Sibiu is located in the center of Romania, being a city that can be reached by plane, flying to the Sibiu International Airport, by train, or by car. Sibiu is one of the biggest and most important cities in Transylvania; it has 155,000 permanent inhabitants and over 250,000 temporary inhabitants, most of them being tourists and students that have come to study at its famous University. Sibiu used to be an important center for the Germans living in Transylvania several centuries ago, and it still has the most numerous German community in Romania.
Sibiu is also the place where in 1292 the first Romanian hospital was opened. The first Romanian School received its first students in the same city back in 1380. In 1544 the very first Romanian book was printed there, and in 1817 the Brukenthal Museum, the first museum in Romania, was opened in Sibiu. As you can see, the city has a rich history, attracting lots of tourists from all over the world.
The Astra Museum of Folkloric Traditional Civilization is located in Sibiu, about 4 km / 2.5 miles away from the center of the city. It hosts original monuments which are representative for Romanian villages; many house models that were brought from all over Romania are exhibited there, and agriculture, apiculture, fishing and hunting are also nicely shown, so that every visitor can understand the old Romanian way of living.
The Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu contains the personal collections of the Baron von Brukenthal: a stamp cabinet, a library and a coin collection, gathered between 1759 and 1774, while the Baron lived in Vienna. He was the Governor of the Great Principality of Transylvania, so his collections were enriched as the time has passed. Nowadays his palace was turned into a museum which is visited by numerous tourists every day. The library contains no less than 300,000 library units: manuscripts, incunabula, rare foreign books, old Romanian and Transylvanian books and numerous magazines.
The Museum of Steam Locomotives is also situated in Sibiu; it was opened in 1994 and it exhibits 35 steam locomotives, 2 steam cranes and 2 steam ploughs, all made between 1885 and 1958. Another place that is visited and admired by the tourists coming to Sibiu is the old center of the town, first mentioned in 1411 as a cereal market. The actual market was built in 1366, when the third fortification of the settlement was finished.
Sibiu attracts lots of tourists not only with its museums, but also with the traditional Romanian dishes; “Imparatul Romanilor” (The Romanian Emperor) is the oldest restaurant in Romania, which has opened its gates for the first clients in 1773, being considered the most elegant restaurant in Romania by many critics.
“La Mielul Alb” (The White Lamb) is another well known place where the tourist can discover great, tasty Romanian food. In fact, the Romanian cuisine charms the tourists from all over the world with dishes that combine Romanian, German and Hungarian cuisine influences. No matter what place you choose, don’t forget to taste the fantastic tripe soup that is served in most restaurants, as well as mititei and sarmale – you are going to love these traditional Romanian dishes.
If your trip to Sibiu will take place during winter, Paltinis is a must see mountain resort, with ski slopes that are ready for the tourists every day of the year. Being situated only 32 km / 20 miles away from Sibiu, Paltinis is also the starting point for numerous trips in the forests that surround the resort.
Irina Chirilov, the author of this article, works as a blogger for Thrifty Mietwagen Sibiu Romania, a car rental agency in Eastern Europe.
