The Evangelical Church in Piata Huet

The nave of the Evangelical Church

The main organ in the church

Fresco of the Crucifixion

The High Alter

The distinctive green organ - I think it's beautiful!

Street scene of Sibiu - with a giant eye watching over you!

Looking through the archway down to the Lower Town

The passage of stairs to the Lower Town

Pretty cafe in Lower Town

Another pretty cafe

Another pretty Sibiu scene

I love the colorful buildings

Looking down at Lower Town

This is taken from the Iron Bridge, nicknamed the Liar's Bridge. Legend has it that if someone tells a lie while standing on it the bridge will collapse.

Another set of stairs connecting Lower Town to Upper Town - Young children out for a walk

Pretty stone and brick archway with pink buildings

The Orthodox Church of Sibiu

The magnificent interior of the Orthodox Church

Another view of the gorgeous interior

Photos of the Transfagarasan Highway
The Transfagarasan Highway - just before the switchbacks begin

The Transfagarasan Highway - a view from higher up

The Transfagarasan Highway - dramatic and majestic

Another view of the Transfagarasan

Switchbacks and hiking trails

We finally made it to the top!

Baleac Lac

View from the lake

Baleac Lac

Rugged terrain

Vendors selling their souvenirs by the lake

Vendors selling their souvenirs

Albota Trout Farm where we had dinner

Albota Trout Farm

Enjoying my aperol spritz!

We both had trout - prepared differently - this is mine

and this is Ed's trout dinner

Beautiful Sibiu in the evening

Sibiu in the early evening light

Piata Mica with souvenir stalls

The tunnels that connect the squares

Piata Huet

Piata Mare - the large square

Piata Mare in the early evening

and this photo of Piata Mare was taken a few minutes later

I don't know if we'll ever make it to Romania, but you're making it awfully enticing. Great report so far.

I always find it interesting to note when vendors are selling their wares from the ground, like those at the lake, as opposed to setting up tables. In places that are entirely first world, I don't see that. Just like you don't see draft horses - except maybe for the Amish.

That is quite a generalization.

https://flic.kr/p/7q217U

https://flic.kr/p/a3gQJ7

Continuing to enjoy your most fascinating report. The salt mine - wow - so do people go there for recreation? Is there anything to see or is it just a big underground space for fun?

Your hotel room is Sibiu , so beautiful, BUT why do they have to put that step between the bed and living area. i look at it and immediately I think of tripping hazard, esp getting up in the middle of the night!

You are correct, it is a generalization. Notice that I said 'entirely.' In some places, the juxtapositions can be startling. Japan and Korea are the first that come to mind. Great photos, btw, which I expect from you. I love your vast FLickr contributions.

Enjoying your report thoroughly!

Maitaitom, I really appreciate your compliments. Your trip reports are awesome and very helpful, and I have used them to plan our trips to Italy, Croatia, Spain, and Scotland.

I will have to take a look at Michael's photos. Good observation, Shelemm.

yk, yes people do go there for fun, which seems odd to me to spend a lot of time underground. The salt mine has several different levels. The playground/amusement park is on the lowest level. The lake is here, too. On a higher level, there is an exhibition of tools and machinery that were used in the working salt mine. There are elevators and stairs connecting the different levels.

ANUJ, thank you for continuing to follow along and for your compliment. This really was a fascinating trip, and logistically and historically, Romania pairs well with Budapest.

September 16, 2025: An Awesome Open-Air Museum

After another hearty breakfast, we drove to the superb Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization (generally known as the Muzeul ASTRA). This is about a 15-minute drive from the center of Sibiu. Muzeul ASTRA is Romania’s best open-air museum, and it is huge! It is so interesting especially if someone wasn’t able to visit places like Maramures. And, even though we did, we still found this museum to be very interesting.

Muzeul ASTRA offers insight into Romanian rural life. There are almost 150 structures that were brought here from all over Romania. They are situated to recreate rural villages and farms. There are homes, churches, windmills, watermills including a floating watermill, and various workshops. There is a potters’ workshop that sells its wares on the honor system. The pottery is displayed outside with prices, and there is a box for payment. We purchased 3 plates, one for us and 2 for our daughters.

