Western Transylvania: Turda salt mine to Corvin Castle

Route description

Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, is a lively university town with a Gothic church on its main square. Leave south on the E81 to Turda, about 30 km, where the old salt mine has been turned into an underground park with a Ferris wheel, a mini-golf course and boats on a lake far below the surface. It is cool inside all year, so bring a jacket.

Turda Gorge lies a few kilometres west of town: a path runs for about three kilometres along the stream beneath limestone walls, with caves in the cliffs. Continue south-west over the hills to Rimetea, a village of white houses with green shutters below the rock of Piatra Secuiului. Its Hungarian community has kept the old village intact, and a trail climbs to the rock for a view.

Drive on to Alba Iulia, about 60 km, and walk around the Alba Carolina citadel, a star-shaped Habsburg fortress with carved gates, where the union of Transylvania with Romania was declared in 1918. From there take the A1 motorway west to Orăștie, then the long road south into the Orăștie Mountains towards Sarmizegetusa Regia, the Dacian capital, with the last stretch on foot.

The forest road to Sarmizegetusa Regia is long, narrow and winding, so allow half a day and leave large motorhomes at the lower car parks. Then return to the main road and continue to Hunedoara, where Corvin Castle, built by the Hunyadi family, rises with its towers and wooden bridge above a stream. Romanian national roads need a rovinieta, bought online before driving.