Chisinau & The Least Visited Country In Europe: Moldova

Arriving in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, I truly had no idea what I’d find there.

My one preconception of Moldova is that it’s completely mad. This is entirely based on Eurovision, in which they have entered many of Eurovision’s most batshit crazy contestants. They are, after all, responsible for Epic Sax Guy. Not to mention unicycling gnome punk, or the same band bringing the party and having an absolute blast.

(And let’s not forget that this 2000’s Euro dance pop classic is also from Moldova!)

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And I’m not alone. When Jack Whitehall visited Moldova in his travel show, he did so with the sole purpose of performing with Sunstroke Project, and the literal Epic Sax Guy. That’s the type of trip I envisaged for myself (maybe not the performing part), and if the dates had aligned with a gig, it would have been PERFECT. Alas, you probably know from my previous blog post what a nightmare I had getting dates at all for this trip!

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But, even though Moldova generally wasn’t as mad as I thought it would be, it was about the furthest out of my comfort zone that I’ve been on a solo trip.

Chisinau is not the most exciting city for tourist attractions, but it’s an interesting place to visit nonetheless, and I felt comfortable there more quickly than I expected. Even walking from the train station, which wasn’t exactly my favourite walk, took me past a few interesting buildings before I’d even got to the main street.

In fact, my most stressful moment was at the end of my time there, catching the bus to the airport, where I spent the entire journey squished between so many people that I didn’t even manage to pay (it cost 26p so I obviously wasn’t avoiding it).

Elsewhere, it was peaceful and I had no issues whatsoever. Despite being the least visited country in Europe, tourism in Moldova is increasing, thanks largely to its expanding wine industry, and a lot of younger people speak some English. It’s much easier to get by than I was expecting, and I settled in pretty quickly.

Here are five fun facts about Chisinau:

• There’s a shopping mall called Malldova
• There’s a lake where you can hire pedalo boats shaped like cars
• The green man at crossings is animated! I was far too entertained by this.
• There are currency exchange places every two shops – “schimb valutar”. Don’t bother exchanging money at the train station as it’s way more expensive!
• Near the city are two wineries with the two longest underground wine cellars in the world!

If there are three things you should do in Chisinau itself, these were my favourites.

Nativity Cathedral

In the centre of the city, a lovely park surrounds this cathedral. I think that was the first thing that surprised me. You conjure up pictures of desolate ex-Soviet cities, and yet here was a pretty little park that could be anywhere in Europe, with a nice cathedral in the middle of it. It reminded me of Helsinki Cathedral; not the prettiest, but stoic in stature.

This is probably the main “thing to see” in Chisinau to be honest, so I can see why a lot of people don’t think it’s exciting. But it also wasn’t my highlight.

On the edge of the park is the “Triumphal Arch” – no prizes for guessing what this is similar to. It’s the first photo in this post!

Read more: Bucharest, Where Eastern & Western European Cultures Meet

National Museum of Ethnography & Natural History

There are two main museums in Chisinau, and I didn’t want to do both. I decided on this one, which looked like it has more to it. Plus, the exterior of the museum looks interesting – very Arabic, which was unexpected! It’s only about 50p to get in, so it didn’t matter how good it was. There’s a lot of information in Russian and Romanian and not a lot in English, but there are some great displays regardless, and it’s worth a look around.

The other main museum, the National Museum Of History, covers more about the history of the country (funnily enough), but this museum perhaps has more about the culture and the people – information about writers, displays of traditional Moldovan dress and what they represent, artifacts from people’s history etc.

It’s only really got three large rooms, so it doesn’t take too long to look at everything. And I basically needed to pass it to go to the lake anyway, so it was worth popping in.

There’s also a Military History Museum which is apparently really good.

Valea Morilor Park

My highlight of Chisinau was this park, surrounding a large, scenic lake.

I walked around the entire lake, passing little row boats shaped like cars, a kids’ kayaking session, and even beaches. BEACHES! In land-locked Moldova!