There is a small café where we purchased snacks and bottled water. And there is also a full-service restaurant if that interests you.

We spent about ¾ of a day here. It was fascinating!

Back in Sibiu for dinner, we decided to eat at Old Lisbon in Piata Mica. The location and ambience are wonderful especially in the early evening when the natural light is glorious. However, our dinner was mediocre. Ed ordered duck, and I ordered pork. They were both dry even though they were smothered in a delicious sauce. Our main complaint about some of our meat dishes is that they were either overcooked or the quality of the meat was subpar.

After dinner we again enjoyed our nightly walk through this gorgeous city which really is spectacular when the buildings are illuminated. We have friends who love to take river cruises and they have invited us to join them, but right now we aren’t interested in traveling that way. And one reason is that you miss wandering through these amazing places in the evening when the sun is setting and all the buildings are aglow.

The salt mines remind me of the one we visited from Krakow last year. There’s a fancy hotel and spa, a cathedral where the Pope conducted Mass and many weddings are held, etc, etc. All over several levels underground, with rather steep and slippery stairways. We debated whether to visit or not, but were happy we did, something most unusual we haven’t seen elsewhere in all our travels.

Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization (Muzeul ASTRA)

Traditional buildings at Muzeul ASTRA - there are plaques at the various structures explaining what they are and where they came from

Traditional Romanian home

Interior of the home

A homestead

Perhaps these are meant to keep bad spirits away?

Traditional wooden church - most likely from Maramures

The altar

Painting from inside the church

Another homestead

A farm

I like the thatched roof with the stone base

Another homestead - the structure on the left is to house animals - chickens, I think.

the blue house stood out amidst all the wooden structures

A farm

This is the pottery studio where we purchased our plates

I love the windmills and the pastoral setting

This windmill is made from cloth - very unique

Another view of the windmills

horses grazing

a primitive ferris wheel?

Here's one in use:

https://flic.kr/p/7qcfnE

Appreciating Sibiu in the evening


Piata Mica


Piata Mica

Old Lisbon Restaurant in Piata Mica where we had dinner

Piata Mare

I love the pretty pastel colors

Enjoying our drinks at Old Lisbon

My pork dinner which unfortunately was dry

Ed's duck which was also dry

The Iron Bridge AKA the Liar's Bridge. This is the bridge that will collapse if someone standing on it tells a lie. According to my guidebook, Ceausescu managed to give a speech while standing on the bridge, and he survived. He disliked Sibiu for some reason and never returned

Sibiu at night is so stunning

Looking down from the Liar's Bridge.

Gorgeous at night

Another view of the Liar's Bridge

The Golden Hour!

Sibiu is a place that I would very much enjoy. Thank you for opening our eyes to it.

I really enjoy open air museums, and Sibiu itself looks very charming.

Heads on sticks! That's something I missed when I was there. That and the ferris wheel. Good catch.

Your night shots of Sibiu are excellent. That kind of blue is so penetrating.

geetika, we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mines, too, about 20 years ago. I do think they are more interesting than the Turda Salt Mine because there are so many salt sculptures, such as the cathedral, Last Supper sculpture, statues, etc. I don't remember the hotel and spa but that was 20 years ago. I do think, however, that the Turda Salt Mine is worth visiting, and it's interesting to compare the two. The Turda Salt Mine has a hotel and spa, too, but I don't recall seeing it. Not sure if it's underground or maybe above ground on the property somewhere.

Tripplanner001, thank you for following along. I think you would really enjoy Sibiu. It's a great place to stay for 4 nights or so and take daytrips, too. It's so enjoyable returning there after a daytrip, have dinner there and then take an evening walk to see the illuminated city.

Adelaidean, Muzeul ASTRA is, indeed, an awesome open-air museum. It's huge, and there is a lot of walking, but it's all flat. And there is a good-sized pond, too. So it's also pretty and peaceful. It wasn't too crowded when we were there.

shelemm, once again, thank you for your compliments! When I saw the heads on the sticks I just had to photograph them. There are small plaques in front of the buildings/exhibits but I don't remember if it mentioned what those heads on sticks mean. The only thing I can think of is to ward off evil. I remember from your trip report that you really enjoyed Muzeul ASTRA so that was at the top of my sightseeing list!