Turda Salt Mine

Having a jam-packed schedule this week, juggling with papers due to the University, new and old writing gigs which need to be written and edited, exams that need to be studied for, I can only daydream about last Saturday when I didn’t have a care in the World (meaning : I had a ton of stuff to do but chose to ignore it and be zen about it all day long), when my friends and I decided to take a mini-trip to the Salt Mine and the Gorge of Turda, at a distance of 75 kilometers from my hometown.

I was excited for two reasons. First, I was extremely happy about friends coming along for the ride because we always have scheduling conflicts when it comes to traveling together. And second, this place has been on my wishlist since it was renovated (5 years ago), and even though we passed the city every two-three weeks, we never went in. I remember once we wanted to visit but there was some kind of trouble with our car (the faithful Peugeot 106 which still takes us everywhere), and only got to the outskirts of the city.

But this time, we finally made it. We got in with student passes, which cost 10 Ron (~2.2 euros) – adult passes cost 20 Ron. The air was salty as we stepped in and it felt really good and warming compared to the awful cold we were experiencing outside. As we went through the main entrance and started descending, we admired the amazing salt formations – which reminded me a bit of Gaudi’s unmistakable architectural style.

entering the Salt Mine of Turda

Although you might not realize from the photos, the mine has three main floors. When you enter you’re actually on the third floor at the top which gives you a stunning view over the whole place:

view over the Salt Mine of Turda

This is when you come to a choice. You can either take the elevator or the stairs. I recommend the latter, because there is always a row in front of the elevator, and if you go on the stairs you can actually see how the miners made progress with the excavation – there are numbers (the years are marked) on the wall as you go down.

the elevator and stairs at Turda Salt Mine

Once you’re at the middle floor you can see how the whole place is just like a theme park. There are pool and ping pong tables, mini golf and a huge ferris wheel. Be careful, no food is allowed in the premises of the mine! We went on a ride on the Ferris wheel, which cost an extra 5 Ron (1.1 euros). It goes around for eight minutes and takes you high enough so you can see the salt stalactites on the ceiling.

Salt Stalactites at Turda Salt Mine

After we admired the salt formations we decided to take a look at the last floor. The view is amazing. I think they did an amazing job renovating the mine. The lighting is perfect (there are both warm and blue-ish colors) and the woodwork just fits. I was very pleasantly surprised and didn’t expect such an awesome place. Here’s the lowest floor from above:

Turda Salt Mine

Entering Floor 1 at Turda Salt Mine

And yes, there’s a LAKE! You can walk around, sit down and enjoy the salty water. Or you can rent a boat (10 Ron/boat – fits max 3 people) and row around the lake for about 20 minutes. Of course we went on a mini-ride. This way you can admire the woodwork and the mine from another point of view:

Turda Salt Mine

Turda Salt Mine

The air you breathe in is cleansing. After a while you can even feel it tingling your throat and nose. But it’s a relaxing feeling, kind of like in a spa. A friend of mine coughed really badly beforehand, but hadn’t coughed at all while we were in. So even if you’re only there for the Ferris wheel and the Facebook selfie, know that you’re at a good place – perfect for your organism.

After we got out of the boats and the guys shot some pool we headed for the exit. But I couldn’t help myself so I took a few more photos of the salt formations you can observe on the corridors:

Salt formations on the corridor of Turda Salt Mine

Salt formations – Turda Salt Mine

So, tell me: What did you think of the Salt Mine? Have you been? If not, would you like to visit?

Are you set on discovering the area? Then you mustn’t miss the Turda Gorge or Ramet Gorge! Especially if you’re a nature buff and are visiting in the summer – these places will definitely impress you!

And as the clock turned twelve while I was writing this post, I found out that CityoftheWeek has just turned 4! Yaay! Happy Birthday CityoftheWeek! 

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