2.29/5
129 reviews
Photo by Vitalie Sitnic via Unsplash

Chisinau

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internet

connection

fast

pretty

mbps

center

coffee

poor

prices

price

rent

cost

utilities

800

good

expensive

speak

Chisinau is generally safe in the city center, though overall the experience can be chaotic. Internet speeds are impressive, especially through broadband providers, with speeds often exceeding 100 Mbps and sometimes even reaching 1 Gbps. However, connections can be less reliable in public places like cafes, and a VPN is required to access some websites due to regional restrictions.

Traffic is a common complaint, largely due to old infrastructure with no significant road upgrades since the Soviet era, which causes major congestion especially during peak times. Taxis are unreliable and difficult to get when demand is high, adding to the transportation frustrations.

The cost of living has increased in recent years, with contributing factors including higher energy prices and an influx of refugees that have driven up rent. Although you can still find reasonable rentals (~350 EUR/month), utilities and other living expenses can push monthly budgets up to $800 or more in winter. Overall, while internet infrastructure is a strong point, cost and transport issues are major drawbacks.

AI-generated summary of reviews
5 months ago

Guys, the internet is actually very fast because it's taken from Romania. Pretty much any apartment has at least a 100 Mbps connection and a big portion already have upwards of 300 Mbps both download and upload. Some even have a 1 Gbps connection. If you only judge by the speed you get at cafes, then obviously you won't get a fast internet since the available bandwidth is split between everyone who's connected at that time, but that's a very poor way of judging it.

My 4G connection itself gets around 85 Mbps, which is way higher than what you get in most other countries from a broadband connection!

2 years ago

I'am from Chisihau. Response for previos message("Good before..") : prices rise because natural gas price was 3Lei(0.16USD) and now is 21Lei(1.1USD). Petrol was 0.9USD now 1.3USD. Refugees from Ukraine rised rent prices.
17/10/2022 nomadlist writes that cost of living is 1900USD. Crazy. Rent good-normal (imho) flat in center is 350EUR htt ps://999 .md/ ru/78274199 + utilities + home made food from 185 to 250usd. +200 fun. Finally 800$ in winter when high utilities price!

3 years ago

Good before, pretty expensive now (there is now VAT),
Pretty chaotic but safe in the center, Taxi services are pretty bad , hard impossible to get a cab in the peak hours, Yandex taxi
Huge traffic (there is simply no new roads since soviet union),
You need VPN to access some websites, fast internet but not the most stable,

3 years ago

My main concern with Chisinau is that there is basically only one decent coffee shop in town, namely the Tucano coffee. This means you'll be drinking their lousy coffee at all times, and after a week or so the city is slightly depressing to be honest. However, there are nice affordable Soviet-style cantines all around the city, so you can eat well for less than US$3. Hostels are also OK.

7 years ago

Chisinau is an underrated city for Eastern Europe! It's similar to being a smaller version of Minsk or Kiev. Very clean, the fastest internet in Europe. It's quite poor but the city center is lively and I enjoy it quite a bit. Most younger people speak good English, you'll need some Russian in order to speak to middle-aged or older people.

7 years ago

I live in Chisinau, and the total amount of money that i spend is $500/month. I don’t know where they find this prices. Maybe they live in very expensive apartments that cost more then $800.

7 years ago

✅ Very fast internet

✅ Safe in the center

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Roads are pretty safe

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ People can speak basic English

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Traffic congestion

❌ Expensive cost of living

❌ Unreliable taxi service

❌ Unstable internet

❌ Requires VPN for some websites

❌ Not very democratic

❌ Not much to do

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Hospitals are not that great

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

1°C / 34°F cold

4°C / 39°F cold

11°C / 52°F cool

19°C / 66°F mild

23°C / 73°F mild

32°C / 90°F hot

25°C / 77°F warm

20°C / 68°F mild

13°C / 55°F cool

8°C / 46°F cold

1°C / 34°F cold

Real (median)

3°C / 37°F
very cold

2°C / 36°F
very cold

5°C / 41°F
very cold

11°C / 52°F
cool

19°C / 65°F
mild

23°C / 73°F
mild

29°C / 84°F
very warm

25°C / 77°F
warm

19°C / 66°F
mild

13°C / 55°F
cool

9°C / 47°F
cold

3°C / 37°F
very cold

Humidity

damp
76%

damp
77%

nice
67%

nice
62%

nice
66%

nice
69%

nice
65%

nice
62%

nice
60%

nice
64%

damp
76%

damp
79%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

dry
39mm

dry
30mm

dry
38mm

dry
49mm

rainy
56mm

rainy
73mm

rainy
67mm

dry
50mm

dry
48mm

dry
2mm

dry
20mm

dry
39mm

Cloud

pockets
48%

pockets
41%

pockets
44%

pockets
47%

pockets
42%

pockets
29%

pockets
25%

pockets
38%

pockets
30%

pockets
40%

cloudy
57%

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

Remote workers

333 people

275 people

420 people

244 people

433 people

343 people

420 people

350 people

556 people

575 people

364 people

280 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

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23 Mbps

Romania

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

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🌥 Feels 12° 54° 12° 53° AQI 63 😷

✈️29min

$2,212 / mo

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

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🌦 Feels 5° 41° 6° 43°

✈️32min

$1,086 / mo

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

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🌥 Feels 27° 81° 26° 78°

✈️4h

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

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🌦 Feels 37° 99° 32° 89° 🥵 AQI 78 😷

✈️10h

$1,602 / mo

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Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.29/5 (Rank #538) 129 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍2 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,939 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 12 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 11°C51°F (feels 11°C52°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 88%
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very low: $139 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Okay
🚶 Walkability	Bad
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Moldova
🗓️ Average trip length	6 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	12 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 11°C 51°F + 💦 Damp (88%) = feels 11°C 52°F
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	iTaxi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 100 MDL in USD	USD 5.90
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	MDL 10,000 = USD 590
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	145,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	2,779 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	670,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$1,668 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 44% 👱‍♀️ 56%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 53% 👱‍♀️ 47%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 90% 👱‍♀️ 10%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Lufthansa
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Turkish Airlines

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,939 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,091 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,752 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$500 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,451 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,806 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$330 / month
🏠 Median home price	$52,911
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$68 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$59 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$115 / month
🍛 Dinner	$7
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$3,594 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$11 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$1 / trip