Welcome to Cluj-Napoca. However you choose to arrive, we are happy to see you here and we hope that you’ll enjoy what we have to offer for Silvensa. In order to do so, you will also need to be aware of how to get around the city, and what are the best ways to get from A to B at various times during the day, evening or night. 

General public transport in Cluj-Napoca

The city has a relatively extensive public transport network during the day and evening, with buses (some of them electric as well), trolleybuses and trams linking most points of interest. During the day, some stations are served by buses every minute or two, especially on routes that have multiple bus lines converging (ex. the main east-west route through the city), while some routes that are less travelled around that time may have one bus every 20 or 30 minutes. The local transport company’s website lists the schedules for each route at https://ctpcj.ro/index.php/en/timetables/urban-lines, with the scheduled departure times listed from each end of the route for all the available lines.

The website also features a map of the routes overlaid over a map of the city at https://ctpcj.ro/images/harta_a2_ctp.pdf, and the public transport overlay on Google Maps also features most of the routes and stations available.

Tickets for this transport network are sold from ticket machines in the large majority of bus stops in the city (and almost all the bus stops that people will be likely to use during this event), and a list of fares is available at https://ctpcj.ro/index.php/en/fares/urban-transportation. The bus stop at the airport, and all of the closest bus stops to both of the hotels that we have reserved for this event, have ticket machines available. Tickets may be loaded on non-nominal blank cards that can also be bought from these ticket machines, the card itself is 4.5 RON (less than 1 Euro). Nominal cards are reserved for residents and are generated by local government offices.

For the non-nominal cards which we recommend, a 72-hour ticket with no limit on journeys is 33 RON (6.7 Euros on current rates); you can also load the card with single tickets, one ticket for one journey being 3 RON (0.6 Euros). Tickets may also be bought by SMS by messaging the number 7479 with the line number that you are about to board, one ticket is 0.6 Euros + SMS fees, or by card at POS machines inside the bus itself, or you may also buy paper tickets from ticket machines at 6 RON for a 2-journey ticket if you also wish to keep them as tiny souvenirs of your journey.

The regular bus network runs between 5:00-6:00 and 22:40-23:15, depending on weekdays and public holidays (Monday-Friday have the buses running for the longest duration, Sunday and public holidays for the shortest). There is currently only one night bus line (on the route taken during the daytime by trolleybus line 25), with separate tickets costing 5 RON (1 Euro) for a journey, crossing the city from west to east between 23:00 and 00:30; there is currently a concerted effort by public opinion to push the transport company into expanding both the timetable and the number of routes for night bus transport.

IMPORTANT NOTE: due to an initiative by the local authorities to encourage people to use public transport rather than their cars, on Fridays, within city limits, public transport is free of charge.

Taxis and rideshare apps (Uber/Bolt) provide alternatives during both the day and the night. Taxi fares are usually the same for all companies that operate within the city; a start fare and per-km fare of 3.11 RON in the morning, daytime and evening, and 3.43 RON during the night; ridesharing apps fares are similar, but as users of them will be aware, the prices are usually listed when looking up the route and requesting a ride. Prices will be higher for routes that take you outside the city.

Taxis can be taken from stands at various places of interest through the city, or a call can be requested from hotel receptions, or by calling phone numbers for any of the taxi companies in the city. There are also mobile applications through which taxis can be called; we will not promote any here, they can be found by searching the app store on your mobile device; we recommend paying attention to reviews and looking up which applications are valid for calling taxis in Cluj-Napoca. Fares on ridesharing apps are paid automatically by card, while taxis take either cash or card (most taxis do accept cards nowadays, but we recommend carrying some cash for taxi fares just to be on the safe side). Closest taxi stand to the venue hotel is in front of the main entry of Iulius Mall.

The ridesharing apps available in the city also offer electric scooters, however - we ask that you take all precautions and wear a helmet (and protective gear) if you rent them out.

For those who feel up to it, and have time to spare as well (and somehow bring a bicycle with them), there is a slowly-growing network of bicycle lanes in the city, albeit color-coded wrongly compared to cycle lanes in other countries of Europe (cycle lanes are painted green, bus lanes are red, albeit they also allow bicycles and taxis carrying fare-paying passengers). If even more time is allowed, you may walk from place to place; crossing the main part of the city from east to west on foot takes about 1h30m-1h40m at a steady pace.

Now that the basics are covered, we will go into detail on a few items to help you with some of the more significant journeys through the city that you may have to cover during this event.

To the hotel, and from the hotel

This concerns the people who arrive by plane or by train, and are staying at either of the two main hotels for the event (Univers T and Hampton). It should be a relatively simple journey from either the train station or the airport to either of them.

