Your Last Borders10 BEST THINGS TO DO IN MOLDOVA
Moldova is Europe’s poorest and least visited country. A landlocked nation between Ukraine and Romania home to 2.5 million inhabitants with Chisinau as capital city. A place where Romanian is the official language, Christianism the main religion, and the Moldovan Leu the official currency. And a land of vibrant cities, Orthodox monasteries, wonderful nature, and awesome wine. As such, there’s lots of cool and unique things to do in Moldova.
This post summarizes the best places to visit in Moldova so you can tailor your ideal Moldova itinerary. Whether you intend to spend a weekend around Chisinau or plan a longer trip around Moldova, the following are the highlights of Moldova tourism and must-do when you visit Moldova. Have a wonderful trip, and make sure to check out my Moldova Instagram stories highlight for additional tips.
Best things to do in Moldova’s cities
1. Explore Chisinau
Chisinau is Moldova’s capital and largest city. It stands at the center of the country, about 150km from Iasi in Romania and 200km from Odesa in Ukraine. The city hosts an international airport with daily European flights to Moldova, and is home to over 500,000 inhabitants.
Despite being the capital city of Europe’s poorest country, at the end of the day the city is a European capital. Therefore, there’s lots of great things to do in Chisinau Moldova. Here you’ll find long avenues with fancy art nouveau buildings, a large parliament building, orthodox churches, green parks, and many museums.
Among Chisinau attractions, my favourite were the Nativity Cathedral (try visiting during service hours) and the opera house. As in many ex-soviet countries, tickets for the opera are inexpensive and the shows are high quality, so consider booking night at the Opera.
There’s many restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and bars around the city center. Local food is hearty, delicious and inexpensive, and so is Moldovan wine. If you’d like to make the most of your time in Chisinau, check out this post on the best things to do in Chisinau and consider taking a guided Chisinau walking tour.
2. Go back in time in Tiraspol
At the northest of Moldova stands Transnistria, a country that doesn’t exist. A self-proclaimed independent republic with its own border, currency, parliament, army, and citizenship that honors Lenin and feels like being back into the Soviet Union. Since, no other country recognizes Transnistria as independent, not even Russia, visiting its territory and learning about it has to be considered one of the best things to do in Moldova.
Transnistria’s capital city, Tiraspol, is 70km east of Chisinau. Thus, it’s easily accessible by private car, public transport, and guided tour. Although most western countries will advise against the visit as this is an unrecognized country and thus they have no embassies nor diplomatic relations there, visiting Transnistria feels totally safe. Just make sure to bring your passport and some cash to exchange into local currency.
Tourist attractions in Tiraspol include Lenin busts, soviet architecture, gas pipelines and war memorials. Along with more traditional sights such as the opera house, city hall, main square, etc. There’s lots of nice inexpensive cafes, bars, and restaurants to enjoy local food and wine. And the stadium of FC Sheriff Tiraspol, which played against Real Madrid at the UEFA Champions League the week we visited, is also worth exploring.
3. Spot Ukraine from Soroca Fortress
Soroca, about 150 km from Chisinau, is one of the border cities in Moldova as it’s only meters away from Ukraine. Therefore, this medieval city is of significant importance in the history of Moldova and hosts tourist attractions in Moldova to reflect the same.
The highlight of the city is Soroca’s fortress. This 14th century defense fortification by the river Dniester offers an awesome view over the city and nearby Ukrainian lands. Admiring them is one of the best things to do in Moldova. Additionally, as Soroca is home to a large population of Roma people, many come here to admire their over-the-top mansions along the so-called Gypsy Hill.
4. Feel the Turkish vibe in Gagauzia
Gagauzia is an autonomous region in southern Moldova, close to the border with Ukraine, strongly influenced by Turkey. That is because most of its 135,000 inhabitants are descendants of muslims refugees who once sought shelter in the area.
Today’s Gaugazians are now mostly Orthodox christians and their towns host beautiful Orthodox churches. Nevertheless, learning about their heritage at Comrat’s Regional History Museum is one of the best and most unique things to do in Moldova. And so is sampling their unique cuisine, listening to their own Gagauz language, and exploring their cathedral of St John the Baptist.
5. Tour a Moldovan winery
Moldova is a land of wine. Of delicious and affordable wine. Therefore, touring a winery and sampling some local wine is one of the best things to do in Moldova. Just as it is in Spain, Italy, Armenia, or Georgia.
The country hosts 150,000 hectares of vineyards and produces over 2 million hectolitres of wine a year. It’s the 11th largest wine-producing country in Europe and all sorts of wineries. If you’d like to book a guided winery tour in Moldova, these will most likely take you to Milestii Mici or Cricova.
Milestii Mici is Moldova’s largest winery and hosts the world’s largest wine collection.Exploring its over 200km of underground tunnels and 2 million bottles of wine must be among the best things to do in Moldova. And so is taking a photo by its famous wine fountains. Rumor has it many celebrities have their favourite wines stored in its tunnels, with prices starting at $500/year.
