Cultural Heritage Tour in Țara Silvaniei - ROMANIA

  • MAY 22-28, 2025 – SOLD OUT

  • JUNE 12-16, 2025 – SOLD OUT

  • SEPTEMBER 18-22, 2025 – SOLD OUT

  • OCTOBER 2-6, 2025 – 3 SPOTS AVAILABLE

The tour explores traditional textiles, embroidery, wooden churches, village homes, and dowry rooms of a mixed Romanian-Hungarian region mostly overlooked by tourism. During the tour, you will meet local elders, women who share their the stories of their textiles, visit wooden churches, local collections and join hands-on workshops to learn embroidery and ceramic decoration techniques directly from our artisans.

Accommodation is provided in a restored traditional house from 1903, adorned with the furniture, textiles and heirloom of Marina’s grandmother, offering a warm and personal connection to the region and family heritage.

Join Marina from Made in Sat in a journey through her homeland in Romania

Hands-on Embroidery and Ceramic Workshops

Previous participants in this tour have greatly appreciated the hands-on nature of the activities, especially the practical aspects of the workshops. Based on their feedback, we decided to dedicate an entire day to ceramics and embroidery workshops. You’ll have the chance to learn directly from skilled artisans and take home the knowledge of these traditional techniques.

A Personal Experience

This tour is designed to foster genuine connections between you and the local community. We believe that meaningful travel is not about the number of places you visit, but about the depth of your experiences. To ensure that each participant has a truly personalized experience, we am offering only three spots on this tour. The small group size will allow us to connect more deeply with one another and the people we meet along the way.

ITINERARY

Day 1:

  • Welcome to Cluj & travel together to Sălaj

  • Presentation of the local traditional costume and visit our ethnographic collection

  • Lunch at grandma & see her dowry chest and textiles

  • Walk around the village

  • Dinner

Day 2:

  • Breakfast

  • Visit a craftswoman in a near-by hamlet

  • Visit an ethnographic collection of textiles & outdoor village museum

  • Lunch

  • Visit an elderly woman from the village to see her dowry chest and personal textiles collection

  • Dinner

Day 3:

  • Breakfast

  • Traditional ceramic decoration workshop

  • Lunch

  • Embroidery on sheepskin workshop - waistcoat technique

  • Dinner

Day 4:

  • Breakfast

  • Visit two wooden churches in Sălaj County with a local guide

  • Visit a reformed church with coffered ceiling Crasna

  • Lunch

  • Visit a sheepfold and taste the local handmade cheese with palinca

  • Dinner

Day 5:

  • Breakfast

  • Travel to Țara Călatei (Kalotaszeg) & walk around one of the villages to admire the architecture

  • Visit two Hungarian dowry rooms

  • Lunch at a gastronomical local point

  • Return to Cluj-Napoca in the afternoon

Participation fee: 1100 euro / person (

What We Offer

  • Accommodation for the entire trip

  • Transport during the tour

  • Lunch and dinner, including ingredients for breakfast

  • Workshop materials

  • Guide

  • Activities, workshops and visits

Not included:

  • Flights to & from Cluj-Napoca before and after the tour

  • Travel & health insurance

  • Shipping of the ceramic item resulting the workshop (aprox. 2-4 weeks after)

  • Personal shopping

  • Alcohol

Accommodation Details:

  • Stay in a 120-year-old traditional house in Marin, Sălaj made out of clay and wood, decorated with traditional furniture

  • 1 room with a double bed 

  • 1 shared room with 2 single beds

  • Shared kitchen and bathroom with the three-person group

Send us an email to sign-up for one of our tours: office.madeinsat@gmail.com

Madalina, former participant

“Participating in the tour was a unique opportunity for me to discover Sălaj, new ethnographic areas and to meet people who keep traditions and crafts alive. Every moment, from visits to the homes of the locals, access to their lives, objects and stories, to the workshops of embroidery, lacemaking, pottery or the tour of the wooden churches, seen from a new perspective, was a fascinating foray into the cultural heritage of the region.

It was not just a glimpse into the past, but also a change of attitude: I went with the thought that I would connect spiritually with a culture and be part, even for a few days, of a way of life that is slowly but surely disappearing. However, I left knowing that we all have the opportunity to actively contribute to preserving local traditions and cultural richness, by exposing them, documenting them and then promoting them (I know for sure that I will use the sewing techniques learned here for a quilt in the future).

It's something you can't easily replicate on your own, you effortlessly access a type of experience where time dilates and you manage to use every moment meaningfully and enjoy authentic connections, both between participants and organizers (thank you), and with people in the community.”

Rose, former participant

“Meet lots of interesting talented people and indulge yourself in Romanian rural life and culture. If you are interested in embroidery, weaving, spinning etc, and traditional skills and you would like to eat Romanian home cooked food, this is a fabulous opportunity. I was inspired and energised by my tour, every day was full of interest.”