Turda Salt Mine: Tickets, Opening Hours and Tips (2026)

Turda Salt Mine (Salina Turda in Romanian) is one of Transylvania’s best-known sights: a historic salt mine where you walk through galleries cut into the salt, look down into chambers more than 100 metres deep, ride an underground Ferris wheel and row a boat on a lake far below the surface. If you are staying in Ocna Mureș, the mine is around 35 minutes away by car, close enough for a relaxed morning visit. This guide covers the current opening hours and ticket prices from the official website, the two entrances, what to wear, and how to pair the visit with Turda Gorge.

What is Turda Salt Mine?

Salt was mined at Turda for centuries, and the chambers are named after members of the Habsburg imperial family. The mine opened its doors to visitors in 1992 and has since been fitted out with modern additions such as a panoramic lift, the Ferris wheel, an amphitheatre and play areas. A visit takes you along a historic transport gallery, through several old working rooms and then down into two vast mining chambers.

What you will see underground

The official site lists these main stops:

• Franz Josef Gallery: the transport gallery dug between 1853 and 1870, 917 m long in total. Salt was once carried along it, first by horse and later in horse-drawn wagons. The first stretch is lined with stone; then you enter the part cut straight into the salt.
• Crivac Room: an octagonal chamber housing a horse-powered vertical winch built in 1881 and preserved where it once worked.
• Extraction Shaft Room: home to the 87 m shaft through which salt from the Rudolf Mine was hauled up to gallery level.
• Appeal (Registry) Chamber: where miners were counted in and out. Here you find the “Stairs of the Rich”, the oldest wooden structure in the mine, and a small altar carved into the salt wall.
• Iosif Mine (Echo Hall): a conical chamber 115 m deep, seen from a balcony cut into the salt. According to the mine, sounds echo up to 20 times.
• Rudolf Mine: the largest fitted-out chamber, 42 m deep, 50 m wide and 80 m long. You descend 172 steps (13 levels) or take the panoramic lift. At the bottom are the 20 m Ferris wheel, a six-hole mini-golf course, two mini-bowling lanes, a sports court, billiard and table-tennis tables, a children’s playground and a 180-seat amphitheatre.
• Terezia Mine: the oldest working in the complex, mined from 1690 to 1880 and 90 m high. An underground lake up to 6 m deep covers most of its floor, with a salt island in the middle, and you can hire a rowing boat.
• Ghizela Stationary: the area used for salt-therapy (speleotherapy) sessions.

Turda Salt Mine opening hours

At the time of checking, the official site lists Monday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:20. A ticket allows one person a single entry, so once you leave you cannot go back in on the same ticket.

Hours can change with the season or around holidays, so check the official “Schedule and fees” page before setting off.

Turda Salt Mine tickets and prices

These are the fees published on salinaturda.eu on 15 October 2026, VAT included.

Ticket	Monday–Friday	Weekends and public holidays
Adults	75 lei	90 lei
Seniors (over 65)	50 lei	60 lei
Children (3–18)	48 lei	59 lei
Children under 3	free	free

Good to know:

• Seniors show a valid ID; children need a birth certificate, passport, school card or another document showing their age.
• There is no separate student category on the official price list.
• Children with disabilities and adults with severe disabilities enter free, together with one accompanying person, on presentation of supporting documents at the ticket desk.
• Tickets can also be bought online through bilete.salinaturda.eu.

Extra fees: Ferris wheel, boats, mini-golf and parking

Activities underground are not included in the entry ticket. Official fees:

• Ferris wheel: 35 lei per person for one 8-minute ride.
• Rowing boats on the Terezia Mine lake: 56 lei per boat for 20 minutes, maximum 3 people.
• Mini-golf: 35 lei per person for 20 minutes.
• Table tennis: 35 lei per 30 minutes; billiards: 2.5 lei per minute.
• Car parking: 10 lei per hour.

As an example, for two adults and two children the Ferris wheel adds 140 lei and the boats 112 lei (two boats, as each takes a maximum of three people), on top of the entry tickets.

Entrance A (Durgău) or entrance B (Salinelor)?

There are two entrances, and they are easy to mix up:

• Entrance A, the new entrance: Aleea Durgăului 7, in the Durgău area. This is also the mine’s official address.
• Entrance B, the old entrance: Strada Salinelor 54B, in the Turda Nouă district.

They are roughly 4 km apart by road, so set your sat nav to the entrance you want and leave by the same one to get back to your car easily. Parking at the salt mine is paid and works on a ticket system.

