Cultural Tour of Moldova

Depending on your arriaval time our guide will meet you at the airport and will transfer you to hotel in city center. Then we’ll take a meandering walk through Old Town of Chisinau, with short visit of Ethnography Museum, and get acquainted with one another over dinner together.

Sleep in Chisinau (7 nights).  

Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel. Then, leave Chisinau and start your Moldavian adventure.

First, stop at Curchi Monastery situated between rich hills covered with forests, gardens and orchards, one of the most important architectural monuments of Bessarabia.

Continue the day by exploring Orhei region. Participate at a culinary master class and enjoy the lunch in a traditional agro-boarding pension.

Visit the Orheiul Vechi area with cultural and historical landscape. An area of outstanding natural beauty, shaped by River Raut as it cuts into the high rocky hills of central Moldova. In medieval times, the river Raut served as a travel route for merchants bringing international commerce from as far away as Mediterranean Greece. It was this river trade which led to the success of Orhei as a medieval city. The historic sites at Old Orhei (locally called “Orheiul Vechi”), have recently been included in the UNESCO “Tentative List of World Cultural Heritage”. If selected, Old Orhei will be the first site in Moldova to gain World Heritage Status.

End the day tour with visit to the unique wine cellars – Cricova.  In Cricova underground galleries, you will see over seventy streets covering an area of nearly 53 hectares, each bearing Bacchic names: Sauvignon, Cabernet, Cahor. There is one story always told in this place about the Russian pilot Yuri Gagarin, who during a visit in 1966, after getting tipsy, got lost and missed the exit. He went out the next day, having spent the night in the tasting room, currently named after him. In one of Cricova’s luxurious tasting halls, a couple years ago the Russian president Vladimir Putin celebrated his 50th birthday. (wine tasting of 6 samples of wine + cheese platter)

Transfer back to hotel in Chisinau.

Today we head to the North of Moldova.

Start our tour with visit of Craft center “Arta Rustica” village of Clisova Noua, Here you’ll have a perfect possibility to witness old and new samples of national objects of Moldavian people and culture which reflect Moldavian way of life, customs and traditions. One of these objects is the Bassarabian Wall Carpet which was introduced in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Head on to Soroca. At the entrance in the town have a stop at the “Candle of Gratitude”, enjoy the panorama of Soroca town, and Ukrainian villages on the other bank of the Nistru river. After a long ride enjoy the lunch in local restaurant with traditional to the region dishes. Then we start exploring the town, first we discover a true pearl of Moldova – Soroca fortress. Continue the excursion in Soroca with visiting the Gypsy district with their life.

In the evening return to Chisinau.

Our morning drive takes us from Chisinau to Capriana monastery – the residence of the metropolitan bishop and the symbol of national revival.

Today we will get into the heart of Moldova, in the Calarasi region, where traditions are kept sacred. We will serve a traditional peasant style lunch, followed by a special dessert at Casa Parinteasca pension. Then we will take a tour of the creative workshop, we will try to craft some handicrafts, being guided by the host Mrs. Tatiana.

Exploring the region continues with a visit to the Honey House situated in Raciula village, where the Stergarescu family will meet us. Mr. Stegarescu will tell us about the process of obtaining honey, as well as the types of honey from this region. Here we will have a delicious honey tasting.

On the way back to Chisinau we will make a visit to Cojusna winery. Founded in 1995 the winery is located in the center of Moldova (wine region Codru). The Chateau is built in french style but also has traditional elements from Moldavian design. Wines, divines and grappa are produced at Chateau Cojusna and later exported in EU. (tasting of 5 types of wine + cheese platter, meat platter, vegetables platter, and placinta)

Drive back to Chisinau.

Gagauzia is an autonomous region of Moldova, not far from the border with Transnistria. In fact, this autonomous region was a short-lived unrecognized territory as well – shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Start with the city tour of Comrat – the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, located in southwest Moldova. This is a very interesting territory since the majority of its habitants are Gagauzians.  These are the only representatives of Turkic origin that affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church. Gagauzians migrated from Bulgaria together with ethnic Bulgarians and settled in Moldova in XIX-th century.

Continue driving to the south of Moldova, reaching village of Copceac, where we will visit the only and unique Kolhoz still operating from the soviet times. Lunch in the Kolhoz with traditional gagauzian dishes.

On the way back to Chisinau make a stop in Besalma village for exploring the Museum of History and Ethnography D. Cara-Ciobanu, here you will deep into the history and culture of Gagauz people.

An unforgettable trip to transnistrian region is the true highlight of our tour.

Excursion at Bender Fortress. This is the old mediaeval fort of Tighina Fortress, which was first built in the 15-16’th Centuries by the princes of Moldavia. Occupied by the Ottomans in 1538 (in a campaign lead by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent), the fort was strengthened in 1541 and became the center of an Ottoman “raya” (in which were included the surrounding Moldavian villages).

In Tiraspol you will have the opportunity to travel in time back to USSR. You will start by visiting the monument of Lenin, Suvorov, Ecaterina II, and Yuri Gagarin and tanks left from the Second World War. The city seems to be a ghost of the Soviet past.

The tour ends on a divine note, by visting KVINT cognac factory. A company with a history of more then 120year. Now one of the leading manufacturers of alcoholic beverages in Moldova. Tasting of 5 types of divins like “Surprise”, “KVINT”, “Tiraspol” etc., aged from 8 to 15 years in barique.

As this is our last day of the tour, we prepared for you a true exeptional sight – Castel MIMI winery.

Castel Mimi winery is one of the top wine producers and tourist destinations in Moldova. Listed within the top 15 most beautiful wineries in the world; it presents both history and modern architecture to the 30,000 visitors who come each year from over 80 countries around the world. (taste 5 amazing types of wine + 7 traditional Moldovan and gourmet food appetizers). 

Returning back to Chisinau you can spend the afternoon at leisure. We recommend visiting the History Museum, Art Museum, Puskin Museum, Military Museum etc.

Its time to say goodbye… after breakfast transfer to airport for your departure flight. See you next time!