How to get into (and out of) Transnistria

Transnistria is a place we had been eyeing up for a while. A tiny Eastern European country, with its own borders, army, currency and more. However, very few people have ever heard of it. In fact, it doesn’t officially exist.

Transnistria (or Pridnestrovie, as it’s locally known) enjoys relatively full autonomy, although the international community recognises it as part of Moldova. Transnistria broke away in the early 1990s after a short but violent conflict.

When it first appeared on the travel wishlist, one of the big questions was how do you get to Transnistria? In reality, visiting Transnistria isn’t tricky as long as you plan your route.

We’ll focus on routes in and out of Tiraspol, Transnistria’s capital city. It’s the perfect starting point for exploring this fascinating state.

How to get to Transnistria by Public Transport

There is no airport in Transnistria – the nearest is Chisinau, Moldova’s capital city. This means the options are bus, train or taxi from either Moldova or Ukraine. None of these options should set you back too much money. Even a taxi costs a fraction of what you’d pay in Western Europe.

How to travel to Transnistria by train

• There is a train line between Chisinau (Moldova) and Odesa (Ukraine). The train stops twice in Transnistria – in Bendery and Tiraspol.
• The train runs once or twice each day.
• The big bonus of the train is that it runs at reasonable times – nobody wants to drag themselves to a station at 3am!
• From Chisinau, the 642 train leaves at 7:09am and takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach Tiraspol.
• From Odesa, the 642 leaves at 18:45 and takes 2 hours and 20 minutes.
• There are other options, so we recommend using TuTu Travel if you’re looking for an English-language website to check the latest timetables.

Read next: One night in Rakhiv in Ukraine

How to travel to Transnistria by bus

• There are frequent marshrutkas (minibuses) between Chisinau and Tiraspol (every 30 mins or so).
• A marshrutka takes 2.5 hours maximum – although the journey is sometimes quicker if you’re lucky with the queue at border control.
• From Tiraspol, there are about seven buses per day to and from Odessa.
• The easiest way to buy a ticket for any of these buses is simply to rock up at the bus station, look at the timetable, and then buy a ticket from the ‘Kassa’.
• As long as you’re not arriving 5 minutes before the scheduled departure, you shouldn’t have an issue getting a seat.

Travel to Transnistria by taxi

• A taxi from Chisinau will probably set you back somewhere in the region of $20-$35.
• Agree on a price before you start your journey, or make sure you’re being charged by the meter.
• The journey should last somewhere between 70 and 90 minutes.

Transnistria route planning and passport stamps

Transnistria’s status as ‘a country that doesn’t exist’ can be a challenge from a passport perspective. However, it’s still relatively simple if you stay on top of things. There are a couple of bits and pieces to keep in mind:

1. Transnistria does not issue entry or exit stamps in passports.
2. You will have to go through Transnistrian border controls at both stages of your journey. When you enter Transnistria, you will receive a migration card at the Transnistrian border control.
3. Moldovan border control will not issue entry or exit stamps when you cross into or out of Transnistria. From Moldova’s perspective, this is not a border. As far as they’re officially concerned, Transnistria is simply a region of Moldova.

Therefore, when visiting Transnistria it is important to make sure that your route will result in a ‘complete’ set of passport stamps. This will avoid potential issues in the future. For those (like me, Lucy!) who like to slightly obsessively plan a route to make sure that it will work, here are the options for your Tiraspol journey:

Chisinau -> Tiraspol -> Chisinau

• The crossing between Moldova and Transnistria is not recognised as an international border.
• Therefore, no passport stamps are issued, and you can get back to Chisinau nice and easily.

Odesa -> Tiraspol -> Odessa

• The crossing between Ukraine and Transnistria is an international border. You will receive a Ukrainian exit stamp at the border.
• However, as you have entered Moldova via Transnistria, no Moldovan stamp will be issued at the border.
• If you are returning directly to Ukraine, this is not a problem. You are simply issued a Ukrainian entry stamp when you return.

Chisinau -> Tiraspol -> Odesa

• You will not receive a Moldovan exit stamp when crossing from Moldova into Transnistria.
• When you cross from Transnistria into Ukraine, you will receive a Moldovan exit stamp from Ukrainian border control at the same time as the Ukrainian entry stamp.

Odesa -> Tiraspol -> Chisinau

• When exiting Ukraine, you will receive a Ukrainian exit stamp, but no entry stamp for Moldova. Whether this is a problem depends on how long you intend to stay in Moldova.
• A Moldovan entry stamp is not required for a stay of up to 72 hours (the Ukrainian exit stamp is sufficient).
• However, if you plan to stay in Moldova for more than 72 hours, and have entered via Transnistria, you will need to register in Chisinau.

Our experience of crossing the border into Transnistria

Regardless of the route you choose, you will experience Transnistrian border control. Aside from the conspicuous military presence (tanks!), the border process is relatively standard.

It’s certainly nothing to worry about – do not believe some of the overly dramatic blogs and vlogs out there! They are either wildly exaggerating about their experience, or they haven’t been to Transnistria for years. There was no interrogation and no hint of the infamous bribes. The whole process took about 5 minutes.

When entering Transnistria, non-nationals need to register at immigration control at the border. We had to get out of the vehicle and queue up inside the immigration office. Here, we presented our passports and accommodation details, and confirmed how long we would be staying in Transnistria.

We were then issued with a vital slip of paper each – a migration card. You must not lose this piece of paper. It is proof that you entered Transnistria officially, and you will require it to exit. Pop it inside your passport for safekeeping. As a reminder – you will not receive a passport stamp from Transnistria.

When exiting Transnistria you simply hand in the migration card at border control. You must leave before the date and time on the migration card. Therefore, make sure when entering that the migration card is valid for your full stay.

So, that’s how to get into and out of Transnistria! It’s not the most accessible place, but it can’t be blamed for not having its own airport. With a regular flow of buses and trains, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be adding Transnistria to your travel list soon.

Read Next:

• Two Tickets To Transnistria: What happened on our trip to Transnistria
• Frequently asked questions about travelling to Transnistria
• The best things to do in 24 hours in Odesa

Last updated: August 2022