Romania??

fichillie

Hi guys,

I'm in the early stages of researching a possible trip to Transylvania next year. Ideally I'm hoping to fly in to Cluj-Napoca (two nights), then train to Sibiu (two nights), and train onto Brasov (three nights). During that I'm hoping to also take in a day trip to Scarisoara Ice Cave from Cluj and a day trip to Sighisoara from Sibiu.

My main concern is that quite possibly I will be a travelling alone. This doesnt bother me for the touristy sights and places around Sibiu and Brasov, but I am a little worried about public transportation and Cluj city. I would like to enjoy some of the night life there, but as a solo female Im not sure how safe this would be.

Has anyone been recently and can advise me? Also any other tips/areas I should know about travelling around Romania?

flickarius

Hi, My wife is from Cluj and we've visited it many times. Going out there again on 12th Sept. I've never been to any other places, but I'll get back to you shortly with some advice from her.:)

fichillie

Great thanks very much! Im hoping to fly blue air, but they dont seem to have their flight schedule for next year released yet for dublin-cluj, so hopefully they will keep this route

flickarius

Hi Fichelle, In Cluj (you may already know these) you must visit King Matyas's House & his statue in the central square. The Botanical Gardens are a must, & Central Park in the city is lovely. Haven't been to Brasov od Sibiu yet myself, but I can reccomend this book:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transylvania-Bradt-Travel-Guides-Mallows/dp/1841622303
My wife reckons it wouldn't be too safe to go out alone at night as a young female. When you travel by train don't accept food or drink from strangers, and of course stay on your guard regarding pick-pockets. Try not to draw too much attention to the fact that you are a foreign tourist, and try not to fall asleep in the train.Always keep your luggage close to you and don't let it out of your sight. I suppose this is the same wherever you go anyway. Hope this is not scaring you off a trip in which you'll experience some beautiful scenery. I didn'd realise there was a direct flight from Dublin to Cluj with Blue Air, seems to be a seasonal one, pity it has to come back through Bucharest though. It's a pain having to change in Budapest. Hope this is of some help anyway, enjoy your trip.:)

carrotcake

I live in Cluj, and I don't think you have much to worry about when out at night. Violent crime over here is very rare - much more so than in Ireland. You're more likely to be pick-pocketed or cheated out of money, but that's not a big problem here either. The area around the train station isn't somewhere I would like to spend a lot of time in, though.

As for Blue Air, I wouldn't count on them to fly directly from Dublin next summer. They were supposed to operate the route until the end of October, but pulled it early along with the the other route that they had to Rome, so they're not flying through Cluj Airport at all now. Wizz Air pulled a load of flights from Cluj a few months ago after a dispute with the airport authorities, and there's no sign of them moving them back either. My guess is that it's the same story with Blue Air, since their planes to Dublin were full, so it's not like couldn't sell seats.

fichillie

Thats a pity, I was hoping to avoid Bucharest, but seems to be my only option now for flying in. Cluj then is an awful far distance to travel when I'd only be planning on spending a night there. Hmmm...plenty to think about anyway!

carrotcake

Another option is to fly with Malev, changing in Budapest. This is the quickest way to get to Cluj from Dublin in the absence of the Blue Air flight.

markesmith

Would love to visit that part of the world, so much history between the Ottomans, Habsburgs, Russians etc.

andrewtfanning

Hi Carrotcake
came across a post you put up a while back, I'm a 30 year old irish male who is moving to Romania in the next few week to be with my partner, a native of Cluj. I would be extremely grateful if you had any advise on work available for for someone who is going to have to struggle with learning the language and living in a new country in one go