retiredmartin

May 2026. Alba Iulia. Romania.

Seven days in Romania, five (5) different cities overnight, with the alarm going off at 6am far too frequently for one of us.

An hour in Cluj before heading to the station,

reminiscent of one of those heritage railways in Essex that host Thomas, Percy and the local CAMRA beer festival. Something had gone badly wrong with my Monzo card and I failed to buy a 60p espresso from the many coffee machines at Cluj station. The trains were barely more reliable.

With Sibiu the only must-see on our trip, I was actually allowed to suggest stops, and Alba Iulia (pronounced Julia) seemed weird enough. Population 64,227, Roman heritrage, AND it had a genuine beer bar.

Three hours later, after the most interminable rail trip (still better than a bus), we arrive at an unprepossessing looking station.

Where loads of folk get off. Alba Iulia’s citadel is one of Evenimentul Zilei‘s Seven Wonders of Romania. You remember old Evenimentul ? Oh, it’s a newspaper.

The 300 year old star shaped fortress is best seen my drone;

For a place we’d never heard of before, Alba is a gem in three parts. Communist new town,

just beyond the pink glow of the unification monumenet,

the old town beyond the obelisk,

and a fortress lightly occupied with clergy (lots of them), a small military presence, weddings,

and hotel staff.

And a few hotel guests like us, with Mrs RM splurging on the 5* Medieval, seemingly built into the walls.

“It’ll impress the American visitors to my blog” she says, in defence of the splurge (£70, cheaper than the Travelodge the night before).

Doesn’t 5* mean room service ? I should have phoned down to reception,

and asked for a pint of flat Bass and crispy beef.

As you’ll note below, a bit of light drizzle after those weddings, the only dampener on a week of Transylvanian sun.

But it somehow made a near deserted fortress look even more gorgeous, as we crossed the bridge to the craft beer bar.