24 HOURS IN SIBIU

Breakfast view

08.00: Breakfast at the Hotel Imparatul Romanilor (1), 2-4 Nicolae Balcescu Street (00 40 269 216 500). Five minutes' walk from the 14th-century defence towers and Pita Mare. The grand but faded breakfast room affords good views of Sibiu on its way to work along the main street.

For art's sake

10.00: Visit the Bruckenthal Palace (2) (00 40 269 211 699; sibiu.ro/turism/en/brukenthall) on Piata Mare; see Brueghels, van Eycks and studio of Rubens for just 12 lei ([pound]2.40).

Coffee in-house

11.00: Coffee at Haller Cafe (3) (00 40 72 01 10 194) on Piata Mare is just next to the General's House, where Saxon commanders kept an eye on what was happening on the main square. A single espresso costs 4 lei (80p).

Snack attack

13.00: Eat lunch at the Crown (4) (00 40 269 21 44 32), overlooking Piata Mica, with seating outside. The Romanian snack platter costs 13 lei ([pound]2.60) and offers local meats and cheese.

Real Romania

14.30: Take a taxi to The Astra Museum of Traditional Folk Civilisation (5) (00 40 269 242599; muzeulastra.ro) in Padurea Dumbrava. Here the state has painstakingly rebuilt peasant houses, mills and churches from across Romania in a wooded park. Admission 10 lei ([pound]2).

Time for tea

16.00: Tea at Ceainaria teea (6), 10 General Magheru Street (00 40 722 265992), a smoky little tea room that serves 70 teas from Vienna, at 3 lei (60p) a time. Talk about art to the waitresses who run it (they're mostly local artists moonlighting).

Down for a drink

18.00: Drinks in the dive bar of Art Cafe (7) (00 40 722 265992; artcafe@galeria-artvo.ro) downstairs at 2 Filharmonicii Street. A scruffy place frequented by real artists, rather than the poseurs on Piata Mare.

Dining folk

20.00: Dinner at Crama Sibiul Vechi (8), 3 Papiu Ilarian Street (00 40 269 210461; sibiulvichi.ro) located in the cellar ( crama) of an old Saxon town house. The signature dish is Sarmale (meat in cabbage leaves served with polenta), at 14 lei ([pound]2.80). Waiters are in traditional dress and there's live folk music most nights.

Jazz it up

22.00: Enjoy late-night music at Chill Out (9) (00 40 722 246640), the best club in Sibiu, which plays host to the best DJs in Romania and has specialist evenings - jazz, club, and house.

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