Laid out in 1818 as Chisinau's first public park, this 7-hectare wedge of mature chestnuts, maples, and limes between Stefan cel Mare Boulevard and Eminescu Street is the social centre of the city. Locals come for chess tables, ice cream, free Wi-Fi, and the open-air book market that runs along the western edge most weekends.
The park is rich in monuments — the Stephen the Great statue at the main entrance, the Alley of Classics with its busts of Romanian-language writers, the Capitoline Wolf gifted by Rome in 1926. Add a fountain, a children's railway in summer, and a couple of cafés tucked between the trees, and it is the obvious place to start or end a walking day. Open 24 hours; free.