Are you considering Romania and Ukraine on your Eastern Europe itinerary? Here is everything you need to know about the Romania Ukraine border crossing from Halmeu to Dyakove.
We really enjoyed visiting both countries on our trip around Eastern Europe.
Bucharest is an incredible city in Romania with outstanding history and a somewhat unexpected grandeur. Uzhhorod is a beautiful city in the very far west of Ukraine not far from the Halmeu Dyakove border with lots of bustling cafes, restaurants, history – and delicious traditional dishes to try!
Here is our experience of the Romania Ukraine border crossing from Halmeu to Dyakove heading to Uzhhorod.
- About the Romania Ukraine border
- Travel to Western Ukraine
- Options for border crossing
- Halmeu to Dyakove
- Documentation
- Exiting Romania
- Entering Ukraine
- Dyakove to Uzhhorod
- Things to do in Uzhhorod
- Parking in Uzhhorod
- More about motorhome travel in Eastern Europe
About the Romania – Ukraine Border
The Romania – Ukraine border consists of both a land and a maritime boundary.
The total border length is 613.8 km (381.4 mi) including 292.2 km (181.6 mi) by rivers and 33 km (21 mi) of border by the Black Sea.
It is currently possible to enter Ukraine through the checkpoints located on the borders with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.
Is it safe to travel to Ukraine now?
Albeit travel to Ukraine does not exactly roll off the tongue as a hot destination for 2025.
We were entering from Romania to Ukraine to visit Uzhhorod, a city in far western Ukraine.
Uzhorrod is the capital city of the Transcarpathia Oblast (region). It is currently the only Ukrainian city that has yet to be targeted by a single Russian missile and has never been invaded during the current war.
Location wise it is literally just a few kilometres from the border with Slovakia and Hungary.
But just for a little disclosure first.
I don’t want to be the one encouraging travel to places that aren’t safe. (No one needs to do that!).
All I can share is our experience of crossing the border from Romania to Ukraine at Halmeu and the status of the situation in Uzhhorod as we experienced at the time.
- Tip: Definitely do your research before visiting and check for travel warnings and news updates in the region.
Options for entering Ukraine overland from Romania
There are four main border crossing points to enter overland from Romania to Ukraine:
- Halmeu – Dyakove
The border crossing point used for travel from Satu Mare, Romania to Uzhhorod, Ukraine is located at Halmeu (Romania) and Dyakove (Ukraine).
This is the border crossing we used from Romania to Ukraine.
There are three other main border crossing points:
- Sighetu Marmației – Solotvyno
- Siret – Porubne
- Vicovu de Sus – Krasnoilsk
Check for updates before you cross as border information can change quickly.
The following is our experience and the information you need to know for the Romania to Ukraine border crossing from Halmeu to Dyakove connecting the cities of Satu Mare and Uzhhorod and Mukachevo.
About the Romania Ukraine Border Crossing at Halmeu
The Halmeu – Dyakovo border crossing allows travellers to cross from Romania to Ukraine.
The crossing point connects the northwest of Romania at the village of Halmeu to the southwest of Ukraine at the village of Dyakove.
It is a small border crossing point with two lanes for private passenger vehicles and one lane for trucks.
Livada to Halmeu – Romania Ukraine Border Crossing
We stopped the night before near the Romanian town of Livada.
Which actually I must add that we had great Palacinke (pancakes) and pizza in Livada right in the centre of the town!
It was only a short drive from Livada to Halmeu where we saw signs for the Romania Ukraine border crossing.
Exiting Romania to Ukraine at Halmeu
The Romania Ukraine border crossing at Halmeu is a relatively small crossing point.
There are 2 lanes for private vehicles and one lane to the left for trucks.
We arrived early in the morning (around 7:00am) expecting a queue.
We had left early from Livada with plans to line up early and cross without a rush. Though the drive was barely 20 minutes to the border and we were the only vehicle in sight on pulling up at the terminal.
The border staff were great, albeit curious as to our reasons for being there and wanting to enter Ukraine.
“You know there is a war in Ukraine?”
We nervously agreed that we did know.
They asked us about our time in Romania and checked we had enjoyed our journey to date in their country.
“Ok. You must try Kapusniak!’
