If you are traveling around Romania with kids, you might consider a trip to the small town of Turda. Located roughly 3.5 hours northwest of Brasov, the small town of Turda has an attraction that you will not want to miss. This attraction is a far cry different from the other things that the Transylvania area has to offer. This town is not known for its castles, mountains, or forests. Below the city of Turda lies an extensive salt mine. This mine, which is no longer in operation, is now opened up to the public. It has become quite the destination to go to. The Salina Turda mine is an excellent place to go with kids as it is both fun and educational!
It is a great day trip from other towns in Transylvania. Our family visited as part of our backpacking trip through Eastern Europe. It was actually a big highlight of our trip!
History of Salina Turda Mines
The history of Salina Turda Mines actually dates back a very long time. While the exact mine that you can visit was not opened until around the mid 17th century, there are records mines around the town of Turda dating back to the 13th and 14th century. When it comes to the history of salt production, the town of Turda is where it is at!
Our kids really enjoyed being able to see the reopened mines. These mines have displays of some of the tools and machinery that was used during the mining process. As mentioned earlier, the mines date back to the 17th century, so it is pretty amazing to be able to walk through some of the tunnels and see the salt. The Salina Turda Mines opened up as a tourist attraction in the early 1990’s
Salina Turda Ticket Prices and Hours
Like all places you will be going, the Salina Turda Mines will cost you a little bit of money to get inside. The cost, we assume, goes into maintaining the mines as they are in good condition. See below for a breakdown of cost. You can see the website for a full list of costs for all the different activities within the mines.
Salina Turda Tickets
Adult - 75 Lei (90 Weekend/Holiday)
Child (3-18) - 48 Lei (59 Weekend/Holiday)
Senior (65+) - 50 Lei (60 Weekend/Holiday)
Hours of Operation
Monday - Sunday: 9:00am-7:00pm
Last entry: 6:00pm
Is the Salina Turda Mines Safe for Kids
When it comes to places like mines where you are travelling deep underground, knowing that the mines are well maintained and safe are important to us! The Salina Turda Mines are very well maintained. There is adequate lighting, air flow, and all the dangerous drop offs are very well blocked off. There are quite a lot of stairs that you will be climbing. Some of the ceilings in the stairwell are short. This impacts (literally) taller adults more than kids! Some of the stairs are a bit uneven due to the buildup of salt, so have kids watch their steps carefully. You can also take an elevator, but the line can be rather long. Plus it is not as much fun!
Attractions within the Salina Turda Mines
Salina Turda Mines is great for kids and families because it has two main sections to it. There is a historical side where you can learn all about the history and details about the mine. Then there is the entertainment side where you can do all sorts of different activities. These activities don’t actually have anything to do with the mines, but use the cool-factor of being underground to attract people.
Here is a list of a few of the activities that you can do while in the Salina Turda Mines.
Minigolf Ferris wheel Pool Table Tennis Boating on the underground lake. Check website for all the different options
If you want to go straight to the entertainment side of the mines you will want to enter into the main entrance. If you want to start with the historical parts, then you will want to go into the back entrance. Both parts of the mine are worth exploring and checking out. We chose to start at the back entrance. We found free parking on the side of the road a short walk away from the entrance. That suited us better than paying for the parking lot at the main entrance.
Guide to the Salt Mine
Front Entrance versus the Back Entrance
As mentioned previously, the salt mine is divided into the two sections – the amusement park and the historical tunnels. The front entrance of the mine will take you immediately into the amusement park section. The back entrance will take you to the tunnels section. We recommend going into the tunnels and history first. They are fascinating and more why we went to the mines in the first place. Going through the tunnels is not as scary as it sounds. The passageways are large enough to stand up in and are well lit. The main entrance and entertainment area takes you to a large (massive) chamber, and we enjoyed coming up to that after going through the smaller tunnels first. Starting with the massive chamber first wouldn’t seem as dramatic in our opinion!
Both entrances sell tickets. The front entrance has a large parking area so if you are concerned about parking or cannot find a place near the back entrance go there!. The back entrance has limited parking but has a ticket counter and a small coffee shop and souvenir shop.
Facts About the Historical Tunnels
The tunnels are the informative section of the mine where your family can learn about how salt used to be mined. If you are concerned about getting lost, you can put those fears to rest. All you have to do is follow along the tunnels and watch for arrows. These arrows will take you through the salt producing process. How they excavated the salt and then how they delivered it to the surface. .
