A guide to the county
Cluj
in five.
A short guide to Cluj County: in every town, five places to explore, five to eat and five to stay. Chosen by people, not algorithms.
Towns
We started with the towns where we found good places in all three categories. More will follow as we check them.
Cluj-NapocaCluj's historic centre, between Piața Unirii and Piața Avram Iancu: St Michael's Church, the Bánffy Palace, the Ethnographic Museum, the National Theatre and the old town walls; from 20 November 2026 to 1 January 2027, the Christmas market fills Piața Unirii.
Cluj-Napoca – ParcuriCluj beyond the old walls: the Botanical Garden, Central Park with its lake and Casino, the view from Cetățuia Hill, the open-air village museum at Hoia and the Hoia-Baciu forest, with hotels and restaurants in the hillside districts.
TurdaThe salt town south of Cluj: go 120 m down into Salina Turda, walk the Roman fortress of Potaissa, opened to visitors in 2026, and reach the Turda Gorge in 15 minutes.
Țara CălateiKalotaszeg (Țara Călatei), the villages around Huedin: Reformed churches with painted coffered ceilings in Izvoru Crișului, Huedin and Mănăstireni, the family guesthouses of Sâncraiu, and the castle and water mill at Bologa.Photo: Cluj-Napoca: Nuță Lucian / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cluj-Napoca – Parcuri: Ștefan Jurcă / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 · Turda: JøMa / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Țara Călatei: Ioan Pan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Where to start
Places to see, picked by us. The rest are waiting on each town's page.
Square and Gothic churchPiața Unirii și Biserica Sfântul MihailCluj's main square (Főtér in Hungarian), with the Roman Catholic Church of St Michael and the equestrian statue of King Matthias Corvinus. From 20 November 2026 to 1 January 2027 it hosts the Christmas market.Cluj-Napoca
Botanical gardenGrădina Botanică „Alexandru Borza”The Babeș-Bolyai University botanical garden, about 14 hectares south of the centre, with tropical glasshouses, a Japanese garden, a Roman garden and the Botanical Museum.Cluj-Napoca – Parcuri
Historic salt mineSalina TurdaThe town's old salt mine, worked until 1932 and open to visitors since 1992: galleries and halls cut into salt up to 120 m underground, with an underground lake in the Terezia Mine.Turda
Medieval castle ruinsCetatea BologaThe ruins of Bologa Castle (Sebesvár) on a hill at the edge of the village, with a round tower, consolidated walls and views over the Crișul Repede valley.Țara CălateiPhoto: Piața Unirii și Biserica Sfântul Mihail: Chainwit. / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 · Grădina Botanică „Alexandru Borza”: DimiTalen / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 · Salina Turda: CristianChirita / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cetatea Bologa: Levente Nuber / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Pocket guide
A weekend ahead?
The guide comes along.
Every town in one PDF: all the places in the guide, with opening hours, phone numbers and a town map. It opens without internet too.
Neighbouring counties
Guides made the same way for the counties next to Cluj, from the RO-MANIA NETWORK network. All counties in the network →
Why only five?
- Five helps you choose.A list of 40 restaurants leaves the searching to you. Five means we already chose.
- Every place has a reason.Each entry says in one line why it made the list.
- Different places, not clones.We pick places that are not alike, so everyone finds what suits them.
- The list changes, it doesn't grow.When a place comes in, another goes out. We review the selection regularly.