The salty waters of Bear Lake are a popular place to soak in summer. People have been coming here for the lake’s restorative properties – some claim the water can cure ailments from arthritis to nervous disorders – since the 19th century. Some dub it 'Transylvania's Red Sea', though you won't be quite as buoyant in these caramel-coloured waters.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
25.49 MILES
This ornate secessionist-style building, ostentatiously tiled on the outside and colourfully furnished within, is unlike anything else in Transylvania…
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25.3 MILES
Ethnographic exhibitions can be humdrum, so Târgu Mureş’ hay-strewn and vividly soundtracked museum is a welcome surprise. A voiceover (in Romanian),…
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30 MILES
Sighişoara's delightful medieval buildings are enclosed within its citadel, a Unesco-listed complex of protective walls and watchtowers. Walking in the…
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22.67 MILES
This lacey-looking building, 1900-built Haberstumpf cottage, seems slightly lost, standing next to the roaring main road through town. But the gallery…
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4.04 MILES
Believe it or not, boarding a bus that trundles down into a salt mine isn’t the most surreal part of visiting Salina Praid. Once inside, you’ll see ping…
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Church of the Dominican Monastery
29.98 MILES
This late-Gothic church has a spooky air, and guards a trove of baroque finery inside. First mentioned in 1298, the church was rebuilt between 1482 and…
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25.53 MILES
Next door to the Culture Palace is the County Council Building (1905–7), also secessionist in style. Its decorative orange and green tiled roof and ornate…
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23.94 MILES
Some 2km south of town, a striking wooden gateway carved in filigree leads to the small, conical Jesus Chapel, encircled by a stone wall. Estimated to…
Nearby attractions
4.04 MILES
Believe it or not, boarding a bus that trundles down into a salt mine isn’t the most surreal part of visiting Salina Praid. Once inside, you’ll see ping…
22.67 MILES
This lacey-looking building, 1900-built Haberstumpf cottage, seems slightly lost, standing next to the roaring main road through town. But the gallery…
22.94 MILES
At the western end of main square Piaţa Primăriei stands a Franciscan monastery and church, completed in 1779.
22.95 MILES
The crumbling walls of Odorheiu Secuiesc’s medieval citadel can be spied from Str Eötvös József.
23.41 MILES
Just 6km northwest of Gheorgheni on the road to Topliţa is the tiny village of Lăzarea (Gyergyószárhegy in Hungarian). The predominantly Hungarian village…
23.94 MILES
Some 2km south of town, a striking wooden gateway carved in filigree leads to the small, conical Jesus Chapel, encircled by a stone wall. Estimated to…
24.57 MILES
In high summer when the mercury tops 40°C, this swimming complex, 2.5km north of the centre, is a welcome oasis. There's a couple of giant pools, a few…
25.03 MILES
This small museum within the citadel has art and ornate period furniture downstairs, and contemporary ceramics and other cultural artefacts upstairs.