BootsnAll Travel Community

Ok, so I did a search on this and the threads I turned up seemed to be quite old.

I'm planning on visiting this fall and I know that I don't need a visa to vist. I also know (according to the Moldova travel website) that I can get a train direct from Oddessa to Chisinau. From the map I have it looks like I would be going right through Transdniestr. Does anyone know if this is true? Should I avoid this and simply enter from the Romanian side even though it will mean going out of my way?

The guidebook I have is quite old and mentions that going through Transdniestr will likly mean that my electronics could be taken or all sorts of other bad things could happen. I don't want this, who would. Anyone been there recently?

Thanks for your help!

BnA's own entertaining and caustic Leif Pettersen has a pretty good little online guide: Romania & Moldova Travel Guide.

I don't know if he covers this issue, but I'd tell you to avoid Transdniestr's never-ending bullshit at all costs. If it means circumnavigating, so be it. Seriously, it's just a pain in the ass. Especially if you're carrying anything that's valuable to you that is also of potential value to anyone in Trans with a badge.

If you were traveling with nothing but a backpack and a middle finger, I'd say take the train direct from Odessa to Chisinau. Otherwise...meh. You're just setting yourself up for a lot of swearing.

Hope that helps.

i have a few friends in moldova that i keep in touch daily with. for us , romanians , as citizens of eu, is mandatory to show 500 Euros at the customs although the visa is not requested. be careful if you carry a laptop with you, it has to be declared at the customs.
Avoid transnistria as much as you can. That country practically doesn't exist. Communists are in power in both moldova and pridnestrovie.

Apparently Moldova has a bone to pick wt anyone entering from the Romanian side. I have friends in Moldova who told me that the government is that strict b/c they are stubborn.

Transdniestr was a war area and is still pretty touchy...

Honestly, I stay away from the East and head to the west. If possible enter from Ukraine rather than Romania

I haven't done it myself, but I know here in Kyiv (at the embassy) we're supposed to go through a briefing before trying to cross Transdniestr because of the hassle it involves. Perhaps diplomats get hassled more than others (although the opposite is usually true), but I get the impression most people have problems there. Not necessarily dangerous problems, but at least annoying ones. Be prepared to spend a lot of time trying to defend yourself in Russian and paying whatever fees they come up with.

I have seen entries on Moldova.

Apparently it pays to dress down for the transdenitra border crossing, and bribes are common.

I can believe this. When I went through Georgia on the way in everyone had their things gone through like they were potential terrorists, causing one woman to faint. This is the same woman that took enough merchant goods with her that she should have hired a truck. They even went through peoples underwear.

They left me alone, for the most part, but I must say thatI was prepared for the worst. I had no consumer electronics, so I felt safe.

I thought about the connection through the Ukraine, but apparently they're tougher about entry requirements there, and you can't get a visa from the Ukraine.

Good luck.

Moldova is a fascinating place, that is definitely worth a visit. We took the bus from Kiev last summer, and by a stroke of luck we ended up on the one bus (out of four) that didn't go through Transdniestr. Moldovan boarder control was strict itself, but civil and professional. However the other westerns we met there had traveled to Transdniester, and had had their wallets emptied for assorted "fees". If you travel through the region, then you should probablly, dress down, hide some cash really well, and expect to pay many arbitrary "fees". So if you are planning on having much money with you, expensive electronics, it is probablly worth it to go through Romania or up and around through the north in Ukraine. A word of warning though is that the trains from Romania to Chisinau get extremely hot in summer--bring lots of water.

You have to understand that Moldova is an extremely poor nation (on par with Kenya by many estimates), where most people live off of less than a dollar a day and the largest export industry is human trafficking. The country also owes something like 70% of its GDP in yearly loan payments to international development banks. Obviously, it takes a lot of discipline for people of any authority not to abuse their authority, its impressive that the country functions as well as it does.

I think that after listening to everyone that I will just go there from Romania. I really don't want the hassle. Maybe if I wasn't alone I would give it a try, but as it is I am alone and don't want to put up with it.

So what's the best way to travel between Chisinau and Ukraine without passing Transdniestr?

Regarding the electronics issue, if I do pass through Transdniestr (am planning to go to Moldova and Ukraine in 2009, so plenty of time to plan), will I be OK if I just bring my digital camera and cell phone (both pretty basic) no other things of value? (actually my hiking boots are much more expensive than either, but I trust they won't take those) How about an mp3 player (again, nothing fancy)?

take the train towards north, that would be a hudge detour. or you can take a bus from chisinau to odessa, there is a route: chisinau-soroca-odessa. this route will take 5 hours .

In October 07 I took a bus from Chisinau to Odessa (and on to Yalta). I paid 7 euro as we crossed into Transdniestria. It was infinitely easier than the last time I had done it several years earlier.

Last October there was no train service between the two cities. Check to see if it has been reinstated.

i made a phone call to chisinau this morning. my friend will go to odessa next weex, departing from cisinau.

here is how it works:
There is a road to odessa, passing through causeni, palanca border point.(You will not pass transnistria). You will take the bus from Chisinau, the price for a ticket is 100 Moldavian Lei, (11 USD). It will take 3 hours to get there. (depends how long it takes with the formalities).