Some of the machinery is still there from the salt mining days to help your kids envision the process. There are explanations on signs throughout each room in English.
As you walk through the salt runners you get a really sense of the enormous amount of salt that there is in the cave. There is salt surrounding you all along the tunnels. The walls are covered, and you can see salt crystals growing everywhere. Even the old machinery and artifacts they have laying around have salt crystals growing on them. The stairs are beginning to get covered by salt, as are some of the signs and handrails!
Family Tip
It is quite cool inside the mine, so bring sweaters for everyone!
After you have walked through the array of tunnels, you enter an enormous cave room. And by enormous, we mean ginormous! This is the second area of the mine – the Amusement Park! If you look down, you will see a Ferris wheel and a lake with boats on it faaaaaaar below you!
Amusement Park
To reach the amusement park area, you need to either take the stairs or the elevator. The stairs will take you 13 levels down. The elevator had a very long line for it when we were there. We took the stairs and tried to think of it as good exercise! It still took our 6 year old a long time to climb down. If you have a toddler, we’d recommend waiting for the elevator!
As we mentioned earlier, the stairs can have salt on them, so walk down them carefully. They are also narrow, but oh so much fun! Our older kids had a blast zipping down them as quickly as they could.
Ferris Wheel Level
Once you make it all the way down those thirteen flights of stairs, you will see many options of activities for the whole family. Do expect to pay extra cost for many of the activities as we mentioned earlier.
The children’s playground is free and my 6 year old enjoyed it (though most children playing were younger than 6). Parents can sit nearby and watch.
The main attraction on this level is the Salina Turda Ferris Wheel. This ride gives you a view of the mine with the lake in its entirety from the top. The light reflects off the salt walls, making the scene magical.
Lastly on this level is a souvenir shop. You can buy various salt souvenirs and other gems and collectibles. The prices seemed similar to the gift shop by the entrance with very similar items sold.
Boat Level
Now your family can make their way down 13 MORE flights of stairs! Or once again, take the elevator! Here you will find the lake.
Boats are available for rent for 20 minutes at a time. The boats fit up to 3 people and you can row around the whole lake looking up at the enormous salt walls.
The only other activity on this level is sitting and watching the boaters. So, we suggest only going down if you want to take a boat ride or you have the stamina to climb down and back up 13 more flights of stairs. We didn’t take a ride on the boats, but we couldn’t resist a good stair climb. Even the 6-year-old was happy to keep exploring down even further. There is something enticing about a saltwater lake deep underground.
What Should We Wear to the Salt Mines
The Salina Turda Salt Mines are deep underground. Expect conditions to be colder than most air conditioners to be. You will be wise to wear a jacket and long pants since it can get chilly. The ambient air temperature is about 12 degrees Celsius. We all kept our jackets on even while puffing up and down the stairs. There is no need for gloves as it is not that cold! However, the salt can get everywhere. Salt will not ruin your clothes but expect to have a good amount of residue on your clothing if you touch stuff while you are in the mines.
Are the Mines Stroller Friendly?
The tunnels and the caverns on the mines themselves would be fine to use a stroller on. However, to get from one place to another you will be using a lot of stairs. While there is an elevator connecting some areas, much of it is not accessible without using the stairs. So, we would not recommend relying on a stroller to go through the salt mines.
For a baby we would recommend using a carrier of some kind. It will make things easier. If you must use a stroller, we advise you to go to the back entrance where the tunnels are. There will be more suitable to see lots of things before needing to use stairs.
Is there Food in the Mine
There is a cafe at Salia Turda Mines. You may order a small amount of food and drinks at the cafe. However, you are not permitted to bring food into the mines. For some reason I guess they don’t want coffee spilled onto the salt!
Is Salina Turda Worth a Visit?
Absolutely, YES! Our family really enjoyed learning about how salt mines mined salt and why Salina Turda was important in mining salt. Amidst the castles, mountains, and fairy tale towns above ground in Transylvania, Salina Turda Mines was a fun and different underground adventure
We enjoyed the fun activities by the Ferris wheel (even though we chose not spend any extra money). We also enjoyed being so cold underground and wearing jackets in summertime!
Especially if you are traveling as a family through Transylvania, this is a wonderful addition to the other attractions found in the area, like castles, fairy tale towns, and steep mountain roads.