Crossing the Moldova Romania border from Sculeni (MD) to Iasi (RM).

The Moldova to Romania border crossing from Chisinau to Iasi looks remote on the map and before we crossed, we couldn’t find much information about it. 

We crossed from Moldova to Romania at the Sculeni-to-Sculeni border crossing in 2024 and our experience was straightforward. 

Here is everything you need to know about how to cross the Moldova Romania border from Chisinau to Iasi at Sculeni. This border point is currently open. 

• Moldova and Romania
• Options for crossing the Moldova Romania border
  Sculeni to Iasi
• Chisinau to Sculeni
• Crossing the border
  Exiting Moldova
  Entering Romania
• Vignette
• Where to stay 

About the Romania Moldova border  

The border between Moldova and Romania is a fluvial boundary following the Prut River and Danube River.  

Between the two countries the entire boundary is 681.3 kilometres long including 570 kilometres along the Danube River. 

The border of Romania to Moldova is part of the external border of the European Union that runs from Criva in the north-west of Romania to Giurgiulesti in the south. 

There are multiple border crossing points between Romania and Moldova overland. 

Options for the Romania Moldova border crossing 

There are six road crossings and three rail crossings from Moldova to Romania.

• Giurgiulesti (MD) to Galgati (RM): Galgati is one of the major port towns on the Danube River.  There is also a rail crossing here over the Prut River from Romania to Moldova. 

• Cahul (MD) to Oancea (RM): We used this border crossing to enter Moldova from Romania. Read about it here.

• Leuseni (MD) to Albita (RM) 

• Sculeni (MD) to Sculeni (RM): This is the closest border crossing to the large Romanian city of Iasi. We used this border crossing on the return to drive from Chisnau, Moldova to Romania.

• Costesti (MD) to Stanca (RM) 

• Lipcani (MD) to Radauti-Prut (RM): This is the most northern border crossing from Romania to Moldova just south of the Moldovan and Romanian border with Ukraine.

The following details the Moldova to Romania border crossing from Sculeni to Iasi (Sculeni). 

• Read how to cross the Romania Moldova border from Oancea (RM) to Cahul (MD) here.

About the Moldova Romania border crossing at Sculeni

This is the most convenient border crossing point from Moldova to Romania traveling between Chisnau and Iasi in northeastern Romania. 

On the Moldovan side it is a scenic drive through farmland to the border town of Sculeni.  And on the Romanian side it is not far from the official border town of Sculeni (Romania) to the city of Iasi. 

The drive from Chisinau to Sculeni

Google Maps lists the drive from Chisinau to the Moldovan border town of Sculeni as around two hours. 

• Chisinau to Sculeni (Moldova): 1 hr 52 min (124 km)

However, the roads in Moldova leave much to be thankful for suspension-wise.  Most of the roads to the border are in terrible condition. (Sorry, Moldova).  But the friendly small villages you pass through make up for the bumps and obnoxious potholes. 

The Moldovan border town of Sculeni

The small border town of Sculeni on the Moldovan side isn’t much to write home about.  There are a few service stations and a couple of small shops. 

We topped up our diesel tank with the last of the non-EU cheaper fuel and headed straight for the border bridge to Romania.

Exiting Moldova to Romania

The exit from Moldova was quick on the Moldovan side. 

Hand over your documents in the passenger vehicle lane. 

• Passport
• International Driving Permit
• Green Card

We were one of only three vehicles at the crossing point and the exit from Moldova took less than ten minutes. 

There is a large Duty-Free shop just beyond the Moldovan immigration and customs with parking immediately outside.  

• Tip: If you haven’t already got a few bottles of Moldovan wine this is a good time to do so! 

From the Moldovan duty free drive on over the bridge across the Prut River. 

Entering Romania

The Romanian side of the Moldova Romania border is larger and with three lanes for cars and two lanes for trucks.  

On the Romanian side we were asked to provide: 

• Passport
• Green Card 
• IDP International Drivers Permit 
• Driver License (from New Zealand) 

It was a swift processing back into the EU and took around 20 minutes to enter Romania from Moldova with our EU-registered vehicle. 

Purchasing a vignette for Romania on exiting Moldova

A vignette is required for driving a private vehicle in Romania.  

The vignette for Romania is available for purchase online and at the Moldova Romania border crossing from Sculeni to Iasi.  

Fee and purchase options of vignette for Romania: 

• 10-day vignette: 11.50 EUR 
• 30-day vignette: 18.20 EUR

The good news for us at this border crossing was that we had entered Moldova from Romania within the week and had previously purchased a 30-day vignette for Romania. 

Our original vignette for Romania was still valid so we did not need to stop and purchase a vignette at the border. 

From Sculeni to Iasi (RM)

Once you have entered Romania to the similarly named border town of Sculeni on the Romanian side it is only a 30-minute drive to the nearest city of Iasi. 

• Sculeni (RM) to Iasi (RM): 25 min (23.2 km)

We arrived in good time to Iasi with the entire border crossing from Moldova to Romania taking us around four hours from leaving Chisinau. 

Where to park with a motorhome in Chisinau

We found a great park for the night in Chisinau, Moldova with our motorhome and ended up there for two nights of our travels in Moldova. During the daytime in Chisinau we parked at the NR1 hypermarket.

CHISINAU, STRADA GHIOCEILOR

• Location: Parking Strada Ghioceilor, Chisinau
• Type: Parking Lot Day / Night
• Park4Night: #121984
• Cost: Free
• Services: Parking

About: This is an awesome (free) parking spot in Chisinau just near to the beach (yes; in Moldova) and promenade around the lakeside.  

We had a quiet couple of nights stay here.  It is worth noting not to be alarmed if when the park does get busy in the late hours of the afternoon and vehicles may double park assuming you are staying the night.  People are friendly and we found it a good location to head into a daytime carpark in the city to explore.

More about travel planning for Europe and beyond

These are the companies we use while traveling fulltime and can recommend to anyone planning and booking travel. 

• Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation and it’s easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally. 
• 12GoAsia – Book trains anywhere in Asia.
• Skyscanner– This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.  
• GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world including everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
• SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country. 
• World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home). Make sure you have travel insurance before crossing borders!

Read more about travel in Europe by motorhome

• 18 Tasty and Unmissable Things To Do In Belgrade, Serbia. 
• 20 Things to do in Podgorica, Montenegro (and why it is worth visiting).
• Crossing the Serbia Bosnia border from Kotromon to Vardiste.
• Crossing the Bosnia Montenegro border at Hum.
• Taking your motorhome on the ferry from Spain to Morocco.
• Finding free campsites in Germany.
• How to do the Ceuta border crossing from F’nideq (Morocco) to Ceuta (Spain).
• Finding free camping in France by motorhome.