Transylvania Beyond Dracula: 7 Days in Romania

The grand baroque heart of Cluj, dominated by the Gothic St. Michael's Cathedral and lined with ornate buildings that wouldn't look out of place in Vienna. The equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus — a Transylvanian king who became Holy Roman Emperor — anchors the square. Perfect first afternoon orientation.

Cluj's central park wraps around a lake in a way that feels more like a Central European capital than a Romanian city. Great for an evening walk — there are several terrace bars along the water where locals gather from late afternoon.

The best introduction to Romanian cuisine in Cluj — a proper sit-down restaurant doing traditional dishes with quality ingredients. Start with sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls in tomato sauce), order the mămăligă (polenta with cheese and sour cream), and try a Romanian craft beer.

One of the most surreal places in Europe — a former salt mine converted into an underground amusement park, with a lake, rowing boats, a Ferris wheel, and dramatic illuminated caverns that descend 120 metres into the earth. It sounds absurd. It is completely magnificent.

A strong collection of Romanian and European art in a gorgeous baroque palace on Piata Unirii. Particularly good for Romanian Impressionism — a school that's almost entirely unknown outside the country despite producing extraordinary work.

Cluj has the best craft beer scene in Romania — a university town with genuine brewing culture. Several excellent taprooms in the centre, including Fabrica de Bere Ursus (a converted old brewery) and the Hop Hooligans taproom for the best local IPAs.

A fortified 12th-century church in a tiny Saxon village so perfectly preserved it's been used as a film set for period dramas. The village has no traffic lights, one shop, and horse-drawn carts as legitimate transport. King Charles III has a house here and has visited every year for decades. The hill behind the church gives the best view of the Transylvanian countryside.

A more substantial fortified church complex than Viscri — triple-walled, with a remarkable sacristy lock that has 19 simultaneous locking points. It was the seat of the Transylvanian Saxon bishop for 300 years.

A good wine bar in central Sibiu for a first evening dinner. Romanian wines are extraordinary and almost unknown abroad — the Negru de Drăgășani and Fetească Neagră reds are the ones to seek out.

The two interconnected squares at Sibiu's heart are among the most beautiful in Central Europe. The characteristic 'eye' windows in the rooftops — triangular dormers that look like half-closed eyelids — watch you from every angle. The Council Tower connecting the two squares has a panoramic view from the top.

Romania's oldest museum, in an 18th-century baroque palace on Piata Mare. The art collection includes Flemish masters, Viennese court painters, and an extraordinary collection of Transylvanian Saxon artefacts — the accumulated wealth of a community that built fortified churches across the landscape.

One of the largest open-air ethnographic museums in Europe — 96 hectares of Transylvanian forest with 300+ original buildings relocated from villages across Romania: water mills, windmills, farmsteads, churches, workshops. You can spend 3–4 hours here and still not see everything.

Not the famous Bucharest version — this is a Sibiu institution in its own right. Traditional Romanian food at very honest prices: mici (grilled minced meat rolls with mustard), papricaș de pui (chicken paprika), and local beer.

The crown jewel of Saxon Transylvania — a medieval citadel that has been continuously inhabited since the 12th century and is entirely intact. Cobblestoned streets, baroque churches, towers, and merchant houses in pastel colours. It is, genuinely, what a medieval city looked like. The birthplace of Vlad the Impaler (the historical Dracula), though the connection is now mostly kitsch.

The 14th-century tower that has guarded the citadel's main gate for 700 years. The museum inside chronicles Sighisoara's history through artefacts, weapons, and period furniture. The view from the top across the lower town and the Tarnava Mare valley is extraordinary.

A covered wooden staircase of 176 steps built in 1642 so schoolchildren could reach the hilltop school without getting wet in winter. Still used today. Still exactly as it was. The hill-top church at the top has 15th-century frescoes and a separate Saxon necropolis.

The restaurant in the building where Vlad the Impaler was born — Gothic vaulted ceilings, candlelit tables, Romanian food. It leans into the Dracula connection but the food is genuinely good. Order the venison stew if it's on the menu.

A barely-visited 14th-century church with some of the best-preserved medieval frescoes in Transylvania, in a village where almost nothing has changed in 500 years. The frescoes cover the entire interior in deep reds and blues — extraordinary.

One of the quietest Saxon villages in the region — a fortified church, a village green, and a population of mostly elderly Romanians who took over when the Saxon community emigrated to Germany after 1989. A deeply moving place if you take time to understand what happened here.

Several guesthouses in the Saxon villages offer dinner by arrangement — homemade food from the farm. Typically: soup, pickled vegetables, roasted meat, fresh bread, and a litre of homemade ţuică (plum brandy) that will take the top of your head off.

Wake early and walk the citadel before breakfast. Empty cobblestones, morning mist in the valley below, and the Clock Tower illuminated against the sky. This is the version of Sighisoara that most visitors never see.