Things to do in Cluj-Napoca

Cluj-Napoca was Kolozsvár under Hungarian rule for most of its history, and the old centre still reads that way. St Michael's Church anchors the main square. The church took from 1316 to 1487 to finish.

A king born here, and the square around him

Matthias Corvinus was born beside that church in 1443 and baptised inside it. He became King of Hungary at fourteen. A bronze statue of him on horseback has stood in the square since 1902.

• St Michael's Church — Gothic, the second-largest church in Transylvania after Brașov's Black Church.
• Piața Unirii — the main square, cafés under the church walls on every side.
• The old fortifications — walled from 1405 against the Ottoman threat, fragments still standing between newer streets.

A student city, and what it fills the year with

Babeș-Bolyai, the country's largest university, keeps Cluj young and busy outside term breaks. UNTOLD is one of Europe's biggest electronic festivals. It has filled the stadium here each summer since 2015, drawing crowds in the hundreds of thousands from across the continent.

The Apuseni Mountains start west of town, and most of what leaves Cluj for the day heads there.

• Apuseni ATV and UTV routes — trails through gold country and karst, sold in half-day and full-day formats.
• The King Matthias trail — a self-guided city game built around the square and its history.

Practical

• Weather. Summer highs reach around 27C; January averages near minus 2C, with the city sitting some 400 metres up.
• Getting around. The centre is walkable in under half an hour end to end; buses and trams cover the rest.
• Currency. The leu, not the euro; cards are standard in the centre.
• Tipping. Around ten per cent in restaurants is normal.
• Booking ahead. UNTOLD week fills every hotel in the city months out; book well before summer.