A guide to the county
Bihor
in five.
A short guide to Bihor County: in every town, five places to stay, five to eat and five to explore. Chosen by people, not algorithms.
Towns
We started with the towns where we found good places in all three categories. More will follow as we check them.
The county seat on the Crișul Repede, with 1900s Secession palaces around Piața Unirii and a pentagonal bastion fortress 1 km from the centre.
Băile FelixSpa resort in Sânmartin commune, 12 km from Oradea, with thermal springs of up to 49 °C, year-round thermal baths and the smaller Băile 1 Mai resort 1.5 km away.
SalontaThe home town of the poet János Arany, 37 km from Oradea towards the Hungarian border, with a 17th-century watchtower on its main square.
AleșdA town on the Crișul Repede, 43 km east of Oradea, near the mouth of the Șuncuiuș–Vadu Crișului gorge, with a church built by a Wallachian prince and a medieval fortress on the hill.
MarghitaA town on the Barcău river, 57 km north-east of Oradea, known for its thermal water, with a new leisure centre opened in 2025.
BeiușA town on the Crișul Negru with a Romanian high school founded in 1828, 19 km from Meziad Cave and 40 km from the Padiș plateau.
ȘteiA town built in 1952–1956 to plans from Moscow, on the Crișul Negru, 16 km from the Bears' Cave.
Neighbouring counties
Guides made the same way for the counties next to Bihor, from the RO-MANIA NETWORK network. All counties in the network →
Why only five?
- Five helps you choose.A list of 40 restaurants leaves the searching to you. Five means we already chose.
- Every place has a reason.Each entry says in one line why it made the list.
- Different places, not clones.We pick places that are not alike, so everyone finds what suits them.
- The list changes, it doesn't grow.When a place comes in, another goes out. We review the selection regularly.