He drives, he waits: when a driver is all you need

“Will you meet us at the airport?” I get asked this so often that it could hang as a sign over the arrivals hall. The second comes less often, a little apologetically: “Could we just have a car for the day, without a tour? We've read up on everything ourselves.” You can, and there is nothing to apologise for. For trips like these I offer transport provided by my CarPoint team. Behind the wheel is a driver, not a guide; the CarPoint team manager confirms the booking and helps with the arrangements.

No prices here: they are on the Transfers page, where you see them before you book. This is about something else: what the driver does, what he doesn't, and when you need me after all.

Where the driver's job ends

The Transfers page puts it in one line: the driver drives and waits, a guide tells the story. The driver picks you up on time, takes you wherever you say, waits at the monastery gate or the winery entrance and drives you back. Who lived in the cave monastery at Old Orhei, and why, he won't explain. That isn't his job, and there's no reason to hold it against him.

My own job I describe like this. I drive. I tell the story, the one in the guidebook and the one that never made it in. I translate what the menu says, what the priest is telling you and what the granny at the market stall is offering. The driver takes the first line of that list. For many trips, that's enough.

A driver is enough if:

• you know Moldova already, or have read more about it than I could tell you in a day, and want to set your own pace;
• you simply need to get somewhere: from the airport to your hotel, to friends in another district, to a meeting;
• you want the tasting at the winery and someone at the wheel who will skip it.

Take a guide if:

• it's your first time in Moldova and you want to understand what you're looking at;
• you're going to Transnistria. History there is told differently on the two banks of the Dniester; I give you both versions and leave the conclusions to you.

Landing in Chișinău: look for the board with your name

The airport transfer is the simpler of the two options, and I recommend it to anyone flying into Chișinău for the first time without friends in the city. The driver meets you in the arrivals hall with your name on a board. He tracks your flight. A delay of up to an hour changes nothing; a longer one is discussed separately. After landing, the driver waits 60 minutes free of charge. Passport control, the baggage belt, the first call home to your mum: an hour is usually enough for all that. Beyond that, waiting is by arrangement.

One short stop on the way into town, up to 10 minutes, is already in the price. Usually it's an exchange office or a shop. Change some lei for your first plăcintă straight away.

The price is per car, one way, not per person. There are two classes: a car for 1-4 guests and a minivan for 5-7. Fully loaded, the car takes 4 guests and 3 large suitcases, the minivan 7 guests and 7 suitcases. Bringing a bicycle or a double bass? Mention it in the comment on your request; the driver needs to know in advance.

The sum depends on the district and the direction: from the airport is slightly dearer than to it. The centre and Botanica share one price, Buiucani, Ciocana and Rîșcani another. Not sure which district your hotel is in? Give its name and we confirm the price in the reply. The suburbs (Durlești, Stăuceni, Codru) are on request. Between 22:00 and 06:00 a night surcharge applies, and it goes by the flight's scheduled time, not by the moment you finally walk out of the hall.

Child seats are available on request, free of charge: in the request, say how many you need and how old the children are. To the airport it works the same in reverse: the driver picks you up at your door at the time you name.

For the airport you don't need an English-speaking driver, and the transfer has no such option anyway. A board with your name on it is understood in any language.

Your own route, someone else at the wheel

The second option is a car with a driver by the hour: at least 4, at most 12. You name the places, the driver plans the route and waits at every stop. Time runs from pick-up to drop-off and is rounded up to the half hour. Fuel, waiting and parking are already in the price, so you know the sum before the trip. The limit is 300 km a day.

Where do people go? The same places as my tours: Cricova and Old Orhei, the wineries of the south, Transnistria. Cricova is 10 km from Chișinău, Old Orhei about 60, and a typical day trip around central Moldova stays well within the 300 km limit. Soroca is further, about 160 km each way: discuss that one when you book.

You can go to Transnistria with a driver, and you must take your passport. Just remember: the driver will show you Bender Fortress, but why it was fought over so many times you'll have to read up on yourselves.

For these trips an English-speaking driver is available at extra cost. He doesn't run a tour either. He explains the way and helps on the spot, but there's no lecture in the car, so between Cricova and Old Orhei you can have a quiet nap.

Entrance tickets, tastings and lunch are not in the price of the car; they are paid on the spot, as on my tours. At weekends, book the winery tour in advance: the convenient slots go first.

If there are eight or more of you, there is a minibus for up to 20, priced for your programme. Several days with overnight stays, Iași, other cities: also on request, describe the trip in the form.

If you're coming for several days with a company, an embassy or a delegation and need a car with a driver every day on your own programme, my CarPoint team handles that too: one car or several, a contract and an invoice, an English-speaking driver on request. Write to transfer@carpoint.md or use the form on the Transfers page, with your programme in the comment. The team can also book the Cricova and Milestii Mici cellars, restaurants and tastings along the way, at the same prices as booking direct, no mark-up.

My biased case for a guide

I'm an interested party here, so I'll be brief. The transfers are new, the guided tours haven't gone anywhere, and if you want to see the country with someone telling its story, a guided tour is still the right choice. A driver will take you to Curchi Monastery, and you'll see white walls and green domes in a pine forest. Why it looks the way it does and what happened to it before the restoration will depend on what you read the night before. With me it's the same day, only with the history, the translating and lunch in the right place. The ready-made routes and prices per car with guide are in the tour catalogue.

If you're already travelling with me, you often don't need a transfer. For a tour I pick you up from any address in Chișinău, and the airport is an address too. On The full journey, 3 to 10 days, the airport pick-up on the first day and the drop-off at the end are already included. A transfer helps when your plane lands at night and the tour starts the next morning, or when you have a free day between tours and want to go somewhere on your own.

And a third way, for those who like to drive themselves: a rental car from CarPoint, with a driver available as an option for single days. How that works is explained in a carpoint.md blog article on adding a driver to a rental car.

Booking: what to put in the form

It all happens on the Transfers page. It shows two prices one after the other: the airport transfer per car, one way, and the car with driver from 4 hours, with an hourly calculator. One form covers both: choose the trip you need and give:

• for the airport, the scheduled arrival date and time in Chișinău time, and the flight number if you already know it (if you're flying out, when the car should come);
• for a day with a driver, where you want to go, for how many hours and where to finish;
• how many of you there are, children included, and how many large suitcases and child seats;
• your hotel or address in Chișinău;
• a phone number so the driver can reach you, and an email for the confirmation.

Send the request on the site at least 12 hours before pick-up. If it's more urgent, message the manager on WhatsApp; the number is on the same page.

The trip is booked once the manager confirms it by email and on WhatsApp. Until then the request commits you to nothing. You pay the driver on the day. The airport transfer requires no advance payment. For a day with a driver we ask for an advance payment on confirmation, and the invoice comes by WhatsApp. An airport transfer can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before pick-up; after that, just let us know, there's no penalty. If you cancel a day with a driver less than 24 hours before pick-up, the advance payment is not refunded.

Landing soon and want to get to your hotel without fuss, or work through your own list in a day? Book a transfer or a car on the Transfers page. And if you'd like someone to explain the places you visit along the way, that's my job: the routes are in the catalogue.