I also heard someone playing the saxophone, which made my day. I like to think it was Epic Sax Guy, and being that I never found who was playing it, I’m just going to pretend it was him.

I started my walk at one of the best parts of the lake – the Cascade Stairs. This was the perfect place to start because it’s a lovely way to get down to the lake and it has great views.

There were a few things I missed, like a tiny 4 inch statue perched on a fence somewhere along the way, and the Lenin statue that I was actually looking out for but forgot to check where it was while I was on wifi.

Bonus: Central Market

As a bonus, I’m including Central Market, even though it is chaotic and very local. It’s interesting to check out. I mostly only passed it in the morning when I went to get the bus to Transnistria, as the bus station is right behind. It’s one of those markets that can be really overwhelming, so I didn’t get to check it out properly and don’t have any photos.

I also wanted to see the blue monastery near the train station, Ciuflea Monastery, although it was hard to get a good photo of it from the road. I’m not even sure where to go in!

But while attractions themselves are sparse, it’s worth walking down the main drag of Stefan cel Mare because some of the architecture might surprise you.

(For some reason I didn’t get a proper photo of the Municipality Hall, along the right of the third photo below, even though that was probably the most impressive building!)

Read more: Sunshine, Lakes & Statues In North Macedonia

Where to eat & drink in Chisinau

Coffee at Feeling Coffee

I won’t lie, I wasn’t expecting to find any good coffee shops in Chisinau; nor was I expecting to find tea. So when I stumbled across this coffee shop that served tea, I was taken by surprise. The owner used to live in London for a while before moving back to Chisinau, so his English was really good and he knew what was up when I asked for tea.

I came back on my last day in Chisinau as well, partly because I knew it was reliable for both tea and wifi, and mostly because I loved the vibe. The outdoor terrace is really chill and had a mix of students, gal pals and business men.

It’s on 31 August 1989 Street (yes, that’s really the name!) which was probably my favourite street in Chisinau to wander, along with the adjacent Alexander Pushkin Street.

Breakfast or lunch at Sincer Café

I’d seen Sincer recommended a lot, so went there for an early lunch on my first day. It was much more contemporary than I had expected, and with some delicious offerings.

In fact, I asked a few friends to guess what was in my croissant, and nobody got it. It’s duck and pear. It was SO good! And my drink was sea buckthorn with mango. Which was WARM.

So if you think Chisinau is going to be full of hole-in-the-wall Soviet-style canteens where nobody speaks English and you have no idea what you’re ordering, fear not – there are plenty of trendy and homely establishments around. (And as for the canteens, I went to those in Transnistria instead!)

Dinner at La Șezătoare

This place came highly recommended by my hostel, so I knew I had to try it out as it’s a great traditional Moldovan restaurant.

That meant, of course, that I had to have some wine.

Wine connoisseurs will be horrified to know that I’m drinking red wine with chicken. That’s because I ordered the wine first. The food is something like a chicken escalope – but I will say I was the only person in that restaurant not eating soup.

(Also absolutely thrilled that the waiter’s phone rang and his ringtone was Little Big – Skibidi. Maybe they ARE all mad after all!)

Dinner at La Plăcinte

I also had dinner at La Placinte on my first night. It’s a chain, but let’s face it, a chain in Moldova isn’t exactly like going to a Pizza Hut.

They specialise in “plăcinte” (would you believe?) which is a Moldovan pie, sort of, so it’s something you have to try in Moldova. They have both savoury and sweet plăcinte, so I had the cheese one, which was delicious, and I also had dumplings (a bit like pierogi, so I couldn’t resist!), which meant I was too full for a cherry plăcinte afterwards. I should have gone back to try that!

The restaurant also played some mad folk pop music, which I suppose was the closest I’d get to Eurovision mode.

Wine tasting in Chisinau

The wine industry in Moldova is booming, and there are two popular wineries near Chisinau that you can visit: Milestii Mici and Cricova. Milestii Mici has the longest underground wine cellar in the world at 150km, and even runs a train through it! It looks AWESOME.

