Sibiu & Sighișoara

Sibiu, with its "roofs with eyes," and Sighișoara, Dracula's birthplace, linked with Saxon fortified-church villages and the Transfăgărășan mountain road.

Sibiu & Sighișoara are in southern Transylvania in central Romania, centered on two medieval Saxon towns. Sibiu (German: Hermannstadt) was a European Capital of Culture in 2007. Its Upper Town's Large Square, Small Square and Huet Square are linked by the Council Tower, the Bridge of Lies and stepped passages, and the "eyes" of its roof dormer windows are the most famous feature. South of town are the ASTRA open-air museum of folk life, the hilltop church at Cisnădioara and a shepherd mountain village. About 90 km away, the old town of Sighișoara is a World Heritage Site, with the clock tower, the Scholars' Stairs and Dracula's birthplace house all on one hilltop. Between the two towns are scattered World Heritage fortified-church villages such as Biertan, Viscri, Saschiz and Valea Viilor; 70 km southeast of Sibiu is the Transfăgărășan, the road over the Făgăraș Mountains, passing Bâlea Lake, Bâlea Waterfall, Vidraru Dam and Poenari Castle. Climate: Jun–Sep is best, and the high alpine section of the Transfăgărășan is usually open Jul–Oct; the Sighișoara Medieval Festival is in July and the Sibiu Christmas market in December; winters are cold and snowy. Getting there: Sibiu has an international airport, trains from Bucharest take about 5–6 hours, and driving between Sibiu and Sighișoara takes about 1.5 hours; rural fortified churches and the mountain road require a car. We recommend 3–5 days, staying in both towns.

