Buiucani

Residential area with Valea Morilor Park (worth visiting during the day). Cheap accommodation but unsafe at night and nobody speaks English. Go for the park or stay here on a budget if you'll taxi downtown for evenings.

Northern residential area mixing Soviet apartments with newer buildings. Valea Morilor Park is the main reason to come here - 114 hectares with a 34-hectare lake, rowing boats, the 218-step Cascades Staircase, and an outdoor theatre with 5,000 seats. On weekends the park fills with families, joggers, and people walking the 3km lake loop. The neighborhood is regular residential Moldova - people at markets, commuting to work. Cheaper accommodation than downtown. Same problems as Botanica: theft and occasional violence at night, almost no English outside hotels, gets deserted after dark with bad lighting, park becomes unsafe at sunset. Budget option if you're okay taxiing to the center for evenings since there's no nightlife here.