal- Located on a converted boat docked on the Bega River, D’arc pe mal is a local institution where they have regular DJ sessions and locals gather around the promenade, drink in hand, enjoying the view.
