The Carol Park, named after our first king, is an interesting one. Bucharest is 99% flat, but this one has a hill. You can reach the top by going up a slow and steady incline on the two sides or going through the middle of the park and climbing the stairs. Those stairs always remind me of the movie Rocky.
In Rocky, Sylvester Stallone is training hard for a rare chance at winning the heavyweight title. He goes out running strong and finishes by sprinting up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum in a climax of effort. He stops at the top, celebrates by raising his hands, and gazes at the city lines.
In Carol Park, you have something similar to those iconic Rocky stairs, which offer you a little glimpse of Bucharest. As you enter the park through the Zodiac Fountain, you see a straight line to a weird, tall, and skinny monument at the top of a huge staircase.
When I go for a run here, I like imagining that I’m Rocky: running towards the stairs, building up speed with each step, and then I reach the stairs and go up like possessed. I usually get to the top breathless, stop for a moment, and gaze at the surroundings. I once counted the number of steps, and there are 96 – more than the 72 Rocky climbed in the movie.
At the top, there’s a big army memorial building, honoring our heroes from the world wars and the Romanian independence war of 1877. A burning torch stands always lit at the base of the monument, guarded by two soldiers with rifles in hands. If you run enough around the mausoleum you might even catch the change of guards. It’s a formal ceremony led by a commander that gives the order; the two guards salute, present arms, and march out of their positions, replaced by two other soldiers.
Like most Bucharest parks, Carol park has a lake in the center. Not as big as you can see in IOR or Herastrau, but lively. You can see a few ducks, swans, and people that rent boats and go for a ride. Around the lake, you can find a couple bars and restaurants, and an event venue with frequent concerts.
You can see a decent amount of runners, and also quite a few people just doing fitness training around the stairs, going up and down, up and down. On the weekends and summer evenings, it can get quite crowded. Plenty of people come here to hang out, walk, and relax.
My usual route takes me up the stairs, doing a couple of circles at the peak, and then going down through one of the sides. Once down, I go up through the other side and start doing this big circle of around 2.5 kilometers around the park’s edges. If you want to run less disturbed by others then definitely use the outer parts of the park.
If you’re up for a long run, it’s convenient because when you get bored of this park, you can jump right into the next one: Tineretului Park. They’re less than 5 minutes away from one another. I usually go to Carol when I want to do a 12-15 km training or more. It takes me around 3 km to reach it, and I love that I go past the Dambovita River next to Unirii Square where I can sometimes catch a pretty sunset over the river.
Located close to the city center, Carol Park is certainly worth a run, especially if you’re training for a hilly race.
Crowdedness 3/5 ★★★☆☆ – not that crowded
Largeness 3/5 ★★★☆☆ – medium sized
Elevation 4/5 ★★★★☆ – good elevation
Amenities 4/5 ★★★★☆ – good amenities
The slow run 
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