# Turda Salt Mine

[Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Transylvania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/transilvania) › [Cluj County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/cluj) › [Turda](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/city/turda)

> A salt mine worked from the Middle Ages until 1932 and turned into a spectacular underground park: a Ferris wheel, a lake with rowing boats, an amphitheatre and salt walls 120 m below ground, near Cluj.

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**At a glance:** Salt mines in Turda, Cluj County. Opening hours: daily 09:00 – 17:00. Ticket: 75 lei. The visit takes 2 – 2½ hours. Information verified on 23 September 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** daily 09:00 – 17:00 — Open daily all year, last entry at 16:20 (official website, updated September 2026). In summer the hours may be extended; check beforehand. Guides on request, for a fee, or free for groups of over 20 people with advance booking.
- **Ticket:** 75 lei — 90 lei weekends; children 48 lei
- **Visit duration:** 2 – 2½ hours — longer with the boats and wheel
- **With kids:** Yes — under 3 free, with a doctor's note; it is cold, 12 °C
- **Parking:** Yes, paid — 10 lei/hour, at the Durgău entrance
- **Best season:** All year round — 12 °C all year, bring a jacket
- **Address:** Aleea Durgăului 7 (new entrance, with car park); old entrance on Strada Salinelor 54B, Turda, Cluj County
- **Coordinates:** 46.5888, 23.7876
- **Phone:** +40 364 260 940
- **Website:** https://www.salinaturda.eu/
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salina_Turda
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1855800
- **Categories:** [Salt mines](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/salt-mines)

## About Turda Salt Mine

Salt has been dug out of the ground at Turda since Roman times, when the town was called Potaissa, and the salt works here are mentioned in documents as early as 1075 and 1271. The mines you visit today are those cut in the last three centuries: Terezia, opened in 1690, then Iosif, Rudolf and Ghizela, linked to the town by the Franz Josef Gallery, a 917 m tunnel dug in the second half of the 19th century so that the salt no longer had to be hauled out by cart. Mining stopped in 1932, too costly compared with modern mines; during the Second World War the galleries served as an air-raid shelter and then, until 1992, as a cheese store.

The mine opened to visitors in 1992, but its fame came with the 2008–2010 modernisation, financed with EU funds: in the huge voids left by the miners appeared a panoramic lift, a 20 m Ferris wheel, an amphitheatre, sports courts, minigolf and bowling, and rowing boats on the lake in the Terezia mine. The international press has since called it "the most beautiful underground place in the world", and with over half a million visitors a year it is among Romania's most visited attractions. The air here, at a constant 11–12 °C and free of allergens, is also used to treat respiratory conditions.

### What you can see

From the new entrance at Durgău you go down by lift or stairs to the Franz Josef Gallery and walk underground past the Crivac Hall, with the horse-driven extraction machine of 1881, and the Iosif mine, the "hall of echoes", where a word comes back up to 20 times. Then you find yourself on the balcony of the Rudolf mine: a salt hall 42 m high, 50 m wide and 80 m long, its walls streaked with bands of salt and hung with stalactites that grow 2 cm a year; 172 steps or the panoramic lift take you to its floor, among the Ferris wheel and the amphitheatre.

Below Rudolf, in the bell-shaped Terezia mine, 112 m deep, lies a salt lake up to 6 m deep, with an island in the middle on which a small leisure park has been built; by boat you row along the lit salt walls. For an extra fee you can also visit the Ghizela mine, now used for treatment.

### Good to know

Underground it is 11–12 °C all year, with high humidity: bring a jacket and shoes with good grip, even in August. Children under 3 go in free, but bear the cold in mind. Weekends and school holidays are very crowded, with queues for the lift; come at opening time or after lunch and buy your ticket online.

## Don't miss

- The balcony of the Rudolf mine, where you take in the whole 42 m-high salt hall, with the lifts, the wheel and the amphitheatre on its floor.
- A boat trip on the salt lake in the Terezia mine, 112 m down, along the lit salt walls.
- The hall of echoes in the Iosif mine, where a shout comes back up to 20 times.
- The 1881 crivac, the horse-driven extraction winch, preserved in its original chamber.
- The salt stalactites and the banded walls of Rudolf, best seen from the panoramic lift.

