Con-artist taxis do a lot to hurt the image of Bucharest, and Romania, for travellers crossing Eastern Europe. If you're arriving by train at Gara de Nord, the guys lingering in the yellow cars outside are famous for charging extortionate prices with quick meters that disguise their (slightly legal) high rates -- like US$150 for a US$5 trip! Try to avoid them at all costs. If you have access to a phone, you can call in a taxi and wait for it. A couple reliable companies include Cobalcescu (tel 021-945), Cris Taxi (tel 021-9461), Taxi Sprint (tel 021-9495). If you don't have a phone, Wasteels (tel 021-317 0370) is a travel agency inside the train station's arrivals hall; they speak English and often will help you call a reliable taxi. From the airport, Fly Taxi runs a monopoly on taxi service. They charge overly pricey rates to get into the centre -- about 15 euro -- which isn't too high to skip. It's best to confirm the flat rate rather than relying on a ticking meter that could be stacked against you. Bucharest has some of Romania's best car-rental rates, and getting around by trains or buses will limit you from reaching some of the smaller, most interesting villages farther afield. Big-name car-rental agencies are present at the arrivals airport at the Henri Coanda International Airport (ex Optopeni Airport), but they're pricier than local companies. One present at the airport is D&V (tel 021-201 4611, 0788-998-877; www.dvtouring.ro), which charges about 42 euro a day for a new locally made Dacia; prices drop to 27 euro a day if you keep the car over a week.