Best place to find work teaching English in Romania?

Hi David,

1.) Good opportunities to teach English, ESPECIALLY FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES (including finding students for private classes) and ability to find them fairly quickly

Obviously the best place to pick up lessons is in Bucharest, both individual private lessons and corporate gigs. Generally speaking, the corporate classes will require you to be able to issue an invoice, so if you want to go down that route you'd probably have to set yourself up as a PFA (authorized self-employed person) - doable, but a bit of a pain in the butt. Some corporate clients will pay cash, or if you have a friend with a company, you can just issue invoices and pay tax through them. No private students will want invoices though. There are also more language schools in Bucharest through which you could pick up hours (on or off the books).

The same possibilities exist in the other large cities, so it's not out of the question, only to a smaller degree. All the major centres have universities which means they have a lot of students, some of whom may want private lessons. Check out Iasi, Cluj, Brasov, and Sibiu.

2.) A place surrounded by beautiful nature (including easy access to forests, lakes, and/or mountains)
&
3.) Good recreational opportunities, such as hiking

This is where Bucharest falls flat on its face as an option. South of the mountains, where the capital is located, the land is mostly flat and featureless, so really not ideal for what you want. Brasov could fit your purposes - it's just at the northern end of a valley through the southern Carpathians, so you are close to the ski resorts, mountain-climbing opportunities, hiking in the foothills, and going north takes you into the heart of Transylvania and the possibility of cycling, walking, forests and wildlife. There are also some bear sancturies close to Brasov (in Zarnesti, I believe) where you may be able to volunteer. Brasov is a biggish city so you'll find everything you need there, as well as a small expat community, and Bucharest is only a couple of hours away by train.

Sibiu is very similarly located - at the foot of the mountains, near the trans-Alpina pass, close to some forests, hills, and lakes. In fact, pick any town north of the Carpathians and you'll have pretty much what you're looking for. There are horse-riding centres in Transylvania too, lakes for fishing, and I even know of some guys who practise husky sledding somewhere in the mountains. Transylvania is definitely the place for you, although the private classes might be harder to find.