Things to do in Cluj-Napoca

Landmark · Central

The main square, dominated by a fourteenth-century Gothic church and the equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus, who was born a few streets away.

Local tip: Matthias Corvinus was king of Hungary and was born in Cluj in 1443; his birth house survives on Strada Matei Corvin and is largely ignored. The square's bilingual plaques are the quickest introduction to how this city thinks about its own history.

Nature · North of the centre, across the Someș

The fortress hill above the river, with the best view over the old town and the Someș valley.

Local tip: Fifteen minutes up the steps from the river and almost entirely locals. Go at sunset. The Habsburg fortress at the top is mostly gone but the terrace and the walk are the point.

Nature · Central, along the Someș

The city's main park, with a lake, the restored nineteenth-century casino building and the Cluj Arena at its western end.

Local tip: The park is where the whole city goes on a summer evening. The Someș riverside redevelopment is gradually extending the walkable riverbank west from here, and the finished stretches are already the best public space in the city.

Food · Central, north of Piața Unirii

The main produce market, with Transylvanian cheeses, smoked meats and the surrounding streets of small food shops.

Local tip: The dairy stalls at the back sell Transylvanian sheep cheeses that do not travel and are not sold in supermarkets. Go before ten on a Saturday. Cash is still easier here than card.

Nature · South of the centre

A fourteen-hectare garden laid out in 1920, with a Japanese garden, a Roman section and greenhouses, in the middle of the city.

Local tip: It belongs to the university and is one of the largest botanical gardens in south-eastern Europe. Almost no visitors to Cluj find it despite it being fifteen minutes from Piața Unirii, and the Japanese garden in autumn is the best hour in the city.

Nature · North-west edge of the city

A forest on the city's edge, internationally known for a circular clearing where nothing grows and for a stand of inexplicably crooked trees.

Local tip: It has an entire paranormal tourism industry attached to it, which is nonsense, and it is also a genuinely strange and beautiful piece of woodland fifteen minutes from the centre with marked trails and a mountain-bike network. Go for the trees, ignore the ghost tours, and be back before dark because the trails are unlit.