Backpacking in Tiraspol – Transnistria – June 2019.
I flew from London to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. I had a couple of great days there, and then I took the bus from Chisinau to Tiraspol, the capital of the de facto state of Transnistria. In doing so, I clocked up my 90th Country and Territory visited. As of September 2025, I have visited 130 different countries and territories.
You can check my countries and territories visited page for a complete rundown of everywhere I have travelled.
Tiraspol is the capital of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, commonly known as Transnistria, and sometimes referred to as Transnistria, Transdniestria, Cisdniestria or Pridnestrovie. A state with limited recognition.
They declared independence from the Moldavian SSR in September 1990. Only Abkhazia and South Ossetia recognise Pridnestrovie.
In March 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution recognising Transnistria as a “territory of Moldova occupied by Russia”.
The migration card for Transnistria, which you get at the security checkpoint just before the town of Bender.
I changed some money on my way from the bus station to my hostel. In Transnistria, they use Transnistrian Rubles, which are useless anywhere else. So don’t change too much. They make cool souvenirs, though.
I stayed at the Like Home Hostel.
And after checking in and a bit of lunch, I chatted to 2 other guests. Then went walkabout.
Sights in Tiraspol
Suvorov monument on October 25th street in Tiraspol:
Alexander Suvorov is one of the greatest commanders in Russian and world history. Suvorov played a great role in the history of Pridnestrovie: he released this territory from Turkish oppression and founded Tiraspol, the capital of the Republic.
Lenin monument on October 25th street in Tiraspol:
St George Chapel, October 25th Street in Tiraspol:
Russian T-34 tank memorial:
Abandoned School Tour in Tiraspol
On my 2nd day I went on a tour.
Me and 2 other guests went to the abandoned school in a village just outside Tiraspol.
It was abandoned in 1995. There were not enough students to warrant keeping the school open. Though it gives the impression that everyone left in a hurry. Everything was left behind.
Here are a series of photos from the Abandoned School.
Old Soviet map of Russia
Medical room:
A young Lenin as a conscript in 1913?
After the Abandoned School, we went to an Abandoned Theme park and then onto the Kurchurhan reservoir just outside of the village of Dnestrovsc.
Transnistria, is a landlocked country. So they have their own little beach here.
Looking out across the water, you can just about see Ukraine
In the evening, the hosts of the Like Home Hostel, Evghenia and Vlad prepared us dinner. We drank quite a lot of beer too.
This is a Transnistrian beer from Bender. Drinking at the Like Home Hostel in Tiraspol, and once again the rain comes down.
The streets were normally awash with water and the river was very high and of course in Summer, this means mosquitoes, take some repellent!
Then it was time to go to Bender. I took Trolleybus #19 from the main street, through the pouring rain. I backpacked Bender, stayed the night and then took the marshrutka to Chisinau.