You have probably heard about or seen the idyllic Romanian villages in photos over the interent and fell in love with them. It is true, in most of these villages traditions remain untouched, the air is clearer and the grass is greener. Indeed, most Romanian villages are a joy to live in for those who love nature and would like a home away from the crowded, noisy and polluted urban areas.

But despite all these advantages, living in a Romanian village might not be the right thing for you! And I am here to tell you why you might not be able to live in one, no matter how much you think you could.

A different mentality
Even though, just like all Romanians, or maybe even more so, the people living in Romanian villages are extremely friendly and nice, especially when it comes to foreign visitors, they all have an old, outdated mentality that might shock a lot of people. I was surely shocked after talking to an old man living in a village here in Romania.

He is my new neighbor since we bought a house in a village near our city. When we got there one day, he invited me inside his house to offer me some fresh eggs (they love to give you gifts, that is true!) and I said that hopefully he doesn’t have a dog around, because I am afraid of them.


He said that as if it was nothing. Unfortunately for him and many other people living in villages all around the country, it is nothing. In order to keep the dog population under control, they drown the newly born puppies and there are a ton of other barbaric things they normally do without even considering them wrong… and I don’t even want to think about them.

Yes, the Romanian mentality in villages is definitely one of those things that could shock you.

And everything revolving around their mentality is outdated and could really surprise a modern person, from the idea that women are inferior to men (this is something that women are taught as well), to certain ways of even greeting specific people to all sort of minor things that are, in the end, different from what you know, what you consider (and is) normal or live by. And being surrounded by such people is difficult, because changing the mentality is a process that takes not years, but generations.

Lack of education


The lack of education leads to the old ways of thinking and the mentality problems we’ve talked about earlier, also making them extremely unreceptive to anything new. Plus, you will probably not learn too much from them, unless it’s growing crops or animals – which in many cases is still extremely useful.

But the biggest problem coming from a lack of education and culture is the fact that it’s very difficult to communicate with these people, even in Romanian language. They usually find it very difficult to understand what you’re saying, to make logical connections and to explain things properly.

Nobody speaks a foreign language
You’ve probably heard it that most Romanians speak English – this is indeed mostly true, but it actually refers to people living in cities – larger or smaller. Since most of the people living in villages here in Romania don’t even know how to read, it’s pretty much common sense that learning another language was not high on their priorities list!

Lack of running water (and maybe even electricity)

No running water also means that the toilet is a bit different from what you might be used with – and it’s right there at the back of the yard, an outhouse that smells like everything you ate in the past few months… Going to the toilet during the cold winter days can be a real experience – not one that you’ll enjoy repeating, though!

Another problem with the lack of running water and people using the water from sometimes hand-dug fountains is that the water itself is not safe for drinking. Now, these people who have been drinking it ever since they were born, might not be as sensitive to all the living things inside it, but you will definitely get at least an upset stomach!

Together with the lack of running water, there are still places in Romania that don’t even have electricity. Fortunately, the number of villages without electricity is getting lower each day – but many of those who do have electrical power run on very old cables that can’t handle multiple units running at the same time.

Poor infrastructure and services
Most of the roads in our villages are dirt roads and you won’t be too happy about them after some heavy raining or when the snow begins to melt. Also, public transportation might mean just one bus per day going to the nearby city…

In terms of services, don’t expect to have too many shops around, or a pharmacy or hospitals or anything else you might normally find in a city. It’s usually one or two small shops with very few products and that’s all you get!

Alcohol and petty crime
Since there’s not too much to do in a Romanian village, people there consider drinking extremely entertaining. They make their own wine and moonshine, and they have a lot of it, which has to be consumed. It’s not uncommon for most of the people in the villages (mostly the males) to start drinking heavily each day starting in the afternoon, when their work on the field is done.


Although it’s usually just fights between the drunk people (so technically, if you don’t drink, you should be safe), there are also a lot of petty crimes happening there, stealing probably being the top crime. There are sometimes more violent crimes – in the end, you can’t expect a lot of compassion or kindness from a person who sees nothing wrong in drowning puppies for population control…


I did show you above the worst parts about living in a Romanian village. Although unfortunately all the Cons above can happen in the same village (and usually do), this doesn’t mean that living in a village in Romania is a nightmare. In most cases, it’s not unsafe to live in a village in Romania, but it’s not easy either.

Also, there are villages and villages… usually, the ones that are very close to the cities are slowly turning into suburbs, with people simply moving there from the crowded city for more space, cleaner air or whatnot. This also means that these villages lose most of their traditional appeal, but also most of the cons presented above.




  1. Howdy Calin:
    Well, I am #1–yippee!
    Thanks for another view of your country!
    ~Teil (USA)

    • Yay, Teil, you are first! 🙂





    ~Teil (USA)




      • Yes..its normal in Romania that once in a while stray dogs get killed by police officers and/or para-militairy men (hunting is a sport in the country side..some i saw even with automatic kalasnikov guns!!). Back in 1996 in Sibiu (I lived there for several months) the police shot all street dogs. BUT I must admit…with a good reason..they attacked several people..injuring some of them badly. Please remind..that Romania does not have money to sterilize dogs. And after all…a street dog is just an animal..nothing less then fe a cow…a pig or indeed a chicken. my 2 cents. regards, Johan.

      • Johan, things have fortunately changed a bit since 1996. I don’t personally remember the dog shooting you mention (but I’m not saying it didn’t happen – anything’s possible here), but things have changed since then. And even though funds are still tight, Romania has started to sterilize dogs a few (maybe several) years ago and the situation is much, much better now than it was in 1996. Many things change in 23 years 🙂

  4. Hi Calin,
    Thank you for your time,

    • Hello Sera,


      • Thank you for the swift reply Calin,



  6. LOL..what a nonsense


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