At the Salt Mine in Praid, Romania
Reviews > Europe > Romania > Praid > At the Salt Mine in Praid
At about 4:30 PM we arrived to Praid, a village (or little city, I'm not sure) which is very famous because of its Salt Mine which is a touristic attraction but it's used for medical purposes too.
It's not new that we didn't find any signs pointing to the mine. So we stopped in a dusty little street where we saw lots of people (we thought that there must be something if everyone was there:)). After walking a bit we observed that there was a bath with salt water and on the other side of the street there were many little shops where you could buy salt for cooking, salt crystals and other things. Finally we asked a woman where is the mine. She said that the place where we can buy tickets and from where the bus which goes down to the mine departs is at the corner. When we arrived a bus had just stopped and we were hurried by the driver to buy the tickets and step up on te bus because he stopped only for a couple of minutes and this is the last tour he makes. So in two minutes we were on the bus driving into the mine.
Before we started this trip Zoli was joking with the bus driver if there is air condition on the bus... There wasn't but we didn't need it at all. The bus entered a tunnel which was as wide as the bus, there were no lights so we couldn't see many things. After about 5 minutes something strange (it was strange for us, for the others not) happened: everyone started to put on clothes, warm clothes... some children even had caps and jackets, like it was winter:) we thought that some parents are too careful and we said it's funny... after a 15 minutes ride we arrived to a gate. Everybody went through it, so we followed them. The way continued, we had to go down on many stairs to arrive to the mine.
How do you imagine a mine? Small, dark, maybe a little wet and that you must bend down to go through it? Yes, we imagined it so, too, so we were stunned when we glimpsed for the first time that huge gallery into which we arrived. It was 14 meters high, 20 meters wide and a few hundreds of meters long. It lies 120 meters underground so the temperature is between 14-16 grades Celsius all the time.
After half an hour we were freezing:P But we were lucky because we could buy hot chocolate. It was so funny: outside were 40 grades Celsius and down here we were drinking hot chocolate...
There were many things to do while staying in the mine. There were benches and tables if you wanted to stay down and eat a sandwich, there were also toys for children, swings, tables for table-tennis, there was also a cafe, and I think some kind of restaurant and also an internet cafe.
In the other gallery there was a church and an other room where we could see a photo exhibition about Transilvania. There were also beauty-parlors and treatment rooms.
Everything was so amazing! You could stay down there all day long without getting bored. It was a pity that we arrived in a hurry and nobody told us that it's cold inside. After nearly two hours we went up. It was so bad feeling the warm and dusty air after the cold of the mine... Luckily the car was not too far and we had air condition in it:P So after some minutes we were on our way to Sovata the last station of our journey.Things about Praid you may be interested in
Be the first who requests a site listing for this page.1. Jul 15, 2007 Initial experiences in Oradea (Oradea)
2. Jul 15, 2007 The legend of the castle of Deva (Deva) (

3. Jul 15, 2007 The Medieval Castle of Hunedoara (Hunedoara) (

4. Jul 15, 2007 Visiting Sibiu in the summer (Sibiu) (

5. Jul 16, 2007 In the Fagaras Mountains, Romania (Fagaras) (

6. Jul 16, 2007 Short trip to the Vidraru Lake, Romania (Curtea de Arges) (

7. Jul 17, 2007 At the Bran Castle, Dracula's legendary home (Bran) (

8. Jul 17, 2007 Visiting the Peles Castle near Sinaia (Sinaia) (

9. Jul 17, 2007 Brasov, one of Romania's greatest cities (Brasov) (

10. Jul 18, 2007 The baths of Tusnad and the St. Anna Lake (Tusnad) (

11. Jul 19, 2007 Amazing canyon in Romania (Bicaz) (

12. Jul 19, 2007 Excursion at the Bicaz Canyon (Cheile Bicazului) (Bicaz) (

13. Jul 19, 2007 At the Red Lake of Romania (Lacu Rosu) (

14. Jul 19, 2007 At the Salt Mine in Praid (Praid) (

15. Jul 20, 2007 Last station: Sovata and the Bear Lake (Sovata) (

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Recommended Resita Guide
Resita Travel guide
The city houses numerous events throughout the year from the outdoor traditional ones to the ones from the clubs and bars. The most important traditional festivity in Resita is the “Ruga Banateana” which takes place every year on Saint Peter’s day, the city’s protector saint. The event is usually organized by the City Hall and has a traditional character with specific dances and music lasting for six entire days. The manifestations usually begin with a folk concert and continue throughout the six days with the Check Festival, live concerts in the main square, traditional music concerts and religious ceremonies.... Read more »
Recent reviews for Praid
Oradea for high budget travelers - Apr 30, 2009, by erato
Oradea – Best hotel Hotel Continental Dacia in Oradea has a total of 170 rooms, out of which 9 are apartments and its facilities include a bar, a public Internet terminal, a restaurant, a car park, an outdoor swimming pool and many... Read more »
Another trip to Oradea - May 2, 2007, by MadSuh
Another trip to Romania and another trip away from good old Ravensburg. My trip was kind of weird, usually it's a no hassle quick trip as I take the airplane from Stuttgart or Munich to fly into Budapest and then a bus is waiting for me to... Read more »
What to visit in Alba Iulia - Apr 3, 2009, by cipristb
Alba Iulia is a nice city in Transilvania. It's very important regarding the historical sights. What I've visited and I was impresed about, when I was in Alba Iulia was the cathedral located in the center of the city. You should also the... Read more »
Visiting the Peles Castle near Sinaia - Aug 1, 2007, by szbogi
This castle was very different from the previous ones mainly because it was built between 1873 and 1883, so it's "new" compared to the others visited before:) The castle was the summer residence of king Carol I so inside is very... Read more »
Visit Saint Anna lake near Tusnad - Jul 27, 2009, by asterix
I was at the Saint Ana Lake just near Tusnad, it is a volcanic lake, it is just amazing. A lot of vegetation around, trees, and rocks, it is superb. You should enter really free in the lake, it is not so deep, the deepest point in the... Read more »
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