# Tourist attractions in Moldavia [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) Moldavia is the historical region of eastern Romania, stretching between the Eastern Carpathians and the Prut, a land of gentle hills, vineyards and wide valleys crossed by the Siret and its tributaries. For centuries it was a principality in its own right, and that era can still be read in its fortresses, monasteries and boyar manors. Its main city is Iași, the former capital and a major university centre, followed by Bacău, Galați, a port on the Danube, Piatra Neamț, Botoșani, Vaslui and Focșani. Anyone looking for places to visit in Moldavia will find mountains in the west and rolling hills and plains towards the east. A natural starting point is the [Palace of Culture in Iași](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/palatul-culturii-iasi), with its museums, followed by the residences at Miclăușeni and Ruginoasa. In [Neamț County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/neamt) you will find [Neamț Fortress](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-neamt), the [Bicaz Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cheile-bicazului) and Lake Izvorul Muntelui; in [Bacău](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/bacau) the resort of [Slănic-Moldova](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/slanic-moldova) and the [Târgu Ocna Salt Mine](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/salina-targu-ocna); and in Vrancea the [Putna Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-putnei), on the edge of the mountains. The painted monasteries of northern Moldavia have a page of their own, under [Bukovina](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/bucovina). ## Tourist attractions 12 attractions - [Bicaz Gorge](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cheile-bicazului) — Gorges and canyons · Bicaz-Chei, NT · Free · ½ – 1 hours · Top 100 The best-known gorge in the Carpathians: the DN12C road runs between limestone walls over 300 m high, along the Bicaz river, between Lacu Roșu and Bicaz-Chei. - [Palace of Culture in Iași](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/palatul-culturii-iasi) — Castles and palaces · Iași, IS · 30 lei · 2½ – 3 hours · Top 100 The Neo-Gothic palace with a clock tower and carillon in the centre of Iași, built in 1906–1925 as a Palace of Justice; today it houses four national museums of art, history, ethnography and science. - [Sturdza Castle of Miclăușeni](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/castelul-sturdza-miclauseni) — Castles and palaces · Miclăușeni, IS · 35 lei · 50 min · Top 100 A Neo-Gothic palace built by George and Maria Sturdza between 1880 and 1904, its façades covered in coats of arms and stone tracery, set in an old park with ponds; reopened in 2026 after a major restoration. - [Cuza Palace in Ruginoasa](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/palatul-cuza-ruginoasa) — Castles and palaces · Ruginoasa, IS · 40 lei · 45 min · Top 100 A Neo-Gothic palace of the Sturdza boyars, bought in 1862 by Alexandru Ioan Cuza and made the ruling family's residence; today a memorial museum with rooms recreated from Elena Cuza's inventory. - [Lake Izvorul Muntelui](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacul-izvorul-muntelui) — Lakes · Bicaz, NT · Free · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 Better known as Lake Bicaz, it is the largest reservoir on Romania's inland rivers: 35 km of water on the Bistrița, below Mount Ceahlău, held back by a 127 m dam. - [Neamț Citadel](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-neamt) — Fortresses and fortifications · Târgu Neamț, NT · 24 lei · 1 – 1½ hours · Top 100 A medieval Moldavian fortress on a rocky spur above Târgu Neamț, built by the Mușatin princes and strengthened by Stephen the Great, which held out against Mehmed II's siege in 1476. - [Slănic-Moldova](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/slanic-moldova) — Resorts and thermal baths · Slănic-Moldova, BC · Free · 2½ – 3 hours · Top 100 A spa resort more than two centuries old in a narrow valley of the Nemira Mountains: numbered mineral springs you drink from for free, a park with shaded paths and the 1894 Art Nouveau Casino. - [Duruitoarea Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-duruitoarea) — Waterfalls · Durău, NT · 10 lei · 3½ – 4 hours A 25 m, two-tier waterfall on the Rupturi stream, in the forests below Toaca peak in Ceahlău National Park; reached on foot from the Durău resort in about two hours. - [Târgu Ocna Salt Mine](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/salina-targu-ocna) — Salt mines · Târgu Ocna, BC · 60 lei · 1½ – 2 hours One of Moldavia's oldest salt mines, still being worked: a bus takes you through a tunnel over 3 km long to 240 m below ground, to a salt church, a lake with a waterfall and sports courts. - [Lake Cuejdel](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacul-cuejdel) — Lakes · Gârcina, NT · Free · 2 – 2½ hours Romania's largest natural dam lake, formed by landslides between 1978 and 1991 in the Stânișoarei Mountains, with bare spruce trunks rising out of the water; reached on foot through the forest. - [Neamț Bison Reserve](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/rezervatia-de-zimbri-neamt) — Zoos and aquariums · Vânători-Neamț, NT · 15 lei · 1 – 1½ hours The “Dragoș Vodă” reserve, founded in 1968 in Vânători-Neamț Nature Park: a small zoo with bison, deer and birds, at the edge of the forest where free-ranging bison live. - [Putna Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-putnei) — Waterfalls · Lepșa, VN · 2 lei · 45 min A series of steps and potholes where the Putna river drops 14 m over about 80 m between sandstone walls, near Lepșa; a nature reserve since 1973, minutes from the DN2D. ## Counties - [Bacău](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/bacau) - [Botoșani](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/botosani) - [Galați](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/galati) - [Iași](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/iasi) - [Neamț](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/neamt) - [Vaslui](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/vaslui) - [Vrancea](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/vrancea) --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/moldova Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/regiune/moldova.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/region/moldova.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/regione/moldova.md Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania