Moldova: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Moldova feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 36 written places.
Reserved at first and relentlessly hospitable after; no visit is complete until the wine comes out.
✓ Considered polite
- Greet with a handshake and Buna ziua - a few Romanian words are warmly received
- Accept a taste when wine is offered; the cellars are a genuine national pride
- Bring a small gift like sweets or wine if invited into a home
- Cover shoulders and knees at monasteries - women are expected to cover their heads inside
✗ Better avoided
- Shake hands or pass things across a doorway threshold - superstition holds it invites a quarrel
- Refuse food at a family table without at least tasting it
- Rush the toasts - they come in rounds and each one matters
- Expect English outside Chisinau - Romanian and Russian dominate
Worth knowing
- Cash rules outside the capital - marshrutka minibuses and market stalls take lei only
- Cards work fine in Chisinau supermarkets, restaurants and hotels
- Tipping is 5-10% in city restaurants, appreciated rather than demanded
- Cellar tours at Cricova and Milestii Mici need booking ahead - you ride through underground streets of wine
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.