Easter in Moldova

At Easter we visited Moldova, and it was a positive surprise. We had actually booked a flight directly to Chișinău, but the route was closed shortly before departure, and our tickets were cancelled. Instead, we found a solution via Iași in Romania, which is right on the border with Moldova. We flew with Wizz Air and paid around 800 DKK round trip from Billund with a large hand luggage and no checked luggage, and it actually worked out just fine. We had booked a car from home through the Romanian company VioCars. It was an older car, yes, but it did exactly what it was supposed to 😄 We paid around 100 euros for 5 days including full insurance, and a permit for Moldova cost 80 euros. The large international rental companies like Avis typically do not allow you to take your car into Moldova, so it requires a little planning. We were generally positively surprised by Moldova. It is a country of clear contrasts, and although it does not offer the big classic attractions, it is still an exciting place to visit. The price level is really low, which makes it a very budget-friendly travel destination. At the same time, we felt safe the whole way, and the people were friendly and welcoming. And then there is Transnistria… A place that sounds wilder than it feels. We had thoroughly investigated the security in advance, and our experience was that it is very safe and calm to visit. We would actually recommend just taking a local bus to Tiraspol. It is easy, cheap and gives you a good freedom to experience the place yourself. The guided tours are, in our opinion, quite overpriced, and not at all necessary to have a good experience. There was no unrest, no insecurity, and everything worked surprisingly normally. It is undoubtedly a different experience, but not a dangerous one. We only had a few days, but we could easily have spent longer. A week would be appropriate if you want to experience both the capital, the countryside and take a trip to Transnistria. Back in Iași we immediately felt the difference. More prosperity, better roads and a completely different level. It's pretty crazy to experience such a big contrast between two countries that are located side by side. In short, Moldova is not a classic travel destination, but that's exactly what makes it exciting. And most importantly, it's both safe, easy and much more accessible than you might think 👍