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Salt mines with children and babies: from what age, which one suits, what to bring

The row of trapezoidal halls in the Unirea mine, with banded salt walls and lamps hanging from the high ceiling, and small figures of visitors on the floor
The row of trapezoidal halls in the Unirea mine, with banded salt walls and lamps hanging from the high ceiling, and small figures of visitors on the floor · JanMeese · CC BY-SA 4.0

Children under 3 go in free at all five salt mines open in 2026, and no minimum age is published anywhere: you can go down even with a baby. The condition is the same everywhere, with one nuance: at the Salrom salt mines (Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna, Cacica) the child goes in with a recommendation from the family doctor or paediatrician or, without one, on the accompanying adult's responsibility; at Turda Salt Mine, the official website asks for a doctor's note for children under 3. For small children, the easiest are the salt mines where a bus or minibus takes you down, with no steps: Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna and Slănic Prahova. Cacica, with 192 steps and no lift, is not suitable for a pushchair.

Below you will find, in turn, the access rules for little ones, which salt mine suits which age, where you can get to with a pushchair, what a family pays and what to pack. The description of each salt mine, with depths and history, is in the guide to Romania's salt mines.

In short

  • Children under 3 go in free at all the open salt mines: Turda, Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna and Cacica.
  • At the Salrom salt mines, children under 3 go in with a recommendation from the family doctor or paediatrician or on the accompanying adult's responsibility; at Turda Salt Mine, the official website asks for a doctor's note.
  • Children aged 3–18 pay 25 lei at Cacica, 40 lei at Slănic, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna and 48 lei at Turda (59 lei at weekends), according to the September 2026 prices.
  • You go down without steps at Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna, on the mine's bus, and at Slănic Prahova, on the minibus; at Cacica there are 192 steps and pushchairs cannot go in.
  • Underground it is 11–15 °C all year round, in every salt mine: your child needs warm clothes even in August.
  • Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna have underground playgrounds; at Turda children have the Ferris wheel and the boats on the lake in the Terezia mine.

Salt mines with children under 3 and babies: from what age

No salt mine publishes a minimum age. What they all publish is the rule for children under 3: they go in free, but with a medical recommendation. Salrom states on the page of each salt mine that their access ‘is on the basis of the opinion/recommendation of the family doctor or paediatrician’, and without it the child goes in on the accompanying adult's responsibility. Turda Salt Mine is stricter on paper: the access page of the official website says that these children, like people over 65, ‘have access to Turda Salt Mine with a doctor's note’.

So the decision is your paediatrician's and yours. Ask before the trip, especially for a baby or a child with breathing problems, and take the written recommendation with you so there is no discussion at the ticket desk. What you need to weigh comes from the place, not the salt: 11–15 °C and damp air for two or three hours, the trip on the bus or lift and the weekend crowds.

From the age of 3 a child pays the child ticket, up to 18. For the discount you need a document showing the age: at Turda, the birth certificate, passport or school pupil card; at Salrom, the identity document or a pupil card stamped for the current year.

Salt mineChildren under 3ConditionChild ticket 3–18
Turda Salt Minefreedoctor's note (official website)48 lei (59 lei at weekends)
Slănic Prahova Salt Minefreedoctor's recommendation or on the adult's responsibility40 lei
Ocnele Mari Salt Minefreedoctor's recommendation or on the adult's responsibility40 lei
Târgu Ocna Salt Minefreedoctor's recommendation or on the adult's responsibility40 lei
Cacica Salt Minefreedoctor's recommendation or on the adult's responsibility25 lei

Rules and prices from the official websites (Salrom and salinaturda.eu), checked in October 2026; the prices are those of September 2026. Praid Salt Mine has been closed since May 2025.

Which salt mine is best for children

All five welcome children, but they differ a lot in the way down and in what little ones find there.

  • Slănic Prahova, for children of all ages, 100 km from Bucharest. You go down to 208 m on the mine's minibus. Down below there is a playground with inflatable slides and soft play equipment (25 lei for 30 minutes), go-karts (10–40 lei), minigolf and a salt lake with a waterfall. The halls are huge, so children have room to run. The queue for the minibuses is long in summer and at weekends.
  • Ocnele Mari, the most to play with. The bus takes you in 10 minutes through a tunnel to the leisure gallery. Children have playgrounds with swings, slides and seesaws, minigolf and children's karting (10 lei each), trampolines (15 lei) and the only ice rink in a Salrom salt mine (25 lei for 30 minutes).
  • Târgu Ocna, no steps and first aid down below. The bus goes down a tunnel more than 3 km long to 240 m. In the galleries there are playgrounds with swings, slides and seesaws, inflatable slides (15 lei for 15 minutes), go-karts and a first-aid point.
  • Turda, for older children. The most spectacular, but also the most crowded, with queues for the lift at weekends. Older children enjoy the 20 m Ferris wheel (35 lei per person) and the boat on the lake in the Terezia mine (56 lei per boat, 3 people at most). Eating is not allowed in the salt mine.
  • Cacica, only for children who walk well. An old, small and quiet mine, with no playground, where you go down 192 wooden steps and climb all of them on the way back. Next to the ballroom there is a salt lake more than 2 m deep: hold your child's hand.

