Moldova Safety?
 

Is it safe to travel to Chisinau right now?

Has anyone visited recently?

Any inputs appreciated.

Safe as of? Crime, political situation, driving? The roads outside the capital are dreadful, that was and remained my main/only concern/struggle (I thought roads here in Bosnia-Herzegovina were bad, but clearly not...).

You need to be a bit more specific, what kind of input you specifically need?

The crime rate in Moldova is much lower than in Western/Southern Europe, let alone the US. I visit Moldova (specifically Chisinau) quite often, and I never worry about safety. It's not even close. I feel much more secure roaming the streets of Chisinau than let's say Berlin or Brussels.

As AlicorporateUK already pointed out, this doesn't count for driving, as the road conditions outside of Chisinau and the main roads leading to Romania can be poor. Combine this with some bad driving and reckless overtaking, and road safety is among the worst in Europe.

If you refer to the war in Ukraine, it will have zero impact on you as a tourist visiting Moldova (unless you hold a Russian passport, in which case you can expect some extra scrutiny on entry).

Indeed. I think it is also worth going to the specifics here, to point out that even certain “major” roads (or classed as such) don’t actually look like roads, you are basically driving on “sand”. Plus (but this is also common here in BiH), drivers don’t stop at zebra crossings, and often not even at red traffic lights, which means that one has to pay extra attention when walking around the city.

We've visited Chisinau (and Tiraspol) multiple times, albeit pre-pandemic. Everyone was civil and/or friendly and we didn't feel the least bit unsafe. I would recommend a visit to Moldova to anyone interested in 20th century history. Tiraspol is like a time capsule of the Soviet era.

I doubt you would have any issues and I encourage you to go.

I certainly wouldn't recommend driving in that country (or region), but public transport was sufficient to visit most of the sites we considered interesting.

We visited Chisinau not that long ago and we really enjoyed it. The city is safe, we walked and caught buses without issue. Restaurants we good with very welcoming staff. Do visit some wineries such as Cricova - the cellars are amazing and the prices incredible.

Chișinău is as safe or safer than any western European city. Probably safer given there are fewer, if any, asylum seekers. Over several days ending yesterday I walked and used public transport extensively, day and night, including walking through some more run down areas at night away from the center. I also visited a small town called Comrat using the Marshrutka minibusses. Again, no issues.

Yep, I have been there several times last and this year, even twice in Tiraspol, and it’s really safe.