From the train station, getting to either hotel by bus is a single bus trip followed by 5-10 minutes of walking. The main bus stop near the train station (Piața Gării) is on the south side of the square; to get to Univers T, you should take trolleybus line 3 to its last stop, cross the street behind the stop, then head ahead on foot for another 10 minutes towards Iulius Mall, next to which the hotel is located. To get to Hampton, take trolleybus lines 4 or 5 to the Regionala CFR or Biserica Sf. Petru bus stops; the hotel is on the other side of the street about half-way between these two stops.

Line 5 features heavily in the airport-based routes, as it is the main bus route which serves the airport; line 8 also stops at the airport in both directions, but at a lower frequency. For Hampton, the same stops described above are where you will need to get off the bus (although the first stop is called Someș in the opposite direction), and the hotel is between the two. In order to get to Univers T, you will need to take the bus only up to the Arte Plastice station, get off there, and then you have a choice of either a 20-minute walk, or crossing the street to the adjacent bus stop and taking any of the following buses (10, 24, 24B, 25, 34, 48) to the Iulius Mall stop.

All these indications are for arrivals up to around 22:00. If your flight lands after that hour, or your train arrives late, your only options are taxi or ridesharing apps. Both the airport and the train station have taxi stands outside. Considering the number of flights during that time of the year, we anticipate that there will be multiple Mensans arriving and/or departing on the same flights; we will provide a Google Doc during December on the event’s private communication channels for people to organize themselves and, if necessary, group themselves in a smaller number of taxis and split the fare to the hotels and back.

For early morning flights back, it is the same story but in reverse. Since the recommendation is to be at the airport around 2h30m before your flight, there are no buses before 5-6 am on 1-2 January (as those days run to Sunday schedules), so taxis or ridesharing are needed. For mid-day flights, the buses described above can be taken to the airport in the reverse direction.

To and from the icebreaker

The icebreaker takes place at Roata Făget, a restaurant which provides a somewhat traditional Romanian dining experience (which is the reason we have selected it as a location, so that we may welcome you to our country with an authentic experience). It is relatively far from the city center, which may seem a bit daunting in terms of getting there, however, it is still reachable by public transport and walking. 

From Univers T, you should take either bus line 24 (NOT 24B) from the Iulius Mall side of the street, or trolleybus line 25 from the other side of the street (which runs more frequently), to the very end of the line; from there, it is a 20-min walk to Roata following directions via Google Maps. From Hampton, take lines 6 or 24 to the end of the line (in the same area), and the same walk. Also, from the city center (Piața Mihai Viteazul, south stop), you may take bus 29S which runs at a very reduced frequency (every 45-60 minutes, and the last bus back to the city leaves on weekdays at 21:45 from the icebreaker location), but its final stop is right next to the restaurant. To get to the stop from where you can take this bus, you should take trolleybus 3 from the Unirii depot (if you’re staying at Univers T) or 5 (from Hampton) to the Central shopping center, and walk for about 5 minutes (north, then take a right at the big intersection following it) to get to that stop.

The alternative is, as ever, taxis or ridesharing apps. The venue should be able to call taxis for people if necessary, and for ease of travel and less expense, as with the airport trip, we recommend people sharing the same taxis.

To and from the city center

Of the two hotels we have arranged for this event, Hampton is within walking distance of the city center; the Regionala CFR bus stop is at the east edge of the center area, and is about 7-8 minutes away from the hotel on foot. From Univers T, buses 24 and 24B from the Iulius Mall side, and 25 from the other side of the street, can take you to the city center directly (recommended stops: Sora and Memorandumului for all lines, Piața Avram Iancu/Opera for 25, Regionala CFR for 24/24B).

From any of these stops, the main city center and old town is an area that can be covered end-to-end on foot in about 25-30 minutes at a leisurely pace. These stops will be your getting-off points for quite a few of the activities that take place in the city center itself. Further west on the main axis of the city, for the brewery tour and for the main student pub area of the city, the Fabrica de Bere bus stop is reachable by all the aforementioned bus lines a few stops further down the line.

For people staying at hotels in the central area of the city or at Hampton, in order to get to Univers T (the main venue), the easiest way to get there is by buses 24, 24B or 25 eastbound (from the stops on the south side of the main street) to the Iulius Mall bus stop.

Any other questions that arise about public transport during the time of the event will be answered to the best of our ability by the orga team. If help is needed to get around the city, do not hesitate to ask on the internal communication channels. People on the street (mostly the younger generation who speak English) may also be helpful if you ask them for directions to a certain place.

We hope these guides have been helpful and that they will make your life easier during your trip to Cluj-Napoca.