The Citadel
First-timersInside the walls: the Clock Tower, the guild towers, the cafés and the best atmosphere after dark.
Sighisoara city guide
Things To Do In Sighisoara
A walled medieval citadel on a hill, still lived in, with a clock tower, a covered wooden stairway, and the house where Vlad Tepes was actually born.
c.1431
Vlad Tepes born here
175
Steps in the covered Scholars' Stairway
1999
UNESCO World Heritage listing
One of the last inhabited medieval citadels in Europe
Sighisoara was built by Saxon merchants and craftsmen on a hill above the Tarnava river, and its citadel is one of the few medieval fortified towns in Europe that people still live in. Houses, a school, churches, guesthouses and cafés sit inside walls with nine surviving guild towers.
The fourteenth-century Clock Tower is the town's symbol, with mechanical figures that change daily.
Vlad Tepes — Vlad the Impaler, the fifteenth-century prince whose name Bram Stoker later borrowed — was born here around 1431, and the house traditionally identified as his birthplace stands near the Clock Tower. It is now a restaurant. This is the one genuine Vlad site in Transylvania, which is more than can be said for Bran.
It is small, beautiful and heavily visited. Coach tours arrive through the middle of the day and leave by late afternoon, and the citadel in the evening, when they have gone, is a completely different place.
One night. Staying inside the walls is the point.
Where to stay
A citadel on a hill, and a lower town below it.
Lower Town
Value and transportBelow the hill: cheaper beds, the station and a ten-minute climb to the citadel.
Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Sighisoara
Climb the Clock Tower, about 20 lei (€4), which holds the history museum and a mechanical clock with figures that change each day, and gives the view over the roofs.
Walk up the Scholars' Stairway — a covered wooden staircase of 175 steps built in 1642 so that pupils could reach the school at the top in winter. It leads to the Church on the Hill and the Saxon cemetery behind it, which is quiet, overgrown and beautiful.
Vlad Tepes's birthplace, near the Clock Tower, is now a restaurant with a small exhibition upstairs. It is the one genuine Vlad site in Transylvania and worth seeing for that reason, with modest expectations about what is inside.
Walk the walls and the guild towers — the Tinsmiths', the Shoemakers', the Tailors' — which are free from the outside.
Then stay into the evening. Once the coach tours leave, the citadel empties and it becomes the place the photographs promised.
Free things
Free things to do in Sighisoara
The citadel is free to walk, including the lanes, the squares and the outside of the guild towers.
The Scholars' Stairway and the Saxon cemetery behind the Church on the Hill are free, and the cemetery is the most atmospheric place in town.
The walls and towers are free to walk around.
The citadel in the evening, after about five o'clock, is free and is the reason to stay the night.
The Saxon fortified church villages in the surrounding countryside cost little or nothing to walk around, though entry to the churches themselves is usually a few lei.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Sighisoara
Transylvanian food at tourist prices inside the citadel and ordinary prices below it. A main is 40 to 70 lei (€8–14) inside the walls, less in the lower town.
The standard dishes — sarmale, mici, ciorba — are on every menu, alongside Saxon ones with more smoked meat.
The restaurant in Vlad's birthplace is the famous one and is priced accordingly; the food is fine and the setting is the point.
Kurtoskalacs, the spiral chimney cake, is sold hot in the citadel.
A beer is 10 to 18 lei (€2–3.50). The Tarnava valley around Sighisoara produces decent white wine.
Nightlife
Going out in Sighisoara
There is very little, and that suits the place.
A few bars and terraces in the citadel serve into the evening, and the atmosphere after dark is quiet, lit and entirely different from the day.
A beer is 10 to 18 lei (€2–3.50).
The Medieval Festival in July is the exception, when the citadel fills with costume, music and crowds for a weekend and the evenings run late.
The rest of the year, the evening is dinner, a walk round the walls in the dark, and bed.
Getting around
Getting around Sighisoara
The whole town is walkable. The citadel is a ten-minute climb from the lower town and the station.
Trains from Brasov take about two and a half hours for about 40 lei (€8), and from Cluj a little longer. Buses and minibuses run similar routes and are often quicker.
Sighisoara works well as an overnight stop between Brasov and Cluj or Sibiu.
For the Saxon fortified church villages in the countryside, a car or a tour is needed — they are spread along minor roads with limited public transport.
Romanian roads are among the most dangerous in the EU, so take care or take a tour.
