Bună! I will be visiting Timisoara Romania in mid October for a week for work. My 19 year-old son will be coming with me and exploring the Timisoara area on his own during the day while I am working Mon-Fri AM. We will have a couple of days and a rental car at the end of the trip (Friday - Monday) to explore before we have to get to Budapest for the flight back home early Tuesday.

My son is quite capable on his own and has an adventurous, outdoors oriented personality. He is also a skilled musician and loves music related things.

We're looking for suggestions of fun, cool, adventurous, hidden gems, or unusual things to see and do while we are there. We really enjoy getting away from the typical tourist things but of course would want to visit one or two of the "Must See" things as well. Thinking of driving to the east for a couple of days to visit a castle or two and hike to a fortress ruin that I've heard about.

What are your suggestions on the best of the Timisoara area for the week we are there as well as things/places we should check out and experience over the weekend?

Also.... We're flying into Budapest and planning to take the FlixBus or train to Timisoara. Is there a better way to make that leg of the journey?

(cross posting to r/travel)