Transnistria is an unrecognised country, officially located in Moldova with a population of nearly 500,000. It borders Moldova and Ukraine. The territory became a demilitarised zone in 1992 after a short war so there is currently no conflict.

I didn’t know much about Transnistria at first, only that I wanted to visit. What I found was a country with its own parliament, flag, currency, border and industry. Even though the country is not recognised by any UN nations, it is very different to the countries that surround it and has a unique identity of its own. If you find yourself in the region I highly recommend visiting the breakaway republic.

How to get in

After befriending a Russian speaker, I felt confident enough to hitchhike with him from Chisinau (the capital of Moldova). Hitchhiking is easy in this part of the world and we were on our way within twenty minutes. I benefitted from having someone to translate but the downside was that our driver was able to share his Putin-loving views with us and after finding out that we were freedom-loving hippies he promptly asked us to grab our bags and GTFO (get the fuck out). No matter, he was nice enough to abandon us at the border which meant we didn’t have long to go to reach the capital, Tiraspol.

On our arrival at the border, my friend was asked how long we planned to stay, we could get entry cards for up to 3 days. We asked for 2 nights and he gave us our entry cards. These “cards” are actually thin receipts that must be produced on exit so keep them safely tucked in your passport! The border process was surprisingly easy. Wikitravel states you’ll be given a 10 hour transit visa if you don’t have a hotel and a 24 hour if you do and you’ll need to report to a hotel or ministry to extend your stay. I’m not sure why we were easily handed a 72 hour visa (without a hotel booking) so be aware you may have to do some extra legwork to stay longer.

The border is walking distance from Bender, Transnistria’s second city. From here, you can cheaply take a tram all the way to the capital. We decided to hitchhike instead. We walked a little further to avoid any trouble with border guards and were promptly picked up by a suspiciously clean car that we believed was being driver by Moldovan gangsters. They weren’t the chattiest but dropped us off in the centre.

If you’d prefer public transport there are many minibuses to and from Chisinau (I took one back to Chisinau). The bus station is further from the city but the mashrutka will pass a street away from the main market. You can ask at the main market for directions and you’ll see people waiting. You can also take buses from Odessa and Kyiv.

Nb. If you are planning on going to Moldova from Ukraine, buses and trains from Odessa or Kyiv will pass through Transnistria and you will not receive a Moldovan entry stamp. This may cause problems for you when you try to exit Moldova but you can obtain the stamp from various locations around the capital. I was flying home from Chisinau and didn’t want to take any risks by not having the entry stamp (causing me to miss my flight) so I decided to enter through a northern border from Ukraine that doesn’t pass through Transnistria. From Kyiv, I took a night train to Chernivitsi and a mashrutka (minibus/furgon) to Chisinau. Both can be booked by international cards online in advance. Chernivitsi also seemed like a nice place to spend a few days and I walked over an hour from the train station to the bus station to explore some spots with my new friends in the morning. If you don’t feel like walking, there are buses.

Getting cash

The Transnistrian Ruble (PRB) may well be one of the rarest currencies in the world. It is colourful and plastic and it is well worth getting extra to take home with you. We found only one ATM that took international cards but it only dispensed Russian Rubles which could be exchanged to PRB. You can change your Russian Rubles, Moldovan Lei or Ukrainian Hryvnia into PRB. They may have had euros or dollars too. If you have Mastercard or Visa, you can head into the bank in the central market and after taking your passport details and signature they can withdraw money from your card for you. The ladies were also happy to give us a variety of coins if they had any. Interestingly, my online banking sent me a notification welcoming me to Russia! It’s unlikely that many establishments would let you pay by card, we only asked at the supermarket that accepted local cards and cash only.

The exchange rate can be tricky to find in advance but it was 19 PRB for 1 GBP and 23 PRB for 1 EUR when I was there so you can work out your own currency accordingly (as of July 2017).

Where to stay

Tiraspol has a hostel and a few hotels which you can find on Booking.com. We decided to get creative and stay in a monastery. We decided on Kitskany monastery which is located around 5km from Tiraspol in a village. To get there, cross the bridge onto the other side of the river and you’ll find regular mashrutkas. If you plan to go here, I highly recommend going with a Russian speaker or local if you don’t already speak the language. Otherwise it could get very confusing and you’ll probably break a lot of rules. It didn’t seem as if they’d ever had tourists before and some priests were friendlier than others. We walked around the village, visited the school, and peeled potatoes as well as attending some services. The monastery provides two meals a day at midday and 8pm (signalled by the church bells). We shared these meals with a colourful cast of characters. You’ll be expected to pay a small donation when you leave the monastery and your passports will be taken until you return your key.

Even if you prefer not to stay, I recommend walking around the village and visiting the monastery to buy wine. The wine is brewed on the grounds and you can pay what you wish for a 1.5 litre bottle (you’re expected to pay more than the price of a standard supermarket bottle of wine which was 25PRB in 2017). You’ll be treated to a generous wine tasting of three wines and the experience is surreal.

If you do decide to stay, you must know 3 things:

Do not cross your legs in church Doors close at 11pm Please give the grey cat a cuddle from us- we named her Peaches

What to eat

We ate in the monastery (everything was vegan) but in the supermarket, you can get a bottle of wine for 25PRB, a block of cheese for the same price and a sausage and vegetable wrap from a food truck for 13PRB. Prices are cheap here so you won’t go hungry.

What to do

In Tiraspol, visit the central market, the bustling heart of the capital. Walk around, watch people, if you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy just being in such a unique place. Walk along 25th October Street you’ll see a lot of the main buildings including a Lenin statue. There isn’t much to “do” in Tiraspol so a day of wondering should be more than enough.

As I mentioned before, Kitskany village is also worth visiting.

There are so few tourists here that if you have time, you can travel around the country and truly feel as if you’re in a forgotten corner of Europe.

So that’s Transnistria.

Put on your adventurer socks and make your way over. Don’t worry, this place will stay off the beaten track for a while to come!

Have you ever visited an unrecognised country? Tell me in the comments. Any more questions about Transnistria are welcome below!