Just like that we were stamped out of Romania and drove forward adding Kapusniak to our mental list of Ukrainian foods to try.
We drove forward to enter Ukraine at the Ukrainian border terminal.
Entering Ukraine from Romania at Dyakove
As we drove forward the short drive to the Ukraine side of the border, we could see a few border officials standing outside. It looked as we had arrived just at the change of shifts.
There is a narrow dual laneway between the huge terminal building and a small immigration kiosk.
The staff here were very friendly and seemed (justly) similarly surprised to see us.
Documents needed at the border crossing from Romania to Ukraine
Crossing the border from Romania to Ukraine with a private vehicle you will need to provide:
- Passport
- Driver Licence or International Driving Permit
You will also need to check you have vehicle insurance for Ukraine. It may not be currently valid on the Green Card.
- Tip: Always make sure you have personal travel insurance too.
The drive from the Ukraine – Romania border crossing to Uzhhorod
We continued past the first very small border town of Nevetlenfolu and made our first stop in Ukraine at Vylok.
After Nevetlenfolu the road from the border leads past a Ukraine-Hungary border crossing turnoff and through the towns Vylok and Berekovo before reaching another turn-off towards the regional centre of Muchaveko.
Stopping in the Ukraine town of Vylok
We made a first stop at the Okko Service Station to refuel and buy a coffee. I’m pretty sure we were still buzzing that we had made it to Ukraine.
The two lady attendants in the service station were so excited to meet us. One of the women came out to the van to say hi to the boys. They gave us a small chocolate for the kids, and we stood there without any real shared language and sipped our coffee ‘chatting’ away.
After we drove off, we spotted a Spar supermarket just a few hundred metres up the road. There was parking just outside the Spar, so we pulled in.
It was a great next-first stop too. We stopped to buy some morning tea and check out the Ukrainian Spar-selection of pastries. But directly opposite the supermarket was a small market.
We didn’t have any Ukrainian cash yet so we couldn’t buy anything. But we had a wander and continued with our Spar pastry stock up before heading onwards toward Uzhhorod.
Vylok to Uzhhorod
The roads were noticeably quiet as we passed through the small towns complete with the odd Lada driving by.
But it was a pretty drive. The roads weren’t in the best of shape, but they were nothing on the potholes of Moldova!
- Vylok to Uzhhorod: 1 hr 30 min (89.9 km) via Е58
We continued to straight on towards our destination of Uzhhorod.
Parking in Uzhhorod
We made the most of the public parking space in the road behind Mustard Seed Lane near the Central Market.
There are several parallel parking spots to suit longer (up to 7m) vehicles.
Payment for parking is possible by card at the automatic ticket machine.
Things to do in Uzhhorod, Ukraine
We found lots of neat things to do in Uzhhorod:
- Central Market
- Uzhhorod Castle
- Korzo Street
- Uzhhorod Botanical Gardens
- Kresto-Vozdvyzhensky
- River Uzh
- Bozdos’kyi Park
- Pishokhidnyy Mist Bridge
- Linden Alley
- Uzhhorod Synagogue
- Christ the Saviour Cathedral
Plus, there are lots of great cafes and restaurants in Uzhhorod.
We can recommend (highly) the coffee and cake at EatMe Café and the Borscht at Verlep Restaurant!
- Read more about things to do in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.
The verdict? How was crossing the Romania Ukraine border at Halmeu?
We had a good experience and really enjoyed our first stops in Ukraine at Vilkovo and Uzhhorod.
The onwards journey in Ukraine and border crossing from Ukraine to Poland is a (good) story for another day!
Read more about travel in Eastern Europe
- Things To Do In Bucharest, Romania.
- Border Crossing: Romania to Moldova.
- Border Crossing: Kosovo to North Macedonia.
- Things To Do In Podgorica, Montenegro.
- Things To Do In Belgrade, Serbia.
- Border Crossing: Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Border Crossing: Bosnia to Montenegro.
- Things To Do In Chisinau, Moldova.
More useful links for your travels in Europe and beyond
These are the companies we use and can recommend for 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. It is easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.
- 12GoAsia – Book trains anywhere online.
- 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. 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 – Make sure you have insurance before embarking on travel to Ukraine and crossing the border from Romania to Ukraine at Halmeu – Dyakove!
