Most of our clients rent a car to drive it themselves. Yet almost every trip has a day when you would rather hand the wheel to someone else. A winery. A friend's wedding. A meeting you want to arrive at fresh, not after circling the centre for parking.
Until now the website could do one thing: rent you a car. A driver was a separate service, with his own car and his own pricing. Now there is a third way: take the car, drive yourself, and request our driver right in the booking for the days you need him. Below is what that looks like over a real week, and how it differs from our Car + driver service.
Car rental with driver in Chișinău: two services, two sets of rules
Personal driver for your rental. You rent the car as usual and fuel it yourself. On the days you choose, a CarPoint driver takes the wheel for as many hours as you specify, minimum 5 hours a day. It is a request, not a purchase: the driver's cost is not part of the booking total, and we confirm availability and the final price within 24 hours, separately from the car booking.
Car + driver: a separate trip, no rental. We come in our own car, fuel and waiting time are already in the price, and so is a trip to Transnistria. If you need an English-speaking driver, tell us in advance. It fits when you do not need a car for a week at all: an airport transfer, a business day, a trip out of Chișinău and back.
In short: already renting a car? Request the driver for it, for one day or the whole period. Need a single trip without a rental? Choose Car + driver.
A week in Moldova by car: the route day by day
Day 1. Arrival
You pick up the car at the airport and drive into the city yourself. The road is straight, and checking in with your own car beats waiting for a taxi with your luggage.
Day 2. Chișinău
In the city the car spends more time at the hotel than on the road. Drive yourself or walk.
Day 3. Winery
The first day for a driver. Cricova or Mileștii Mici, a tasting, lunch at the winery, then another tasting. Without a driver, someone in the group drinks water all day, and it is usually the person who wanted that least. With a driver, the only sober one is him.
Day 4. The north
Orheiul Vechi, monasteries, the fortress in Soroca. A long but quiet road, and this is where driving yourself is a pleasure: stop where you like, turn off to the viewpoints, change the route as you go.
Day 5. Transnistria
The second day for a driver. A border and its own currency. All of it is easier with someone next to you who goes there regularly. For the trip on a rental car you need the Transnistria access option, ticked in the booking. The driver does not replace it.
Day 6. Wedding, anniversary or business dinner
The third. An evening when you do not want to count glasses or think about where to park afterwards. The driver takes you there, waits and brings you back, the evening is part of his hours. We often see such days with guests flying in from abroad for a family celebration.
Day 7. Back home
You return the car at the airport and fly home.
That makes four days driving and three with a driver. It can be different: a single winery day, or a driver for the whole rental. You tick the days, the rest we discuss at confirmation.
How to request a personal driver for your rental car
On the options step there is a Personal driver item. Then three questions:
- When do you need the driver? The whole period or specific days only. In the second case you tick the days in a calendar that shows only your rental days.
- Hours per day, roughly. From 5 hours. If you are not sure, leave it as is and we will settle it together.
- What do you have in mind? The route, the start time, whether you need an English-speaking driver. A couple of lines is enough.
Next to the total you will see the driver's estimated cost, not included in the booking amount. Changed your mind, or remembered the wedding after booking? On the confirmation page the request can be added, changed or removed. If you move the rental dates and the chosen days fall outside the period, the system tells you and asks you to choose again.
When Car + driver as a whole is the better pick
- You have no licence, or less than three years of driving experience.
- You are in for a day or two on business and simply do not need a car for a week.
- You need a transfer: airport, railway station, another city.
- You are going to Odesa. We do not do self-drive rentals into Ukraine, but we do organise the trip with our driver.
Here you give us the date, the route and the number of passengers, and we take care of the rest.
Where to start
If in doubt, take a driver for one winery day and drive yourself the rest of the week. Cars and dates are in the catalogue, and you tick the driver right there in the booking. For the Car + driver service, write to us via the contact page.