Costs
What Sighisoara costs
Cheap, with a tourist premium inside the walls. Beds are 50 to 120 lei (€10–24), a main 40 to 70 lei (€8–14) in the citadel, and a beer 10 to 18 lei (€2–3.50).
A day is €28 to €50.
You pay in lei. Cards work in most citadel businesses but carry cash for smaller places.
The citadel is free and the Clock Tower at about 20 lei (€4) is the main entry.
Beds inside the walls cost more and are worth it — the evening there is the reason to come. The Medieval Festival in July pushes prices up for the weekend.
Safety
Staying safe in Sighisoara
Sighisoara is a very safe small town and crime against visitors is minimal.
The citadel has steep, uneven cobbles and worn steps that are slippery in rain and ice, and the Scholars' Stairway is long and steep.
The Saxon cemetery on the hill is a working cemetery — walk respectfully and keep to the paths.
Pickpocketing is possible in the midday coach crowds and during the Medieval Festival, at low levels.
If driving to the fortified church villages, the minor roads are narrow, poorly lit and shared with horse-drawn carts and livestock. Romania's road fatality rate is among the highest in the EU. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Sighisoara
Saxon fortified churches, a royal village and a Transylvanian hub.
Biertan
A UNESCO-listed Saxon fortified church on a hill, with a marriage room where quarrelling couples were locked in together.
Viscri
A Saxon village with a fortified church and a guesthouse owned by King Charles III, who has championed the region for decades.
Brasov
The Transylvanian hub, under forested mountains.
Sibiu
The prettiest of the Saxon towns, with eye-shaped rooftop windows.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A medieval festival in July that fills the citadel.
July
Sighisoara Medieval Festival
The Citadel
A weekend of costume, music, crafts and re-enactment filling the citadel. Beds book out and prices rise.
Summer
Academica Classical Music Festival
The Citadel
Concerts in the churches and squares of the old town.
December
Christmas market
Citadel Square
A small market inside the walls.
May to October
Fortified church season
Surrounding villages
When the Saxon churches in the countryside are reliably open to visitors.
Year-round
Evening in the citadel
The Citadel
When the coaches leave and the town becomes what the photographs promised.
When to go
May to June and September to October. July brings the medieval festival and the peak crowds.
Jan
Cold and quiet. The citadel empty and beautiful under snow
Feb
Cold and very quiet
Mar
Improving. Few visitors
Apr
Good. Green and calm
May
Excellent. Warm, not yet crowded
Jun
Very good. Long evenings in the citadel
Jul
Medieval Festival. Busy and warm
Aug
Peak coach crowds at midday
Sep
Superb. Crowds thinning
Oct
Excellent. Autumn colour in the valley
Nov
Grey and quiet
Dec
Cold, with a small Christmas market
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. The crowd pattern matters more than the weather — the citadel at midday in summer is packed with tour groups, and the same lanes at eight in the morning or evening are almost empty.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros — you will pay in lei, at roughly 5 to the euro.
Shown in euros for comparison; you pay in lei. Staying inside the citadel costs more and is worth it.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Sighisoara travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Was Vlad Tepes really born here?
Yes, around 1431, and the house traditionally identified as his birthplace stands near the Clock Tower. It is now a restaurant with a small exhibition upstairs. It is the one genuine Vlad site in Transylvania — unlike Bran Castle, which is marketed as Dracula's but has at best a thin connection.
Is Sighisoara a day trip or an overnight?
An overnight, ideally inside the walls. Coach tours arrive mid-morning and leave by late afternoon, and the citadel after they have gone — quiet, lit and almost empty — is the reason to come.
Do people really live in the citadel?
Yes. It is one of the last inhabited medieval citadels in Europe, with homes, a school, churches and guesthouses inside the walls. That is why it feels like a town rather than a museum.
What is the Scholars' Stairway?
A covered wooden staircase of 175 steps, built in 1642 so pupils could reach the school at the top of the hill in winter. It leads to the Church on the Hill and the old Saxon cemetery behind it, which is the most atmospheric spot in town.
What are the fortified churches?
Saxon villages across the surrounding countryside built fortified churches — churches inside defensive walls — to shelter the whole community during raids. Several, including Biertan, are UNESCO-listed. They need a car or a tour to reach.
When is the Medieval Festival?
July, over a weekend. The citadel fills with costume, music and re-enactment, beds book out and prices rise. It is the busiest the town gets.
How much does it cost?
Cheap, with a premium inside the walls. Beds 50 to 120 lei (€10–24), a main 40 to 70 lei (€8–14) in the citadel, and a day around €28 to €50.
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