Three Months in Timișoara: The City I Ended Up In by Accident (And Somehow Didn’t Want to Leave)
by Marco Renzi
I didn’t plan to spend three months in Timișoara.
Honestly, I barely knew where it was beyond “somewhere in Romania, near Hungary, maybe?”. But travel has a sense of humour, and one detour later I found myself unpacking a backpack in a city I had never googled, speaking a language I didn’t understand, and… understanding everyone anyway, because everyone speaks English. And—unexpected plot twist—a surprising amount of Italian.
As an Italian, paperwork was delightfully nonexistent. No visas, no questions, no weird stamps. Just: Benvenuto, have a seat, here’s 1 Gbps internet for €7 a month.
Three months later, I can say this: Timișoara is one of Europe’s most underrated digital-nomad bases. And I’ve seen a few.
A “Little Vienna” with a Balkan personality disorder (in the best way)
Timișoara is often called Little Vienna, which is ironic because half the people who say it have never been to Vienna. But the architecture really does flirt with the Austro-Hungarian vibe: pastel façades, symmetrical squares, cafés that look like they were designed by someone who once saw an episode of “Sisi”, and trams that have fully accepted their fate of being older than most residents.
The city feels young, bright, weirdly optimistic, and refreshingly unpretentious. It has theatre, art, music, students everywhere, and more café-laptops than I expected for a place that is not (yet) on the global nomad radar.
And the motto could be: Small city energy with big city convenience.
Everything works, nothing is too far, and you rarely need more than 20 minutes for anything—except Romanian grammar, which I wisely decided not to attempt.
Costs: where Europe still feels like Europe 2010
Here’s the thing: life in Timișoara is cheap without feeling cheap.
Average realistic 2024-2025 prices:
Meal out: €12-15
Cappuccino (surprisingly good): €2
Domestic beer: €2.50
Monthly utilities: €110–130
Internet: €7–8 (and genuinely fast)
Gym: €25–30
One-bedroom flat in centre (modern): €400–500
One-bedroom flat outside centre: €300–380
Yes, it’s still Europe. But no, it’s not Western Europe.
Your bank account will notice.
The work setup: Romania takes Wi-Fi personally
Romania is famously competitive about internet speeds, and Timișoara lives up to the hype. I regularly clocked 200–300 Mbps on home fibre without trying.
Coworking spaces are genuinely good, affordable, and easygoing:
Cowork Timișoara – The Garden: social, relaxed, excellent community vibe.
Workify & Workify 2.0: modern, central, a bit pricier but beautifully run.
DevPlant Cowork: more “serious office”, still friendly, great events.
Daily passes hover around €10–12, monthly memberships €120–160.
Cafés? Endless. And people actually work in them. My favourites:
Porto Arte, Ovride, Quick Smile Coffee, Tucano, Statia de Cafea.
Starbucks also exists, but this isn’t that kind of guide.
Where to live: neighbourhood notes from an Italian who walks everywhere
Timișoara has six neighbourhoods that matter for a digital nomad:
Cetate (City Centre) — beautiful, convenient, noisy when festivals happen (which is often).
Circumvalațiunii — quiet, green, ideal if you like parks and don’t need nightlife.
Fabric — old-town charm, more chill, gorgeous architecture, 30–35 min walk to centre.
Complexul Studențesc — student chaos in the best way (cheap, lively, friendly).
Olimpia-Stadion — more local, near the university, lots of cafés and cheap eats.
Calea Șagului — family residential, not very “nomad”, but good if you want calm.
I stayed between Cetate and Circumvalațiunii: perfect balance of walkability and silence.
Weekends: the Balkans and Central Europe on your doorstep
This is where Timișoara becomes truly dangerous to your productivity.
Distances by bus/car:
Belgrade — 3 hours
Budapest — 4 hours
Szeged — 1.5 hours
Arad — 45 minutes
Carpathian mountains — weekend hiking heaven
You can live in Romania and casually brunch in Serbia.
Your friends won’t understand your life choices, but you will.
The vibe: optimistic, multilingual, low-stress
What struck me most is how open the city feels. People talk to you. People help you. People smile at you too much, almost suspiciously, but in a way that eventually melts your cold Westernised heart.
Most young people speak fluent English.
A surprising number speak Italian, usually because:
a cousin lived in Turin
they watched Italian TV growing up
or they worked in hospitality in Emilia-Romagna
or they just like Italian football (sad but true)
After a while you don’t feel like a visitor.
You feel like someone who might, casually, stay longer.
So, would I recommend Timișoara as a digital-nomad base?
Absolutely — if you like:
affordable European city life
walkable urban centres
strong café culture
fast Wi-Fi
multicultural vibes
frequent trips to neighbouring countries
and a city that doesn’t try too hard but wins you over anyway
Timișoara is not a hype destination, and that’s precisely its charm.
It’s real, easygoing, functional, and quietly beautiful.
Three months here weren’t planned.
Staying longer would have been very easy.