If you had planned on Praid Salt Mine, it has been closed since May 2025; the nearest open salt mine is Turda.

Salt mines with a pushchair: where you go in without steps

No official website has a written rule on pushchairs, so what follows comes from the way you go down in each salt mine.

  • Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna and Slănic Prahova: you go underground only in the mine's vehicles, a bus or a minibus respectively, which drop you right in the leisure galleries. There are no steps to go down, but the pushchair has to fit in the bus alongside the other visitors. A folding one is the safe choice.
  • Turda: from the Durgău entrance you go down by lift or by stairs, and in the Rudolf mine by the panoramic lift or 172 steps. The mine's rules, however, say that access ‘is by the stairs’, that the lifts are optional and that the mine can stop them at any time, when safety requires it. For wheelchair users, the website points to the old entrance, on Strada Salinelor, and to only part of the galleries: Franz Josef, the Iosif mine as far as the balcony, the Crivac Hall. With a pushchair, be ready to carry it in places or bring a baby carrier.
  • Cacica: access is only by the wooden staircase with 192 steps, and Salrom says clearly that the salt mine is not suitable for pushchairs.

If you want no surprises, phone the salt mine before the trip; the phone numbers are on each one's page.

How much a salt mine costs for a family with children

The entry ticket is per day and covers the way down, including the bus or minibus at the Salrom salt mines. The activities down below (playgrounds, go-karts, the wheel, the boats) are paid for separately, often in cash only, and the mobile signal is weak underground, so do not count on paying by phone. For a family with two parents and two children aged 3–18, entry alone costs:

Salt mine2 adults + 2 childrenChild under 3Paid separately
Turda Salt Mine246 lei on weekdays, 298 lei at weekendsfreewheel 35 lei/person, boat 56 lei, car park 10 lei/hour
Slănic Prahova Salt Mine200 leifreeplayground 25 lei/30 min, go-karts 10–40 lei
Ocnele Mari Salt Mine200 leifreechildren's karting and minigolf 10 lei, ice rink 25 lei, car park 15 lei/day
Târgu Ocna Salt Mine200 leifreeinflatable slides 15 lei/15 min, go-karts 10–30 lei
Cacica Salt Mine126 leifreenothing underground

Calculated from the official September 2026 prices (adult 75/90, 60 or 38 lei; child 48/59, 40 or 25 lei). Current prices are on the page of each salt mine.

What to take to a salt mine with a small child

  • Clothes for 11–15 °C, in layers, even in August: a jacket, a thin hat for the little ones, long trousers. In winter it is warmer down below than outside: dress them in clothes that come off easily.
  • Closed shoes with grippy soles: the floors are damp, and at Cacica and on the stairs at Turda it is easy to slip.
  • The doctor's recommendation, for children under 3, and the child's document (birth certificate or pupil card), for the reduced ticket.
  • Cash, for the playgrounds and the activities underground.
  • Food and water according to the rules of the place: at Turda eating is not allowed in the salt mine, so plan your meal before or after; at Slănic, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna there are cafés, kiosks or a restaurant down below.
  • A baby carrier, at Turda and wherever you want to do without the pushchair in the crowds.

The visit takes about an hour and a half at Cacica, two hours at Târgu Ocna and two and a half hours at Turda, Slănic and Ocnele Mari, plus the wait for the lift or bus. With small children, come at opening time: at weekends and in the holidays the queues grow towards midday, and the last descent is 1–1.5 hours before closing. What else anyone going down for the first time should know, from the temperature to online tickets, is in the ‘Before you go down’ section of the salt mines guide.

Salt mines with children near Bucharest, Cluj, Brașov, Iași or Timișoara

With a small child, the journey matters as much as the salt mine. The shortest options from the big cities:

  • Bucharest: Slănic Prahova, about 100 km away, via Ploiești.
  • Cluj-Napoca: Turda, 30 km away, on the A3 or the DN1. Târgu Mureș: Turda again, 70 km away.
  • Brașov: Slănic Prahova or Târgu Ocna, 126 km from Brașov.
  • Sibiu and Craiova: Ocnele Mari, 100 km and 120 km away respectively.
  • Bacău: Târgu Ocna, 60 km away. Suceava: Cacica, 35 km away, but with steps. Iași: Cacica, 165 km away, or Târgu Ocna.
  • Timișoara, Oradea, Constanța: no salt mine is less than three hours away.

