Cluj-Napoca

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Cluj-Napoca (pronunciation in Romanian: /'kluʒ na'poka/; German: Klausenburg; Hungarian: Kolozsvár; Latin: Napoca, Castrum Clus, Claudiopolis; Bulgarian: Клуж-Напока, Czech: Kluž; Slovak: Kluž, Polish: Kluż), until 1974 Cluj, is a city in north-western Romania and the seat of Cluj County. The city, one of the most important academic, cultural and industrial centres in the country, is located in the historic province of Transylvania, being also its historic capital, and is approximately 440 km north-west of Bucharest, in the valley of the Someşul Mic river.

Transport

Cluj-Napoca is connected to major Romanian and European cities through the extensive air, rail and road networks it interconnects.

Road

Cluj-Napoca is an important node in the European road network, being on three different European routes (E60, E81 and E576). At a national level, Cluj-Napoca is located on three different main national roads, DN1, DN1C and DN1F.
The Romanian Motorway A3, currently under construction, will link the city with Bucharest and the Romanian western border. Its western part (Romanian border - Oradea - Cluj-Napoca) is planned to be finished by 2009, while its eastern and southern part (Cluj-Napoca - Braşov) is planned to be finished by 2012.

The Cluj-Napoca Coach Station (official site)is used by several private transport companies to provide coach connections from Cluj-Napoca to a large number of national and international locations.

Public transport

RATUC, the local public transport company, runs an extensive 342 km public transport network within the city using trams, trolleybuses and buses.

Air

The Cluj-Napoca airport (CLJ - official site) is the fourth largest in the country, and serves about 250,000 passengers yearly. Soon there will be added a larger passenger terminal (1,000,000 people per year), and a new cargo terminal. Also, a longer runway, capable of handling larger aircraft, like the 747, is undergoing construction.
The airport is connected to the city by the local transport nr. 8 bus and servers direct destinations like Bucharest,Venice, Barcelona, Valencia, Budapest, Bologna, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan and Vienna.

Rail

The Cluj-Napoca Main Rail Station, located about 2 km to the north of the city centre, is situated on the CFR-Romanian Railways (official site) Main Line 300 (Bucharest - Oradea - Romanian Western Border) and on the Line 401 (Cluj-Napoca - Dej). CFR provides direct rail connections to all the major Romanian cities and to Budapest. The rail station is very well connected to all the parts of the city by the trams, trolleybuses and buses of the local public transport company.
The city is also served by two secondary rail stations, the Little Station (Romanian: Gara Micǎ) and Cluj-Napoca East.

Hitchhiking directions

At Cluj-Napoca intersect some main internal routes of Romania:

Each one of these routes have specific places for hitchhiking, usually on the outskirts of the city.
It's recommended that you take a bus from one exit to another. A bus ticket (including 2 rides) costs 2.6Lei (about 75 Eurocents).

Note: check out the maps at the end of the page to fully understand the directions below.

Coming from South and Going North

  • Get dropped just before the big round-about (There's a big, white building near)
  • Make a left (as the trucks go) at the round-about. Go about 100m and there's a bus station (heading towards the round-about).
  • Buy a bus ticket and get on the bus 46B. It doesn't run on weekends.
  • Take the bus to the last stop.
  • Get down. You can hitchhike North right at the start of the bridge over the railroad.

Coming from South and going West

  • Get dropped just before the big round-about (There's a big, white building near)
  • Make a left (as the trucks go) at the round-about. Go about 300m and there's a bus station (heading towards the round-about).
  • Cross the road to the opposite bus station and get on the bus 43 or 43B.
  • Get of the bus when you see a big trolley-bus and tram parking. If you miss it, you can get down after the clover-leaf intersection.
  • Get to the clover-leaf intersection. You can hitchhike West from here.

Coming from North and going South

  • Get dropped just after the bridge over the railroad.
  • Walk about 50m away from the bridge and there's a bus stop heading away from the bridge.
  • Get a bus ticket and get on the bus 46B.
  • The bus will cross the town center and then go up a road, on a big hill.
  • Get off the bus right after the big round-about (There's a big, white building near)
  • You can hitchhike South by staying a little uphill from the round-about.

Coming from North and going West

  • Get dropped just after the bridge over the railroad.
  • Walk about 50m away from the bridge and there's a bus stop heading away from the bridge.
  • Get a bus ticket and get on the trolley-bus 6.
  • Take the trolley-bus to the last station.
  • Follow the road as it makes a right. Go straight ahead for about 400m.
  • Get to the clover-leaf intersection. You can hitchhike West from here.

Coming from West and going South

  • Get off right before the clover-leaf intersection.
  • Make a right at the clover-leaf intersection, go about 400m and make a left as the road goes.
  • There's a bus station. Get a ticket and take the bus 43.
  • Get down at the last station.
  • There's a big round-about about 100m forward from the bus stop. You can hitchhike South by staying a little uphill from it.

Coming from West and going North

  • Get off right before the clover-leaf intersection.
  • Make a right at the clover-leaf intersection, go about 400m and make a left as the road goes.
  • There's a bus station. Get a ticket and take the trolley-bus 6.
  • Get down at the last station.
  • You can hitchhike North right at the start of the bridge over the railroad.

Maps