Cricova is Moldova’s second largest and the world’s second largest underground winery. Here you’ll experience an underground wine city with 120km of tunnels, some reaching 100 meters depth. The place hosts 30 million liters of wine spread among 1.3 million bottles. Most warehouses and tasting rooms are also underground, and rural has it was the favourite winery of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
To avoid the crowds and experience a family-ran winery I visited Asconi Winery instead. So do consider going off the beaten path about wine in Moldova, as tours, wine and food in Moldova are abundant, inexpensive, and well worth the detour. You can see more of my visit on my Instagram Moldova stories highlight.
Best things to do in Moldova’s countryside
6. Admire the beauty of Orheiul Vechi
Orheiul Vechi, which means Old Orhei, is a mountainous area 60km north of Chisinau famous for its cave-built monastery. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and makes a great day trip from Chisinau, either by car or guided tour. Especially if combined with visiting the nearby villages of Butuceni, Morovaia, and/or Trebujeni and their surrounding greenery. Along with the modern Orhei village, home to famous Monastery Curchi.
The open-air archeological complex of Old Orhei is 2000 years old. Standing by river Rault, it features remnants of Dacian fortifications, baths, and caves. These later served Tartars and Mongols, and remained in use to hide Orthodox Christian during the Soviet ruling.
Therefore, this is a place of huge historical and cultural importance within Moldova. Visitors can learn lots about it at the onsite museum and admire the iconostasis inside the monastery.
7. Visit a cave monastery in Tipova
Tipova is the largest cave monastery in Eastern Europe and a major tourist attraction in Moldova. It stands in Northern Moldova, about 100km from Chisinau, and it’s easily accessible by private car or via a guided tour to Tipova Monastery.
The initial complex dates back to the 6th century BC, when it seved as a praying, living, and shelter area to its monks. In the 11th century the Church of the Feast of the Holy Cross was excavated. Likewise, in the 14th century monks dug the Church of St Nicholas and the church of Horodiste in the 16th century. During the 18th century, when the risk of invasions decreased, the monastery was enlarged and additional paths, cells were also dug into the rocks.
Although the place was closed under Soviet ruling, it’s now protected by the State and since 1994 over 20 monks are back on the premises. The monastery is open daily and is a must-see among attractions in Moldova because of its historical and archeological importance, but also since it’s surrounded by beautiful forests and waterfalls.
8. Meet the bisons at Padurea Domneasca
Padurea Domneasca is the largest natural reserve in Moldova. Consequently, exploring its grounds is one of the best things to do in Moldova for nature enthusiasts. You’ll find it in Glodeni, by the border with Romania, about 175km from Chisinau. Consequently, Padurea Domneasca is a highlight of nature tourism in Moldova and the perfect place to visit in Moldova during the summer months.
Founded in 1993, the area is known as the landscape of one hundred hills because it consists of a combination of several floodplain and swampy forests. Along its 6 hectareas reside 500-year-old oaks, 150 species of birds, and 50 species of mammals. Among them, the most famous is the European bison which can’t be found elsewhere in the country.
9. Hike at Codru National Reservation
Codru National Reservation is the oldest and second largest natural reserve in the country. As it stands only 50km north of Chisinau, it makes a great day trip from the city and the perfect place to unwind during your Moldova tourism.
Visitors will encounter 1000 protected plant spices, over 140 of birds, 50 of mammals, 8 of reptiles, and 6 of amphibious. That’s plenty of fauna and flora to enjoy during your holidays in Moldova. Additionally, there’s a Natural History Museum onsite hosting figures of almost every animal spice in Moldova. And plenty of areas to enjoy a walk and a picnic.
10. Admire the manor at Taul Park
Taul Park is the largest park in Moldova. It’s so big it resembles a forest more than a park. Therefore, it makes the perfect place to unwind when touring Moldova. You’ll find it in Taul village, about 200km north of Chisinau, so it’s best explored on a road trip to Moldova.
The park features 12.5km of hiking trails, over 150 species of trees brought form all over the world, and endless flowerbeds. On its upper part stands Pommer Manor. This is a stunning 20th century mansion house owned by Ivan Pommer, a big Russian landowner. The manor is one of the most beautiful monuments in Moldova and was a sanatorium during the Soviet ruling which makes it even more interesting.
Recap on the best things to do in Moldova
This post on the 10 bets things to do in Moldova intends to be the long ‘Yes’ answer to ‘is Moldova worth visiting’. It contains the best things to do in Moldova’s cities and across its countryside, so you can tailor your ideal Moldova itinerary and have a blast exploring Europe’s least visited country. A place to beat the crowds, indulge in delicious food and wine, and learn about Soviet times long gone elsewhere.
The best things to do in Moldova include visiting modern cities such as Chisinau but also towns stuck in the past like Tiraspol. Staring at Ukraine from Soroca Fortress, and overlooking Romania from Padurea Domneasca. Admiring Orthodox monasteries with a Turkish vibe and getting into cave churches.
There’s lots of great places to visit in Moldova and exciting things to do in Moldova. If you have any additional questions on them, please leave a comment below or reach out through my Instagram and/or Tiktok pages. have a wonderful trip to Moldova.