Top sights

• Grand Square, Sibiu – The central square of Sibiu's old town, surrounded by baroque palaces and attic windows that look like eyes on the rooftops. Sibiu was the…
• Sighișoara Citadel – One of the few medieval citadels in Europe still inhabited. A clock tower and colorful houses on a hilltop form a fairytale old town, and i…
• Biertan Fortified Church – The most imposing of Transylvania's fortified church villages. A late Gothic church on a hilltop is encircled by three walls, and it is a U…
• Viscri Fortified Church & Village – A UNESCO-listed Saxon fortified church village with a white-walled church and colorful farmhouses. King Charles III of Britain owns a resto…
• Brukenthal National Museum – A Baroque palace on the Great Square, home to Romania's oldest museum (1817), with a collection of European and Romanian paintings.
• ASTRA National Museum Complex (Open-Air Museum) – One of Europe's largest open-air folk museums, with more than three hundred traditional wooden houses, windmills and workshops scattered th…
• Bridge of Lies & Small Square – Romania's first cast-iron bridge, built in 1859. Legend says it creaks when someone tells a lie on it. It links the Small Square with the L…
• Council Tower of Sibiu – A gate tower linking the Great Square and the Small Square. From the top floor you can look out over the roofs with eye-shaped skylights an…
• Evangelical Cathedral of Saint Mary – A Gothic Lutheran cathedral on Huet Square with a 73-meter bell tower you can climb, and the largest pipe organ in Southeast Europe.
• Sibiu City Walls & Towers – The best-preserved stretch of medieval city wall, on Strada Cetății in the southeast of the old town, where the Carpenters', Potters' and A…
• Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, Sibiu – A neo-Byzantine Orthodox cathedral modeled on Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, with lavish golden icons and murals inside.
• Passage of Stairs – A 13th-century stairway passage linking Huet Square in the Upper Town with the Lower Town, where arcades, city walls and old houses intertw…
• Bâlea Lake – A glacial lake near the highest point of the Transfăgărășan Highway, at about 2,034 meters, surrounded by alpine meadows of the Făgăraș Mou…
• Bâlea Waterfall – One of Romania's tallest cascading waterfalls, dropping about 60 meters, and the starting point of the cable car to Lake Bâlea.
• Poenari Castle – The ruins of a cliffside castle used by Vlad III (the inspiration for Dracula), reached by climbing 1,480 steps on the southern slope of th…
• Vidraru Dam – An arch dam on the southern slope of the Transfăgărășan Road, 166 meters high, with a walkable crest, bungee jumping, and spectacular lake…
• Clock Tower of Sighișoara – The 64-meter clock tower that symbolizes the medieval old town, housing a history museum, with wooden figurine clocks that change figures b…
• Church on the Hill & Scholars' Stairs – Climb the 176-step covered wooden staircase to the Gothic Church on the Hill, the highest point of the old town, and the German cemetery be…
• Vlad Dracul House – The yellow old house beside the clock tower, said to be the birthplace of Vlad III (the inspiration for Dracula) in 1431; now a restaurant.
• Saschiz Fortified Church – A fortified church village on the UNESCO World Heritage List, where the church bell tower is modeled on the Sighișoara Clock Tower and a fa…
• Valea Viilor Fortified Church – A UNESCO-listed fortified church in the wine country north of Sibiu, where the Gothic church, encircled by an oval wall, is remarkably well…
• Cisnădioara Fortified Church – A Romanesque church on a small hilltop on Sibiu's southern outskirts, encircled by a round wall, with views over the village and the Făgăra…
• Cisnădie Fortified Church – A large fortified church in a small town on Sibiu's southern outskirts; its tall bell tower houses a museum and was the first building in T…
• Păltiniș – One of Romania's highest resorts at 1,442 meters, and the backyard playground of Sibiu locals for skiing in winter and hiking in summer.
• Sibiel Village & Glass Icon Museum – A traditional shepherd village on Sibiu's western outskirts, home to one of Europe's largest collections of reverse-glass icons.
• Rășinari – An ancient shepherd village on Sibiu's southern outskirts with traditional houses, an ethnographic museum, and the former home of poet Octa…
• Cârța Monastery – The ruins of a 13th-century Cistercian monastery, one of the easternmost Gothic buildings in Romania, with atmospheric roofless Gothic chur…
• Făgăraș Citadel – A moat-encircled fortress from the 14th to 17th centuries, one of Transylvania's best-preserved citadels, housing a local history museum.
• Urdele Pass (Transalpina) – The highest road pass in Romania, at about 2,145 meters, and the high point of the Transalpina mountain road.
• Capra Lake – A high alpine cirque lake reached by crossing the ridge from Lake Bâlea, at about 2,230 meters, surrounded by the steepest cliffs in the Fă…

Where to eat

• Crama Sibiul Vechi – An underground cellar restaurant in Sibiu's Old Town, famous for its traditional Transylvanian dishes and folklore atmo…
• Kombinat Gastro-Brewery – A restaurant serving modern Romanian cuisine made with ingredients from small farms around Sibiu, featuring a concise…
• Hochmeister Delikatessen – A modern Transylvanian restaurant housed in the former residence of Martin Hochmeister, blending Romanian, Saxon, and H…
• Grand Plaza – A budget-friendly home-style restaurant frequented by locals, known for its excellent cabbage rolls and various sour so…
• Medieval Cafe Restaurant – A medieval-themed restaurant inside the citadel of Sighișoara, specializing in traditional Romanian dishes and smoked b…
• Casa Vlad Dracul – An old house restaurant next to the Clock Tower, rumored to be the birthplace of Vlad III, where the main draw is the h…

Itineraries

• Romania Grand Circle Road Trip – Drive through the Southern Carpathians, Bucovina, Maramureș, and Transylvania to see all the major World Heritage Sites…
• Transylvania by Rail – Skip the driving and take the train from Bucharest via Sinaia, Brașov, and Sighișoara to Cluj-Napoca.
• Carpathian High Roads Road Trip – Drive the spectacular Transfăgărășan and Transalpina high mountain roads in summer, connecting historic castles and Sib…
• Western Romania Loop from Budapest – Enter Romania from Budapest, looping through Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Corvin Castle, and Timișoara.