This port city on the Danube River is dotted with pretty parks and bridges. Sites to see include a museum complex (with science, archaeological and ethnographical exhibits, as well as an aquarium), a 13th-century church, ruins of a medieval fortress and remnants of ancient Roman settlements.
At the Iron Gates Gorge, the name given to the point where the Danube crosses the southern end of the Carpathian Mountains, there's a giant hydroelectric dam you can drive across into Serbia. The city also has a museum, the Museum of the Iron Gates Hydropower Station, dedicated to the site.
Fans of modern art should make a detour northeast to Tirgu Jiu. It was the hometown of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, and four of his monumental pieces can be seen in parks there. To the northwest is the Herculane Baths, which is one of Romania's well-known thermal-spring spa centers. Drobeta-Turnu Severin is 215 mi/350 km west of Bucharest.
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