My final day in Chisinau probably should have been better planned, but I’d been on the go for five pretty action-packed days, so I didn’t want to end up feeling stressed by going somewhere and finding myself unable to get back. What I wished I’d done was taken a taxi out to Milestii Mici and booked myself on a winery tour. There were three problems with this:

• I didn’t really fancy shelling out for a taxi way out of the city on my own
• there was no guarantee of then getting a taxi from there to the airport, and my gut feeling said something would go wrong (it didn’t help that there was a review of this happening to someone!)
• all the tours include a bottle of wine to take home. Except I was travelling hand luggage only, so I couldn’t take any with me! Boo!

For some reason, despite everything in Moldova being incredibly cheap, the tours from Chisinau to the wineries are outrageously expensive online (over £100pp). That’s why I didn’t book anything in advance – I wanted to see if it was cheaper in person, and to be honest even the taxis would be cheaper I think.

I was tempted by the Cricova winery too, as it’s much easier to get to on public transport. Deep down, I wanted to do Milestii Mici though, because of the size of it; it’s twice the size of Cricova. I mean go big or go home, right? So that’s what I did – I went home, haha.

The good news is, there are places in Chisinau for wine tasting, and of course you can drink plenty of wine with dinner too, which is what I did.

I had wanted to go out for a few drinks that weren’t wine as well, and wrote down Pro Sanatate. I couldn’t tell if it was even open, so I didn’t end up going in, but perhaps this was my only downfall in Chisinau.

I’d had a really chilled time, which was needed, but what I always imagined Moldova to be was extroverted and zany – and I didn’t see any of that. Perhaps if I’d gone to a bar like Pro Sanatate, I would have found it.

I had three days in Chisinau, although one of these was a day trip to Transnistria, so it was really only two. This was enough time to see everything, even if I did miss out on a winery tour; I would have had time if I’d planned it right! My flight was just after 5pm, so I had most of the day on my final day, but would need to be ready to go by mid-afternoon so it was just slightly awkward timing.

I stayed in Hostel Amazing Ionika, which is a brilliant name but also a very good hostel. I really liked the area it was in, with lots of restaurants and close to the lake which I ended up loving, and a short walk from the main street.

Read more: A Bonkers Day Out In Transnistria, The Country That Doesn’t Exist

Taking the overnight train from Bucharest to Chisinau

To get to Moldova, I took the overnight train from Bucharest. This was an entire experience in itself.

For one thing, it’s an old sleeper train. It reminded me of the one we took in Vietnam ten years ago. It’s one of those with heavy doors that you have to heave open and close manually between carriages, and four flat beds in a cabin with blankets and bed sheets that you’d find in a dodgy market. The toilets have a foot pedal. It’s not glamorous, but it gets you there, and it’s an experience.

And for another thing, you stop at the border not only for passport control, but also to LIFT THE TRAIN UP TO CHANGE THE WHEELS.

That’s right, Moldova uses the Russian gauge of tracks, meaning the regular European train wheels don’t fit on the track.

The best part? You stay on the train for this!

And then there were the people I was with.

This began as a potential disaster, as I sat down awkwardly opposite a lady who didn’t speak a word of English. Then, minutes before departure, a couple turned up with a baby. You have got to be kidding me.

They didn’t speak much English either, and they went to find someone to see if they could be moved. It didn’t occur to me at this point that I was in the wrong cabin; I assumed the baby didn’t get their own bed, so it’s entirely possible, especially on a journey like this, that there would be four adults and a baby in one room.

A conductor appeared and pointed to me, talking in Romanian. He grabbed my ticket and pointed to the next cabin. I think it turned out that I was looking on the wrong side at the bed numbers displayed on the outside of the cabins! Either way, I wound up in the next cabin, which is the best possible outcome that could have happened.

