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June 2017, Romania
If you want to make the most out of 1 day in Romania, this article is for you.
Turda
We’re on the road for 7 hours, and can hardly wait to cool off.
Where can you do that in summer? Try exploring the most impressive underground places i’ve seen so far: Turda Salt Mine, dated 1075!
Walk down a long cold tunnel, jump in the elevator and WOW: a wonderland of salt sculpted walls reveals at your feet.
A giant caroussel and an entertainment center (mini-golf, mini-bowling, billiard, tennis) are welcoming you at the bottom of the cavern.
And way down, if there’s still some energy left, a spectacular lake surrounded by a SF scenery.
Don’t miss the Franz Josef Gallery, a horizontal passage completed in 1870 to facilitate the movement of salt to the surface.
You can hear yourself over and over again in the Echo Chambers (or when you realize you don’t quite have a singer’s voice).
After following the wrong exit and then turning back 1 km, we’re finally out in the merciless sun. Cluj is waiting!
Cluj
You know you’re in Cluj when you don’t even hear a fly on the streets.
When somebody is offering to give you directions of where to park the car, or how to get it out.
When you get lost in the Botanical Gardens and there’s nobody to rush you out on exit time.
It’s so good to be back. Life has its own pace here.
The next morning we were ready to leave the country for the longest roadtrip so far: Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, back to Romania.
But we’re not leaving without the first encounter with lovely Oradea.
Oradea
A few hours here are all you need to love this city.
Walk into the world of the renaissance-style Fortress of Oradea: pentagonal shape, with battlements at its corners, water ditch and beautiful green surroundings.
One more stop in the city center and I am starting to think I’ve just discovered a treasure. Where am i? What century?
Let’s say it like this: we might have just seen the most beautiful city-center in Romania.
Buckle up. Next stop: Budapest!
You can find here our summer cross-country roadtrip itinerary: costs&map included.
Happy travels and stay safe!
HaiHui Story 
Wow that Salt mine is larger than any we’ve seen!
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Yeahh..it is really impressive!!! People have mined there for more than 800 years..so u can imagine how huge it is! I really recommend it, if u come to visit Romania 🙂 Actually, together with the lovely nearby cities Cluj and Oradea, it can be a nice travel route for a couple of days 🙂 Thanks so much for dropping by! 🙂
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Salt mines always amaze me. So far underground! But what a beautiful city! Gorgeous day for strolling around. The pics looks fantastic 🙂
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Hello, thanks so much for the nice words! 🙂 My boyfriend Geo is the one taking the pictures, so the credit goes for him on this :))) We did pretty much in less than 24 hours, i think it was the best well spent day in Romania so far 😀 If you ever visit Romania, you know where to stop by now! 🙂
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Definitely! Romania is now on my list 🙂
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Wow, amazing photos. The salt mine looks spectacular.
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Thank you so much for dropping by! 🙂 It is an incredible place…people have started to exploit salt in Turda area since ~ 1000 years ago! If u ever visit Romania i would highly recommend this travel itinerary! 🙂
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Great pictures! We visited Romania two years ago and enjoyed learning about the countries history and sites. Thanks for the follow.
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That’s great! Where have you been in Romania?
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That’s incredible.I never saw any salt mine but through your post, I virtually could. 😊
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Thanks so much for dropping by! It’s really amazing, how big the underground space can become in a salt mine! If you visit Romania some day, i can recommend other lovely things to see 🙂
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Nice photos and nice cities!
http://www.frameit.com
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Thanks for dropping by! 🙂
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Yes! I’ve been to those places! They are great!
Next time give me an email and ill help you to plan the best route in my country.
I live in Brasov.( in the middle of the country) Text me if you want to come for a few days. I have a free room!
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This looks incredible, such a shame we didn’t get a chance to visit when we were in romania
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Oh, thanks for dropping by ! 🙂 It was the first time for us in the western part of Romania, and we loved it!! Where have u been?
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We visited bucharest, Sinaia in the mountains and Braşov and surrounding areas. We briefly popped down to Giurgiu as well before we left. Definitely got a chance to explore and see plenty though which was great!
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