STAGE 1: Night Ferry from Nynäshamn (Sweden) to Gdańsk (Poland)

When you google for “Best route Sweden-Moldova” you get about 193,000,000 results in just 0.44 seconds. However approx. 192,999,999 of those results most probably are about the “Best route Sweden-Mongolia” or “Best route Switzerland-Macedonia”.

This post is a serious one, no sarcasm at all, since this is a serious informative source, not like google 😀 .

This post is not only about optimum route from Sweden to Moldova, but also about:
– most recommended route Kraków – Košice
– most recommended route Hungary – Moldova

You will follow most probably 3 main stages if you are considering to travel to Moldova from Sweden:

1. Night Ferry from Sweden (Nynäshamn) to Poland (Gdańsk)

2. Drive through Poland (via Gdańsk, Łódź, Katowice, Kraków, Nowy Sącz) and Slovakia (Prešov, Košice) to Hungary (Miskolc, Mátészalka) and most probably you will have to look for a hotel/motel just at the border between Hungary and Romania.

3. Drive through Romania (via Satu Mare, Baia Mare, Dej, Bistrița, Vatra Dornei, Gura Humorului, Iași) to Moldova.

For the lazy ones who want to skip this amazingly interesting article, please just download the below map and you are on the best route from Sweden to Moldova 😉 .

STAGE 1: Night Ferry from Nynäshamn (Sweden) to Gdańsk (Poland)
Stage 1 also can be entitled “Having an entire ferry for yourself”

You will most probably take Polferries, unless you have your private yacht, which can accommodate your car.

Ticket price: 1260 SEK (145 EUR)
– this price is for the car and one person
– this price does not include a sleeping cabin
– there are no discounts or more attractive prices if booking in advance. I have booked the ticket 2 months in advance, and I have checked the tickets continuously and even during the day before departure and they were still 1260 SEK (145 EUR).

Ferry:
– I was on “Scandinavia” Ferry
– The ferry is quite old (older than Tallink or Viking Line ferries)
– 2 restaurants, 1 bar and a cafeteria (fast food)
– 3 Tax free shops
– Cinema, deck 2: 204 seats. They usually project only one movie. Ticket costs some 5EUR.

The ferry departs at 18:00 from Nynäshamn port, which is 50KM South of Stockholm.
As soon you reach Nynäshamn, you will immediately see clear signs which will lead you to the correct departing deck for Gdańsk.

This is the main entrance to Ferry terminal

Important actions during and after check-in:
1. Make sure you firstly take a right and drive to the terminal building to check-in.
– You will need your ID and a print of your reservation
– I would recommend to arrive approx. 16:45 to check-in well in time

2. The car deck opens officially at 16:30
– In my case it opened at 16:45
– During the boarding, there could be some random customs checks and as long you are not driving an old Mercedes with Moldovan registration plates you are safe.
– Prepare your ID and your tickets which you have received during the check-in
– The Polferries personnel will check that the actual Registration Plate number of your car will match the number you gave during the reservation

Sleeping solutions on the ferry

1. Free sleeping solution – Airplane chairs
The Scandinavia ferry has many airplane comfortable chairs, more exactly on:
– deck 10: 136 seats.
– deck 9: 64 seats.
As you can see on the below photo, these chairs are actually no ordinary airplane chairs, they are definitely more comfortable and you have lots of space.
During the time I took the ferry, there were only 2 people sitting/sleeping in this area. Unless you have a long journey on the next day from Gdansk, I would recommend this sleeping solution, since it is comfortable and for free.

2. Sleeping cabin – for those who plan on the next day a long drive,
Scandinavia ferry has a multiple choice of cabins/beds: starting from the cheapest – 1 place in a 4-bed cabin without window for 100 SEK (11 EUR) to the Luxury cabin for 1300 SEK (150 EUR).

My recommendation and the smartest solution is to buy 1 place in a 2 bed-cabin with window, preferably on deck 6 or 7 like I did.
The route from Nynäshamn (Sweden) to Gdańsk (Poland) is not that demanded and there are always plenty of cabins (except during Christmas & Easter holidays). Therefore I booked my cabin only when I was on the ferry and I made sure that by buying only 1 place in a 2 bed cabin, they will not accommodate another drunk driver in my cabin.
1 place in the 2 bed cabin will cost you approx. 380 SEK (45 EUR).

I think this is the best solution, since you:
– get your own bathroom
– enjoy a room with window on a comfortable floor
– pay only 45 EUR (if you would book a 1 bed cabin, you would have to pay at least 75 EUR, or 80 for the entire 2 bed cabin)

My cabin looked like this

Overall the crossing on the ferry is quite enjoyable, even when the ferry is completely empty 🙂 .
You can:
1. Talk to the captain, like I did
2. Read all the interesting and non-interesting stuff about Polferries, Scandinavia and Gdansk, like I did
3. Answer all Polish drivers the question “Where are you coming from and what the customs officers wanted?”, like I did. Make sure you practice your Polish in advance, since all the questions will be in Polish 🙂 .
4. Visit the restaurant “Vivaldi”, like I did

The restaurant has a good selection of wines and dishes for extremely low prices (comparing to Sweden). I took the most sophisticated fish dish, which costed me only 12 EUR.
Also in “Vivaldi” restaurant you may be lucky to meet a very pleasant waiter with roots from Republic of Moldova. If you meet Donald, you will be fascinated by his life-time experience as a sailor around the world and about his grandparents from Moldova.

The last tip about crossing with ferry is to go for the breakfast buffet in the “Vivaldi” restaurant for only 30 PLN (7 EUR), since I didn’t 🙂 . Unfortunately they serve breakfast in the restaurant only until 10:30, I think I waked up at around 11:00 😀 . The other solution is to have breakfast in the Cafeteria on the 7th deck, like I did.

STAGE 2: Drive through Poland and Slovakia to Hungary