Three people were well set up in there by now, so I took the final top bunk. One of them was wearing a Scottish whisky top, and it was soon established that I was sharing with a very friendly Scottish couple, as well as a young Chinese woman who they’d called Rainbow, who was travelling around Europe solo.

From sitting awkwardly in one cabin willing the night to be quick, to sitting on the bed eating and drinking with a Scottish couple, what a different experience I could have had! We chatted about our adventures, and when I tell you I was the least interesting person there.

The guy, Ronnie, has spent the past twelve or so years cycling around the world during any time off he’s had. Now retired, he’s managed to finish the job, and I was amazed to hear that this was the final stretch of his journey! In fact, this detour to Moldova wasn’t part of the plan, and it was just a side quest as it was his last European country to visit. They’d be returning to Romania to cycle down to Serbia and then home to Scotland.

His wife, meanwhile, is a researcher at a university in Aberdeen, and has worked on research trips in South Africa and Nepal. She told me about some of the research she’d carried out, while he spun stories of his cycling adventures. Genuinely two of the most interesting people I’d ever met in my life!

To think I could have spent an awkward night one cabin away from them.

We’ve even stayed in touch, and they have friends they stay with regularly about a mile from us so we’ve met up since. I mean, what are the chances?!? This, to me, is exactly what travel is about. The most unlikely meetings; the friendships formed over shared adventures.

The train leaves Bucharest Gara du Nord at 19:08 and arrives in Chisinau at 08:44. I wrote down the timings as everything happened, but it probably won’t be exact for every journey.

• 3.20am – border control, passports taken by border police, passports given back to us at 3.45am
• 4.10am – passports taken again, back at 4.30am
• Shortly after this, the carriage was jacked up, we heard lots of banging, back down at 5am
• Set off again at 5.20am

I think it used to be that you could only buy tickets in person, but you can now buy them online around 3 months in advance. I didn’t want to risk not being able to get on the train when I had a definitive plan, so I bought them – but the couple I met just turned up an hour before and got them from the ticket office no problem!

I paid 131 Romanian leu, which is just over £20. You can pay more for a private cabin, but obviously I’m very glad I didn’t! Also the Scottish couple took the train back to Bucharest and nobody else was in their cabin, so there’s a chance you’d get a private one anyway.

This train journey was genuinely one of my favourite travel experiences of the year and I’m really glad I did it rather than try to fly to Moldova directly.

Some final thoughts on Chisinau

After a couple of days in Chisinau, I found it pleasant and laid back. Before I visited, I’d read a lot of people saying it’s ugly and boring. And sure, there’s not a whole heap to do like many European cities, but there doesn’t need to be. It’s an ex-Soviet city, and looks like one. And yet I was surprised to see nice architecture, hip coffee shops, and bustling chain restaurants. It wasn’t how I imagined it to be, but equally, don’t expect it to be like Bucharest or Sofia.

Here’s the thing: there are lots more things I could have done in Chisinau, like the other museums, exploring another park where a Stephen The Great statue is, or going to check out the derelict Soviet circus (which does look pretty awesome!). But to me it wasn’t about ticking off any attractions that I could; it was about figuring out the vibe of an oft misunderstood city.

And truly, I do think something is bubbling within Chisinau, and it’s a very up-and-coming destination. With moves to become part of the EU, and an ever-increasing wine trade attracting tourism, it’ll be interesting to see how it changes in the next few years.

Would you want to visit Moldova?

Read some more about my travels in Eastern Europe here:
⭐ A Bonkers Day Out In Transnistria, The Country That Doesn’t Exist
⭐ Bucharest, Where Eastern & Western European Cultures Meet
⭐ Sofia: A City Of Colour And Contrast
⭐ Bratislava: The Unexpectedly Pretty Capital Of Slovakia
⭐ Sunshine, Lakes & Statues In North Macedonia
⭐ A Day Trip To Rila Monastery, Bulgaria
⭐ Exploring Beautiful Belgrade, Serbia