Sending mail home from Romania is relatively pricey - $0.70 to overseas destinations - and takes about five days to Britain, two weeks to North America and Australasia. If you're sending important packages, you're probably better off using a courier service, such as DHL, which has offices in Bucharest, Brasov, Cluj, Constanta, Craiova and Timisoara.

Letters can be sent poste restante to main post offices in Romania: make sure they're addressed Officiul Postal no. 1, poste restante , followed by the name of the town, and that the recipient's last name is underlined. To collect letters, you'll have to show your passport and pay a small fee. Important messages should be sent by postcard, as letters from abroad can go missing if they look as if they might contain dollars. American Express also offer a poste restante service to their cheque/cardholders at their office in Bucharest.