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**By car:** Turda is 30 km south of Cluj-Napoca, on the A3 motorway (Turda exit) or the DN1 (~35 minutes); the mine is in the Durgău district, north-east of the centre, signposted "Salina Turda – intrarea nouă" towards Aleea Durgăului. From Alba Iulia it is ~65 km (A10, ~45 minutes), from Târgu Mureș ~70 km (A3, ~50 minutes), from Bucharest ~420 km (~5h30). In the sat-nav look for "Salina Turda Durgău", not the old entrance.

**Public transport:** frequent minibuses Cluj-Napoca – Turda (from the Beta bus station / Piața Mihai Viteazu area, ~45 minutes), then local bus 17 to the mine or a taxi (~3 km from Turda's centre). The old entrance on Strada Salinelor is ~20 minutes' walk from the town centre, through the Franz Josef Gallery.

### Where to park

The car park at the new (Durgău) entrance costs 10 lei an hour, paid at the machine or the ticket desk; at weekends and in the holidays it is full by midday and people park on the surrounding streets. At the old entrance on Strada Salinelor there are only a few roadside spaces. A new, larger car park at Durgău is planned for 2026.

### Fees & discounts

Official prices (September 2026): adults 75 lei Monday–Friday and 90 lei at weekends and on public holidays; seniors over 65 50/60 lei; children aged 3–18 48/59 lei; under 3 free; passes for at least 7 days at 65/37/37 lei a day. People with disabilities and their carer enter free with documents. Inside the mine: Ferris wheel 35 lei (8 minutes), boat on Lake Terezia 56 lei per boat (20 minutes, up to 3 people), minigolf 35 lei, table tennis 35 lei, billiards 2.5 lei a minute, Ghizela mine 32 lei, guide on request 205 lei. Tickets online on the official website; underground, the activities are often cash only.

### Rules

Underground it is 11–12 °C with humidity above 75%: dress warmly and wear shoes with grip, the floors are damp. Do not touch or break off the salt walls and stalactites, and do not eat or smoke inside. No animals, except muzzled guide dogs. Children under 3 and people over 65 go in with a doctor's note, and people with heart conditions only on medical recommendation. The mine's regulations require the company's consent for filming, photography and live streaming on the premises; professional or commercial filming needs a contract. People with claustrophobia should bear in mind the depth and the lift; the stairs down have 172 steps, and the climb back is tiring, so take the lift.

### Facilities

Panoramic lift and a lift from the Durgău entrance, optional (the mine may stop them at any time) · for people with neuromotor disabilities, access only through the old entrance (Str. Salinelor 54B), to the Franz Josef Gallery, the Ghizela treatment station, the balcony of the Iosif mine, the Crivac Hall, the extraction shaft hall and the Roll-call Hall · toilets at the surface and underground · café and souvenir shop in the Rudolf mine · boats, Ferris wheel, minigolf, bowling, billiards, table tennis, playground · amphitheatre seating 180 · cash machine only at the surface · Hotel Potaissa with a spa centre next to the new entrance · weak mobile signal underground

## Details

- **Depth:** 120 m
- **Inside temperature:** 11.5 °C
- **Humidity:** 75 %
- **Mining period:** Roman times – 1932
- **Therapeutic uses:** mild to moderate asthma, COPD, rhinitis, atopic dermatitis
- **Lift access:** Yes

## Frequently asked questions about Turda Salt Mine

**How much is a ticket to Turda Salt Mine?**

A ticket to Turda Salt Mine costs 75 lei (90 lei weekends; children 48 lei). More under “Fees & discounts”.

**What are the opening hours of Turda Salt Mine?**

Opening hours at Turda Salt Mine: daily 09:00 – 17:00. More under “Opening hours”.

**How long does a visit to Turda Salt Mine take?**

A visit to Turda Salt Mine takes about 2 – 2½ hours (longer with the boats and wheel).

**Can you visit Turda Salt Mine with kids?**

Yes, Turda Salt Mine is suitable for children (under 3 free, with a doctor's note; it is cold, 12 °C).

**Where can I park at Turda Salt Mine?**

There is paid parking at Turda Salt Mine (10 lei/hour, at the Durgău entrance). More under “Where to park”.

