Chișinău
Moldova
The least-visited capital in Europe, a city of parks and Soviet concrete, with the biggest wine cellars in the world under the hills outside it and a country that wants you to come
Photo by Dorin Seremet on Unsplash
Photos by Florin Palamarciuc, Ella Ch, Vasile Stefirta and Dorin Seremet on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Moldova
May to June, and September to October (the wine harvest festival is in early autumn; summer is 32°C and dusty)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 70mm in Jun
Where it is
47.01°N, 28.86°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Go underground at Cricova
- Eat plăcinte from a window
- Walk the Cathedral park
- Day-trip to Orheiul Vechi
- Drink the wine, all of it
Chișinău travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Moldova
Very cheapLeu, and Chișinău is cheap in it. Exchange booths are everywhere, honest and post the rate; euros and dollars change easily, roubles less so. Cards work in the capital and in wineries, and cash runs the villages and the markets.
ATMs & cards
Maib, Moldindconbank and Victoriabank machines are free with most foreign cards; decline the conversion. Transnistria uses its own rouble, which no card touches — change a few euros at the Tiraspol bus station and spend them before you leave, because nobody else will take them.
Avoid these
- the standalone machines in the centre, which charge
- anything in Transnistria, where no foreign card works
Use these instead
- Maib
- Moldindconbank
- Victoriabank
Bank machines are free with most foreign cards; decline the conversion. Cash for the markets and the villages. Transnistria has its own rouble that no card touches; change a few euros at the bus station and spend them before leaving.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Moldova
SafeVery comfortable, and the centre is walked late. Taxi overcharging off the app, and the usual care with the Central Market crowds. The pavements are broken; look down. Transnistria is a separate matter with its own card.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the Central Market crowds — pickpockets
- taxis off the app — overcharging
- the pavements — broken; look down
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Moldova visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Ninety days in 180 without a visa. Transnistria is entered on a slip from its own checkpoint, with a time limit written on it, and is left through the same checkpoint; it does not touch the passport and the Moldovan side does not recognise it. Enter Moldova through Chișinău or a Romanian crossing rather than via Odesa and Transnistria, or the Moldovan stamp is missing when you leave.
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days
Through the foreign ministry’s e-visa portal, in a few days.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Moldova
LimitedRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for a long or rural stay
Getting treated
Basic in the state system, which is under-resourced; Chișinău has private clinics used to foreigners and cheap. Anything serious is a drive to Iași or a flight out, and the insurance should cover that. In Transnistria assume nothing.
Tap water is not drunk; bottled everywhere. Stray dogs in the towns. The wine is the health hazard most visitors meet, and the cellars are cold — a jacket at Cricova in August.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodMămăligă with brânză and sour cream, plăcinte (stuffed flatbread) from any window, zeamă (chicken soup) and the wine — Moldova’s reason to exist, and cheap. The restaurants around the centre, and the wine bars that have opened for the visitors who are starting to come. A dinner with wine is 300 lei.
Nightlife
Small and cheap: wine bars in the centre, a few cocktail bars, and clubs that go late at weekends.
- the streets around the Cathedral park — the wine bars
- Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare — the bars and terraces
Closing: Around 02:00.
Getting around
Workable- BoltWorks here
- Yandex GoWorks here
- UberNot here
- GrabNot here
- From the airport
- From the airport to the centre 150–200 lei on the app, or trolleybus 30 for 6
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than the taxis at the airport kerb, which quote in euros and round up.
Nothing works in Transnistria, where the taxis are hailed and the fare agreed in roubles.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Chisinau — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Moldova
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.5× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Good. Maps, calls and streaming, and enough to tether a laptop for an afternoon. Mobile runs at about the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Moldova, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Romanian
- HelloBună ziuaBOO-nuh ZEE-wa
- Hi (informal)Salutsa-LOOT
- PleaseVă rogvuh ROG
- Thank youMulțumescmool-tsoo-MESK
7 more phrases
- Yes / NoDa / Nuda / noo
- Excuse meScuzați-măskoo-ZATS-muh
- How much is it?Cât costă?kuht KOS-tuh
- The bill, pleaseNota, vă rogNO-ta vuh ROG
- Do you speak English?Vorbiți engleză?vor-BEETS en-GLEH-zuh
- CheersNorocno-ROK
- GoodbyeLa revederela reh-veh-DEH-reh
A Romance language in a Slavic neighbourhood — with Italian or Spanish you will read the signs long before you can hear the speech. English is widely spoken by anyone under forty and in every hotel; French is more common with older people. The letters ș and ț are "sh" and "ts", and î and â are a sound English does not have, somewhere behind the vowel in "roses".
Religion
Orthodox, in the Romanian tradition
Over 90% Orthodox and the monasteries are alive rather than museums; cover shoulders and knees, and women cover their hair at the strict ones, which lend a scarf. The cave monastery at Orheiul Vechi still has a monk in it.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Accept the wine, and the second glass; refusing the first is refusing the house
- Bring an odd number of flowers when invited
- Cover shoulders and knees at the monasteries, and hair for women at the strict ones
- Speak Romanian if you have any; it is the language, whatever the older signs say
Don't
- Do not call the language Moldovan to a Romanian speaker, or Romanian to a Transnistrian
- Do not photograph checkpoints or soldiers in Transnistria
- Do not be surprised by toasts that run to speeches
- Do not expect the pavements to be level
Where to stay in Chișinău
No Holistay rentals in Chișinău yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Chișinău on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Chișinău KIV
20 minfrom the airport· 13 km as the crow flies
20 min by trolleybus 30 or taxi.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
