Touring from Iasi Romania, perhaps Moldova

Barb, I'm not sure if this matters but here are the travel advisories for Moldova from the US, the UK and Canada. Please note that I am not necessarily thinking of these as a deal-breaker and I do think that Moldova looks interesting. But good info to know, regardless.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Moldova.html
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/moldova
https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/moldova

ETA: Here is the official tourism site. https://moldova.travel/en/ There's not a lot of tourist info out there, but this might help some.

With regards to Romania, the closest we got was Piatra Neamt, and then up to Guru Humorului, which was really lovely. We drove over the Bicaz Gorges, which were gorgeous, and then headed to the North-Eastern Moldova province to Agapia Monastery, which was very interesting.

Moldova is only a Level 2, like Germany. Except for the Transnistria area that is pro-Russian and russinan controlled. And yet, tyey do still run tours to it. .

Once in Moldova, Odesa is a fairly short drive. The Black Sea coast is beautiful in September.

Lasi is also very close to Chernivtsi which is supposed to be beautiful.

Thanks, Mr. E. I figured it wasn't a big deal but did just want to mention it, since the UK suggest no travel there.

Mardee, my tolerance for visiting a country with russian troops stationed in it and being in areas where the occasional russian kamikaze drone flies over and occasionally drops and explodes (Moldova and Romania) might be different than it is for others. https://www.dw.com/en/russian-drones-fly-undeterred-over-moldova-and-romania/a-74944321 https://www.euronews.com/2025/11/11/nato-member-romania-finds-drone-fragments-after-russian-strikes-on-ukrainian-ports

I have been to Moldova, but alas, only for an hour. It is still on my radar to return. It looks very interesting for a 3 day trip (they reportedly have the largest wine cave complex in Europe). Easy to reach out of Budapest on Wizzair for about $135 round trip. Maybe in the Spring, but I have such a long list of places I want to see.

The UK only said avoid non-essential travel to Transnistria, which is where the russian troops are.

Actually, the UK advised against travel to all parts of Moldova. I'm not saying that's justified but that's what their travel advisory says. The US and Canada specified Transnistria as a place to avoid.

Mardee, I guess we need assistance from a native British speaker because you and i are seeing two different things. Not that I have never been wrong.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/moldova

*Edit to include U.S. Level 2 advisory: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/moldova-travel-advisory.html

Barb, there are supposed to be some really nice wineries in Moldova. I would definitely head for a day to one of those, given the chance. I’d want a driver, if I did that, though. (I figure that would not be difficult to find - plus I have seen some GYG type trips advertised). I would also love to see some of the monasteries in the non-Transnistria part. You could take a day to drive to Chisinau with stops, spend a day there, then take a day with stops to drive back. And Iasi itself would occupy a full day - there’s a ton of history there.

However, you could also drive to Targu Mures (where I haven’t been yet) or Sighisoara - you could visit some of the fortified churches in that area. Neither of those is a short drive, given the roads are smaller and narrower and more tiring. Either town would be a full day each way if you include a lunch stop and one sightseeing stop. So the same kind of 3 day, 2 night exploration.

One tip I might offer for any drive would be to plan ahead for potential lunch/bathroom stops. They are not as ubiquitous as some places I have been.

Iasi, looks pretty interesting too.

I traveled through parts of Moldova and Iasi in the summer of 2018 when we were visiting some 'off the beaten path' places in Europe. We started in Belarus and then flew to Odessa. Enjoyed Odessa for a few days and then took the train to Chisinau (Kishnev). Train used to be a daily train that took around 3 hours. Needed to buy tickets the day before and needed passports in order to buy the tickets. Not being able to speak Russian, we ended up in the 3rd class carriage since I forgot to specify 2nd class. This turned out to be a blessing since the 3rd class was much more comfortable with wide bench like seats that allowed one to spread out while 2nd class had bucket seats.

We only spent 2 days wandering around Chisinau and taking in the sights, monuments and parks. Then went to the bus station to get a bus to Iasi. Realized I had spent all my local currency thinking I could pay for the bus with a credit card. While looking for an ATM was approached by a private taxi driver with a large sedan who ended up driving us to Iasi for 40 euros. I think the drive was under 2 hours without any issues at the border and included a stop at an ATM to get Euros.

Iasi was a nice place for a couple of days - a university town with lots of young folks. I remember going to the botanic gardens which was quite enjoyable. We didn't spend any more time in that part of Romania so I can't comment as we flew on to Norway.

We spent 2 nights in Iasi last September and really enjoyed our stay there. It’s a very pretty city with a pedestrianized area, lots of flowers and some lovely orthodox churches. We spent our time walking around, visiting the churches and people watching at cafes. There are some interesting museums but we didn’t have time to visit them.

From Iasi we drove to Gura Humorului where we visited the painted monasteries.

Did not go to Moldova.