The salt rooms in towns, sometimes called ‘artificial salt mines’, are not mines and are not covered here. Distances from more cities are in the guide to the nearest salt mine.

Salt mines for children with asthma or breathing conditions

Turda Salt Mine publishes a list of indications for its speleotherapy cure, which includes, among others, mild and moderate bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and recurrent respiratory infections; severe asthma is among the contraindications. Turda also gives recommendations by age: it does not recommend speleotherapy under 1 year, and between 1 and 2 years it asks for a doctor's note and at most 1–1.5 hours a day (the details are in the guide to salt mine therapy). Salrom publishes no indications: it only describes the microclimate and, at Slănic Prahova, a rest area for visitors with respiratory conditions. If you are thinking about a cure for your child, ask the doctor treating them first; this guide does not give medical advice.

For repeat visits there are passes. At the Salrom salt mines, 5 entries in 7 days cost 35 lei a day for a child at Slănic, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna and 20 lei a day at Cacica (pass of at least 5 days); at Turda, the pass of at least 7 days is 37 lei a day for children. Slănic has an underground rest area with sun loungers and beds, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna spaces for relaxation or exercise, while at Turda the cure takes place in the Ghizela mine, with a separate ticket. Turda also asks for a medical recommendation for people with heart conditions.

In summer, with the little ones: the salt-water lidos near the salt mines

For a hot day, next to some salt mines there are salt-water lidos, open only in summer and only in good weather:

  • Târgu Ocna, in the grounds of the salt mine: children 35 lei.
  • Cacica, next to the salt mine: children 15 lei a day.
  • Praid: the salt mine is closed, but the lido next to it is open in summer (children aged 3–18 35 lei, under 3 free).
  • Durgău Salt Lakes, 100 m from the new entrance of Turda Salt Mine: children 25 lei, under 3 free. The lakes are former salt pits, and deep: keep children close.
  • Ocna Sibiului, 15 km from Sibiu: a salt-water pool for children and playgrounds, and children under 10 go in free at the Natural Lakes Complex (Complexul Lacurilor Naturale).

Very salty water stings the eyes and must not be swallowed: children should not put their heads under, and after swimming they rinse off in the shower. The prices are those of 2026, from the attractions' pages; for more on the salt lakes, see the page of each one.

Lake Ocnița in summer, with people floating in the salt water, wooden steps on the shore and wooden pavilions on the beach behindTop 100

Ocna Sibiului

Ocna Sibiului, SBClosed35 lei
Resorts and thermal baths

Frequently asked questions

Can you take a baby into a salt mine?
Yes. No salt mine publishes a minimum age, and children under 3 go in free. At the Salrom salt mines they go in with a recommendation from the family doctor or paediatrician or on the adult's responsibility; at Turda Salt Mine, the official website asks for a doctor's note. Ask your paediatrician first: underground it is 11–15 °C.
Do children under 3 pay to enter a salt mine?
No, they go in free at all the open salt mines: Turda, Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari, Târgu Ocna and Cacica (October 2026).
How much is a child ticket for a salt mine?
For children aged 3–18: 25 lei at Cacica, 40 lei at Slănic Prahova, Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna, 48 lei at Turda on weekdays and 59 lei at weekends. Official prices from September 2026.
Which salt mine can you visit with a pushchair?
At Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna you go down on the mine's bus, at Slănic Prahova on the minibus, with no steps; a folding pushchair is the most practical. At Turda there are lifts, but the rules call them optional and they can be stopped. Pushchairs cannot go into Cacica: there are 192 steps.
Which salt mine has a playground for children?
Slănic Prahova (inflatable slides, 25 lei for 30 minutes), Ocnele Mari (swings, slides, children's karting and minigolf, an ice rink) and Târgu Ocna (swings, slides, inflatable slides, go-karts). At Turda children have the Ferris wheel and the boats; Cacica has no playground.
What is the best salt mine for children near Bucharest?
Slănic Prahova Salt Mine, about 100 km away: you go down on the minibus, and down below there are a playground, go-karts and minigolf. The child ticket is 40 lei, under 3 free (September 2026).
What is the temperature in a salt mine and how should I dress my child?
Between 11 and 15 °C all year round: 11–12 °C at Turda, 12 °C at Târgu Ocna, 12–13 °C at Slănic Prahova, 13–15 °C at Ocnele Mari, around 14 °C at Cacica. Dress them in layers, with a jacket and closed shoes, even in summer.
Is a salt mine good for children with asthma?
Turda Salt Mine lists mild and moderate bronchial asthma among the indications for its cure, and the severe form among the contraindications; the Salrom salt mines publish no indications. Whether a cure is suitable for your child is for the doctor treating them to decide.

Sources

All guides