Howdy all. Well, continuing on from my tales of 2025 I last wrote about my time in Budapest. Today’s blog continues on from where I left off as I got myself together and headed across the Romanian border to the east to the town of Cluj-Napoca, or if you prefer, just ‘Cluj’, a town I had taken a particular liking to in 2004. Actually it’s properly a city, to be precise Romania’s second biggest city behind the capital of Bucharest. It’s also the principle city and capital of Transylvania!

It was a train of nearly twelve hours, run by Romanian Railways, leaving Budapest Keleti, the main train station located on the Pest side of the Danube, and did not take a particularly logical route to Cluj, rather heading south-east mostly until the border and then correcting north east (mostly north) to get to Cluj. Of course nothing works in a straight line when land and don’t forget mountains are concerned, but the route through Arad rather than Oradea must have added three plus hours to the journey. However, the route is the route and people depend on the train to get them to where they live!

The cabin was basic. Not super comfortable, and full at Budapest but by half way through there were less on the train and I could move to seats with more space. I chatted with those I met on the train too which was great and managed to score a free lift without asked when at around 9pm I alighted at Cluj and so was driven very kindly to my Air BnB.

This one was a ground floor apartment and was decent, with great WiFi and well located pretty centrally on Calea Motilor. It was a bit dark inside and the owner kept sending me messages telling me I shouldn’t have people over (which I didn’t) but I was happy enough there and could walk up the street and find whatever I needed. I had been sick in Budapest and the day I travelled to Cluj I felt the sickness was still quite present (would turn out to be bad sinusitis) but despite that I foolishly set about exploring Cluj the next day completely on foot!

Yes, I think I did something like 17000 steps on that day in Cluj, and saw a bit of the city including the Botanic Gardens, a couple of churches, a tower and the very cool Steampunk Museum. So let’s go through them. It’s a college city Cluj and it probably doesn’t feel as big as it is. There are loads of cheap eats in town, and on my day of ill-advised exploration I also popped into the hostel I stayed at back in 2004 with fond memories. Sadly the owners weren’t about and I’m not sure it was the same owners anyways.

Alexandru Borza Botanical Gardens

I don’t usually go for Botanical Gardens, but these ones are something else, like stepping through the looking glass almost, over 35 acres with loads of trails and places to explore. You could spend a whole afternoon here, and it was quite popular with a lot of visitors.

It’s full of greenhouses, some of which you can enter. Of interest might be some of fly trap type plants they have in one – sorry botany is NOT my thing. There’s also a Japanese Garden and a water tower and some interesting buildings. Founded in 1872 by Samuel Brassai.

Plaza Unirii and Saint Michael’s Basilica

This square is the main square in town and has cafes, a popup festival and loads of activity. There is a touching piece of art to those who died during December 1989 in the revolution in Cluj, of which I was ignorant at the time I visited. These seven ‘shot pillars’ as the piece is sometimes known represent bullets.

St Michael’s Basilica is a Roman Catholic Church also is part of the plaza and is a Roman Catholic Church which is the second biggest church in all of Transylvania. It is a gothic church completed in 1487, but on the day I was there it was in the middle of a service so I only checked it out from the outside and the entrance.

Museum Plaza and Saint Francis’s Church

This small church is off ‘Museum Plaza’ where you can, unsurprisingly, find a couple of musueums. The church is Baroque in style and dates back to the first half of the 18th century, and is worth a look. There was a homeless person inside yelling at the priest whilst I was there, which was a rather odd occurrence but it’s a small but not unattractive church.

Steampunk Museum

So this here is the highlight of Cluj for me. This was the only museum I entered, and if I was up for more I would have probably checked out the museum of Transylvania, but nevertheless the Steampunk Museum is a fun highlight for anyone – there’s even a recreation of the Time Machine from HG Wells’ novel where you are invited to pedal and select something – and I made the Doctor Who Theme play (see the video) doing it.

It’s all very Orwellian with a lot of Wells’ influence, and if you’ve ever seen the much maligned version of ‘Wild Wild West’ with Will Smith and the incomparable Kevin Kline in it and loved all the crazy inventions, well you will love this place. Very interactive, you take a tour with one of the awesome people who run the joint who show you lots of awesome inventions over two floors.

Firefighter’s Tower

This tower is a great place to ascend via lift or stairs to the top for some great views of Cluj Napoca. It’s free to visit and is a fifteenth century piece built to guard the city, and was a great way to finish off my day in a city I really like.

But I had one more thing I wanted to see whilst staying in Cluj, which was the famous Turda Salt Mine, very much changed since I visited in 2004, so that will be my follow up post. Thanks for joining me today, I think Cluj would be a great city to spend some serious time in and chill. It’s not packed with things to do and see but there are day trips (like Turda) and a great vibe. Thanks for reading today, take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!