r/moldova • u/Curious_person020 • 2d ago
Travel Travelling to Moldova at the end of October - is Transnistiria worth visiting or should I stick to other parts of Moldova?
Hello everybody,
I am visiting Romania and Moldova and I have a predicament. I am taking the overnight sleeper train to Chisinau and will be staying in Moldova for 50 hours. Is it worth it to spend one day visiting Tiraspol/Bender and then spend the other day doing a monastery and then a wine tour?
Or would you recommend skipping Transnistiria as a whole and doing some other sight seeing? We are doing the wine and food tour in Mileştii which seems incredible, but we love to try unique activities and we are very adventurous and open to anything.
I am getting mixed reviews on my plans and since I only have a limited time in Moldova, I would really like to make the most of it.
Any and all advice is welcome, thank you for reading! 🙏🏻
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u/hihihihihihellohi 1d ago
As an American who has spent a lot of time in Moldova, Transnistria is not at all worth it. It's a political oddity but not a tourist destination, and it's not worth the additional risk of crossing the pseudo border with a foreign passport. There's tons of great stuff to do in the rest of Moldova too! It's a great country with great people, enjoy your time!
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u/Curious_person020 1d ago
Thank you for this comment, it seems like the general sentiment is overwhelmingly telling me to pass on Transnistiria.
This is somewhat exciting as it frees up a whole day in Moldova.
What would you suggest we do on the day that we get in? The following day, we will be doing the famous wine and food tour, while also visiting a monastery.
How would you suggest we best fill our time? We are not the type to spend a whole day exploring a city, as we will usually use the mornings an evenings for that. We would prefer to do an activity, or a day trip for our day. Is there any day trips/tours or other cities that you would suggest we visit? Thank you for the advice
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u/hihihihihihellohi 20h ago edited 20h ago
I would imagine the monastery you are visiting is Orheiul Vechi, but if not, it is worth a visit. It's a scenic monastery built into the side of hills. It's right next to Trebujeni, which is a small town that is worth walking around to get a sense of what rural towns are like. When I visited I found a cooking class in Trebujeni where we learned how to make sarmale and plăcintă, which are two delicious local dishes. I don't think the class I took still exists, but there should be alternatives and it's a fun way to spend a day. There's a few bed and breakfast type places too that might have similar options (at least there were when I was there several years ago).
Ideally if you did some cooking class or something similar you'd be able to try homemade wine from someone's cellar. Homemade wine is very common and important to Moldova culture and it is way different from the wine you'd get in wineries. Sitting in someone's cellar drinking wine from the barrel and eating preserves is a classic experience, so if you can find some class or tour or something that involves visiting someone's beci (cellar), I would jump at that. There might be something available like that in Milestii Mici too since you are going to be there, but I'm not sure. There are certainly tons of homes with cellars filled with wine barrels and preserves in that sort of town. Depending on the season, there are generally tons of fresh fruits just growing on the sides of roads as well since the soil is so rich.
Another monastery that is interesting to visit is the Ţipova monastery. It's built into a cliff overlooking the Nistru, and it's a pretty view. It's a bit of a trek from Chișinău though, so I'm not sure if it's worth it with your timeframe.
In the capital it's worth visiting the Piața Centrală (central market). It's a big outdoor market that sells tons of different things. It's fun to explore even if you aren't buying anything.
Overall, Moldova doesn't have a ton of must-do touristy things, but it's a wonderful country with wonderful people. My favorite experiences were just exploring smaller towns and getting to know locals, but that's not always easy on a short trip. Have fun!
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u/pmr_de 1d ago
For a typical tourist, there is virtually no risk at the PMR border. However, 50 hours is already a tight timeframe for Chisinau.
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u/hihihihihihellohi 20h ago edited 20h ago
The risk is definitely minimal, but if anything happens you are not going to get the usual help from your country's embassy since they don't recognize the local government. I have also known people that have been forced to pay unofficial entry fees.
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u/const_in Ireland 1d ago
Skipping all the way. There is more than enough in Moldova without Transnistria.
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u/Curious_person020 1d ago
That seems to be the overwhelming sentiment ! Is there any suggestions you have, other than a monastery and the wine and food tour? Potentially a day trip to a different region of Moldova, or what would you say is a “must see”.
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u/Particular-You8137 1d ago
You guys are doing it wrong. I met a British guy this summer on the same route, Chișinău to București via train, two days for Moldova. From his words later, after the trip had ended, he told me two days for Moldova was too short of a time. Also, as a local and a traveler, I would say two days is nothing for Moldova.