Temperature inside and what to wear

The air underground stays at a constant 11–12 °C, with relative humidity of roughly 73–82%, according to figures published by the mine. In summer the change from the heat outside is striking.

What to bring:

• a jumper or light jacket, even in August;
• comfortable shoes with a good grip for the stairs;
• a small backpack rather than a large bag, so your hands are free on the steps.

How long does a visit take, and when is it quieter?

Allow at least an hour for the main route through the gallery and the two large chambers. If you want the Ferris wheel, a boat, mini-golf and an unhurried walk down the stairs, plan for two to three hours.

The mine gets very busy at weekends, over Romanian long weekends (1 May, Easter, Pentecost) and in summer, and on peak days local press has reported long queues of visitors and cars. The quietest time is early morning on a weekday, right after opening, and weekday tickets are cheaper too.

Accessibility, the lift and visitor rules

The mine’s regulations state that access inside is by stairs and using the lifts is optional: the visit does not depend on the lifts working, and they can be stopped at any time for safety reasons. There are 172 steps down into the Rudolf Mine, and Terezia lies a little lower still.

For visitors with mobility impairments, the mine designates entrance B (Strada Salinelor 54B). For them the accessible route stays at the level of the Franz Josef Gallery: the Ghizela Stationary, the Iosif Mine balcony, the Crivac Room, the Extraction Shaft Room and the Appeal Chamber.

Other rules from the official site:

• Pets are not allowed (registered guide dogs are the exception, under the conditions in the regulations).
• Eating inside the salt mine is not allowed.
• People with heart conditions should only enter with medical advice. The access page also states that people over 65 and children under 3 enter with a doctor’s approval. If this applies to you, call the mine first on +40 364 260 940.
• The regulations restrict filming and photography without the consent of Salina Turda SA, and professional shoots carry separate fees. Ask at the entrance what is allowed.

Getting to Turda Salt Mine from Ocna Mureș

From Casa Steluța (Str. Câmpului 4, Ocna Mureș) to entrance A it is about 31 km, around 35 minutes by car. You leave Ocna Mureș on the DJ107D, join the DN1 north to Turda and follow the signs for Salina Turda. Entrance B, in Turda Nouă, is slightly closer.

Leave at 08:30 and you will arrive around opening time, ahead of the larger groups, and be finished by lunch.

Turda Salt Mine and Turda Gorge in one day

The two make a good pair: one underground at 11–12 °C, the other an outdoor hike between limestone walls. From entrance A of the salt mine to the Cheile Turzii chalet at the gorge it is about 14 km, around 20 minutes by car.

Two plans that work well:

1. Salt mine in the morning, gorge in the afternoon: go in at 09:00, come out around midday, have lunch in Turda and walk the gorge in the afternoon.
2. Gorge in the morning, salt mine in the afternoon: handy on hot summer days, when hiking is more pleasant early and the cool of the mine is welcome later. Keep the 16:20 last entry in mind.

For the gorge trail, fees and footwear, read our Turda Gorge guide. Travelling with children? See our ideas for a weekend with kids around Ocna Mureș.

Where to stay near Turda Salt Mine

If you would rather not stay in busy Turda itself, Ocna Mureș makes a quiet base: 35 minutes from the salt mine and 37 minutes from Turda Gorge. Casa Steluța is rented as a whole house to a single group:

• 2 bedrooms (each for 2 adults and 1 child; maximum 4 adults and 2 children) and 2 bathrooms with showers;
• a fully equipped kitchen, so you are not tied to restaurants after a day out;
• a covered pergola terrace with a table for six, a barbecue and a garden;
• parking in the courtyard, Wi-Fi, TV, air conditioning, heating, bed linen and towels included.

The price is for the whole house: 400 lei per night from Sunday to Thursday and 500 lei per night on Friday and Saturday. Stays of 5 consecutive nights or more get 10% off, pensioners get 30% off (with proof of pension), and the discounts can be combined. Holiday prices may differ. Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out by 11:00. Pets are not allowed.

The Ocna Mureș salt baths are just 7 minutes’ drive from the house, so you can follow a day underground with a day at the salt lakes. For more ideas, see things to do in Ocna Mureș and all our guides to the area.

Bookings are by phone or WhatsApp only, on +40 743 668 009, or through the contact page.

Opening hours and prices were checked on the official Turda Salt Mine website on 15 October 2026. Fees are updated from time to time, so please check them before you travel.