What a sector number tells you — and what it does not
Bucharest is divided into six administrative sectors, numbered 1 to 6. Each is a wedge running from the middle of the city to the edge, so every sector touches the centre. That is the trap: two addresses in the same sector can be kilometres apart.
An apartment “in Sector 1” can be ten minutes from Piața Victoriei or all the way out at Băneasa; in Sector 6, beside Lacul Morii or out towards Militari. The questions that matter when you book are different:
- which metro station you have, and how far on foot;
- how far it is to where you actually need to be, not to “the centre” in general;
- where you leave the car overnight;
- what is within reach in the evening: a park, a mall, a late shop.
Each apartment’s sector, checked against its address
Our apartment pages give the street, the number and the sector, with a link to the map. We checked the sector of every address, because these are classified units with the certificate number on every page: Crângași is in Sector 6, and Băneasa-Sisești, Băneasa-Sisești 2, Băneasa Panorama Lake and Herăstrău are in Sector 1. Administrative boundaries still do not line up with neighbourhood names — the Herăstrău area, for one, sits right next to a boundary between sectors — so the distances below matter more for your choice than the sector number.
Staying in Bucharest, Sector 1: the north of the city
When someone says “Sector 1” they usually mean the north of the city — Băneasa, Sisești, the Herăstrău area. It is a part of town of villas, embassies and offices, and the closest to Henri Coandă Airport: from Sisești the terminal is about 8 km in a straight line, against nearly 14 km from Crângași. Four of our five apartments are in the north, all four in Sector 1.
Băneasa and Sisești
Two apartments share the same entrance at Strada Petre S. Aurelian 10, which has 4 steps; the building has no lift. The ground-floor one is about 85 m², with a terrace facing a private courtyard and outdoor furniture. Băneasa-Sisești 2, the upper-floor one, is about 92 m², with a balcony and a living room separate from the bedroom. Both sleep up to 4 guests — a double bed plus the sofa bed in the living room — and each has one private, free parking space. From that same entrance you can walk to the Enayati Medical City campus, so we have written separately, for patients and companions, about the hospitals and clinics nearby, with the straight-line distance to each.
The third apartment in the Băneasa–Sisești area, Băneasa Panorama Lake, is in the Panorama Lake complex on Șoseaua București–Târgoviște: also up to 4 guests, free parking on site, an enclosed balcony terrace overlooking the city.
Băneasa Shopping City is about 2.6 km in a straight line from the Sisești address — the shortest of the five to Băneasa Shopping City.
Herăstrău: closest to Piața Victoriei
The apartment in the Herăstrău area, at Intrarea Undiței 1, has two bedrooms and a sofa bed in the living room, for up to 6 guests, a fully equipped kitchen, a washing machine and air conditioning. Herăstrău Park starts 280 m away on foot, about 4 minutes, through the entrance on Șoseaua Nordului — some 150 m in a straight line; the main entrance, on Piața Charles de Gaulle, is 1.6 km away. It is also the closest of the five to Piața Victoriei in a straight line: 2.9 km. Parking is on the public street. For the offices in Pipera it is the closest too, one metro stop away: we measured the trips in our guide to staying near Pipera.
Staying in Bucharest, Sector 6: Crângași and Lacul Morii
The short-stay apartment in Crângași is at Strada Munții Gurghiului 38. Crângași is in the west of the city, not the north, and not on the DN1.
It is about 80 m², with two bedrooms and three beds for up to 6 guests, which suits a group or a bigger family, as the Herăstrău one does. Crângași metro station is 370 m on foot, about a 5-minute walk, so getting to the centre does not depend on traffic. The Lacul Morii promenade is about 1 km on foot (some 640 m in a straight line) and Crângași Park is 460 m away. Parking is free, on the public street. There are 4 steps at the entrance.
How far the centre really is, from each area
The figures below are straight-line distances, from the buildings’ coordinates. The road route is longer, and traffic widens the gap in the morning and around 6 pm: use them to compare areas, not to plan departures.
- Crângași: Piața Victoriei ~3.1 km · Piața Unirii ~5.1 km · Gara de Nord ~2.2 km · Lacul Morii promenade ~0.6 km
- Băneasa-Sisești, both apartments: Piața Victoriei ~5.9 km · Piața Unirii ~9.0 km · Gara de Nord ~6.2 km · Băneasa Shopping City ~2.6 km
- Băneasa Panorama Lake: Piața Victoriei ~7.5 km · Piața Unirii ~10.6 km · Gara de Nord ~7.5 km
- Herăstrău: Piața Victoriei ~2.9 km · Piața Unirii ~5.8 km · Gara de Nord ~3.7 km · Herăstrău Park ~150 m (the entrance on Șoseaua Nordului)
How big is the gap? We have two pairs measured both ways, both from Băneasa Panorama Lake: to the Henri Coandă Airport terminal, 8.4 km in a straight line against 12.2 km by road; to Therme, 12.1 km against 16.6 km. By road the trip comes out 35–45% longer than the straight line. We do not turn any figure into minutes: those depend on the hour and the route.
In short: if your business is in the centre, or you arrive at Gara de Nord, Crângași and Herăstrău are the closest, and Crângași puts the metro five minutes from the door on foot. In the north — offices, Băneasa, the airport — the Băneasa and Sisești addresses save you crossing the city. You can compare all five on the short-stay apartments in Bucharest page.
Which area is closest to Henri Coandă Airport
In a straight line, the two apartments on Sisești are the closest to the terminal at about 7.9 km — slightly closer than Panorama Lake, at 8.4 km. Then Herăstrău at ~10.4 km and Crângași at ~13.8 km. On the road the order may differ: the only road distance to the airport we publish is the one from Panorama Lake, 12.2 km, about 17 minutes by car in light traffic and up to 25 at rush hour.
And now the part most sites leave out: if your flight leaves at 5 am, a hotel next to the terminal is the right choice. The hotels next to the terminal promise “three minutes from the terminal” and a free transfer — their claims, not figures we have checked. We cannot match them: our transfer is on request, for an extra charge, and kilometres of road stay between the apartment and the terminal.
An apartment in the north makes sense in other situations: you land in the evening and leave the next day at a reasonable hour, you use the airport once in a longer stay, or you arrive with family and need a kitchen, a washing machine and two rooms. And for a day at Therme — which is not in Bucharest but north of the city, on the DN1 — the Băneasa addresses are again the closest in a straight line, but the Panorama Lake page gives 16.6 km by road against 12.1 in a straight line.
The other sectors, briefly and honestly
The sectors are numbered clockwise from the north: 1 the north, 2 the north-east and east, 3 the east and south-east, 4 the south, 5 the south-west, 6 the west. We have no apartments in Sectors 2, 3, 4 and 5, so we have nothing to recommend there and will not invent it. The questions stay the same.
What to know before you book
All five apartments are classified at 3 stars by the Romanian Ministry of Tourism, and each page shows its certificate number. Apartments rented by the night are classified from 1 to 3 stars (Order 65/2013; guesthouses are rated in daisies), so 3 stars is the top of that category, not the middle of a hotel’s five-point scale — the difference between a rented flat and a registered accommodation unit.
- The nightly price is shown on each apartment’s page; the calendar gives the total for your stay, line by line: that is the final price.
- Self check-in at every apartment. Check-in from 15:00, check-out by 10:00.
- No pets, no smoking indoors, no parties.
- A transfer to or from the airport can be arranged on request, for an extra charge.
- We issue invoices for every stay, including business stays.
A booking is final only once we confirm it, on WhatsApp.
And if all you have is a sector number, choose by the journey you will make most often.