Moldova by campervan: best regions and routes
Where to go by campervan in Moldova: recommended regions, the best season, road access and practical route advice. What to know before you go.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026
Currency
Moldovan leu
MDL, not the euro. 20.11 lei to €1 on 18 September 2026
Language
Romanian
Russian is widely spoken
Driving
Right
No motorways. Open road limits run 80 to 110 km/h
Vignette
From €4
Every foreign vehicle. Seven days for a car or motorhome
Tap water
Do not drink it
UK health advice: bottled or boiled water only
Emergency
112
Operators may speak only Romanian or Russian
Areas of Moldova
The regions of Moldova: a small country of vineyards, forest and one gorge
Moldova is roughly the size of Belgium and mostly gentle farmland, so the regions are not dramatic differences of landscape. They are differences of what is underneath: limestone galleries full of wine near the capital, a river gorge with a cave monastery in it, beech forest in the middle, and the warmest vineyards in the south.
Chișinău
Chișinău: a green low-rise capital and the base for everything else
A low, green, Soviet-planned capital with a lot of parks and a good cafe scene, and the point from which every other thing in this guide is within two hours. Around a third of the country's people live in or around it.
Best May, June, September, October
What it is like
- Walkable, low-rise and leafy. The central park and the cathedral are the middle of it.
- Cards work here and get patchier the moment you leave.
Where to go
- Ștefan cel Mare park and the cathedral
- The Central Market for food and a sense of the country
For the vehicle
- Park on the right in the direction of travel and close to the kerb. Illegal parking fines are reported at 150 to 300 lei.
- Petty theft and card fraud are the crime risks here, not anything violent.
The wine cellars
The wine cellars: Cricova and Mileștii Mici, and why they are the reason to come
Two former limestone quarries turned into wine cities under the ground, one 15 km north of Chișinău and one 20 km south. You do not walk round them, you are driven round them, and the scale is the point: Mileștii Mici's galleries run more than 200 km.
Any month. They are underground
What it is like
- Mileștii Mici, founded 1969, holds over 1.5 million bottles and the Guinness Book of Records entry for the largest wine collection in the world, at a constant 12 to 14 C.
- Cricova, founded 1952, sits at 60 metres depth, has a National Cellar of rare wines and made the country's first traditional-method sparkling wine.
Where to go
- Mileștii Mici, 20 km south of Chișinău
- Cricova, 15 km north of Chișinău
For the vehicle
- The tours are tastings, and the Moldovan alcohol limit is reported at 0.03 percent. Plan a driver or plan to stay put.
- You drive your own vehicle into some cellars. Check the height of the galleries before you assume a high-roof van fits.
Orheiul Vechi and the Răut
Orheiul Vechi: the cave monastery in the Răut gorge
The one landscape in Moldova that looks like a photograph: a loop of the Răut river cut into a limestone ridge, with a cave monastery in the cliff, a small church on top and the village of Butuceni below. It is about an hour north of Chișinău and is the country's signature sight.
Best May, June, September, October
What it is like
- The cave monastery is cut into the cliff face and still in use.
- Butuceni is a restored village of rural guesthouses, and is where to arrange a night.
Where to go
- The cave monastery and the ridge church
- Butuceni village
For the vehicle
- The approach roads are narrow and the last stretch into the village is steep in places.
- Guesthouses here are the realistic place to spend a night in a vehicle, by arrangement.