**How do I get to Turda Salt Mine?**

Turda Salt Mine is located at Aleea Durgăului 7 (new entrance, with car park); old entrance on Strada Salinelor 54B, Turda, Cluj County. More under “Getting there”.

**When is the best time to visit Turda Salt Mine?**

The best season for Turda Salt Mine: All year round (12 °C all year, bring a jacket).

## Nearby attractions

- [Durgău Salt Lakes](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/durgau-salt-lakes) — Resorts and thermal baths · Turda, CJ · 40 lei · 0 km
  A summer lido on two salt lakes formed in collapsed old salt pits, 100 m from the Durgău entrance of the Turda Salt Mine. The very salty water keeps you afloat; the mine is visited separately.
- [Turda History Museum (Princely Palace)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/turda-history-museum) — Museums and memorial houses · Turda, CJ · 16 lei · ½ – 1 hours · 2 km
  Archaeology and local history museum in a 15th–16th-century building in Turda's old centre, known as the Princely Palace: finds from the Roman fort of Potaissa, prehistory and medieval Turda.
- [Băile Sărate Turda Lido](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/baile-sarate-turda-lido) — Resorts and thermal baths · Turda, CJ · 3 km
  Turda's historic lido, on the Roman Lake, a salt lake formed in old salt workings in the Băile Sărate district. The town's spa was born here around 1840.
- [Potaissa Legionary Fortress](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/potaissa-legionary-fortress) — Monuments and historic sites · Turda, CJ · 21 lei · ½ – 1 hours · UNESCO World Heritage · 3 km
  The fortress of the Fifth Legion Macedonica on Dealul Cetății in Turda, with its restored headquarters building and baths, open to the public since 2026 and part of the UNESCO site of the Dacian frontier.
- [Turda Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/turda-gorge) — Gorges and canyons · Mihai Viteazu, CJ · 2 – 2½ hours · Top 100 · 10 km
  A limestone gorge 6 km from Turda, with walls over 100 m high, a lower trail with footbridges over the Hășdate river, caves and hundreds of climbing routes.
- [Szentkereszty-Bethlen Manor](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/szentkereszty-bethlen-manor) — Castles and palaces · Câmpia Turzii, CJ · 45 min · 12 km
  A 19th-century manor in Câmpia Turzii, restored with PNRR funds and opened to the public in 2026 as a cultural tourism centre, with exhibitions and the Metallurgy House in the basement.

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- [Salt mines in Romania: the complete guide to the salt mines you can visit](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/salt-mines-in-romania) — How many salt mines Romania has, which are open in 2026 and which is closed, ticket prices, depth and temperature: Turda, Slănic Prahova, Praid and more.
- [The largest, the deepest and the oldest salt mine in Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/largest-salt-mine-in-romania) — Deepest: Târgu Ocna, 240 m. Largest halls: Slănic Prahova, 80,000 m². Tallest hall: Terezia (Turda), 90 m. Plus the oldest salt mine.
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- [Salt mines with children and babies: from what age, which one suits, what to bring](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/salt-mine-with-children) — Under-3s go free into Romania's salt mines, with a doctor's note or on your responsibility. Where a pushchair fits, what kids do and what a family pays.
- [Turda or Slănic Prahova? Which salt mine to choose](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/turda-or-slanic-salt-mine) — Turda: underground park at 120 m, with a lift, 75 lei. Slănic: 14 halls 54 m high, at 208 m, 60 lei, 100 km from Bucharest. Praid closed in 2025.
- [Visiting a salt mine for the first time: temperature, clothing, how long, lift or bus, dogs](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/visiting-a-salt-mine) — It is 11–15 °C in a salt mine all year, 11–12 °C at Turda. Lift only at Turda, bus at Ocnele Mari and Târgu Ocna, 192 steps at Cacica. No dogs allowed.
- [Salt mine therapy in Romania: what the operators say, how long to stay, which mines have a treatment base](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/salt-mine-therapy) — Only Turda Salt Mine publishes the indications and contraindications of the cure and has a treatment base, in the Ghizela mine. Passes from 20–65 lei a day.

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Last updated: 23 September 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania