Day 1 Departure and arrival in Moldova (I)
You will fly to Moldova with Turkish Airlines, from Helsinki to Istanbul at 15.05-17.10, with a connecting flight to Chișinău at 19.50-20.55.
Once in Chișinău, you will be met by a local Finnish-speaking guide and driver who will take you to your hotel. We will have dinner at the hotel restaurant.
Day 2 Chișinau-Cricova-Butuceni village (A,L,I)
After breakfast, check-out. City tour of Chișinău.
Lunch will be enjoyed at La Placinte restaurant followed by a drive to Cricova wine cellar for a tour and wine tasting.
Cricova has interesting underground galleries, over seventy streets, almost a hectare of land, each street has its own name Sauvignon
After breakfast, check-out. City tour of Chisinau.
Lunch at La Placinte restaurant followed by a drive to the Cricova wine cellar for a tour and wine tasting.
Cricova has interesting underground galleries, over seventy streets on almost 53 hectares, each street has its own name: Sauvignon, Cabernet, Cahor. Here is one of the oldest bottled wines in Moldova, dating back to 1902. A funny story about the place is related to the Russian pilot Yuri Gagarin, during his 1966 visit, the man got lost in the cellar network after a hippocratic tasting. Only the next day, after spending the night in the tasting room, did he emerge from the cellar. Today it is named after him. Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 50th birthday here.
In the evening we arrive in the village of Butucen, dinner and accommodation here.
Day 3 Butuceni village – Soroca – Butuceni village (A,L,I)
After breakfast we drive to the north of the country, to the town of Soroca on the southwestern shore of the Dniester River, about 150 km from the capital Chisinau. An excursion to the medieval fortress of Soroca, whose fortress walls experienced fierce battles and was the easternmost defensive point of Moldova. The day also includes a visit to a part of the rich gypsy town. Their 3-4 storey houses, with a distinctly Asian architecture, leave an indelible impression.
Lunch will be enjoyed at the Old Fortress restaurant after which we will drive to the site where Moldova’s first town Orheiul, meaning fortress, was founded. This area has been inhabited since ancient times. Around 14 million years ago the site was home to the Sarmatian Sea, the area is also rich in monuments of ancient civilisations, stone tools and the ruins of a medieval village.
In the evening we arrive in the village of Butuceni, dinner and accommodation here.
Day 4 Butuceni village – Trebujeni village – Château Vartely (A,L,I)
After breakfast, free time in Butuceni village. We check in and for lunch we drive to the village of Trebujeni.
We enjoy lunch accompanied by a folklore programme.
We drive to the Château Vartely winery where we stay for the next two nights. We will visit the winery and taste the wines. Château Vartely is a fairly new winery, with 250 vineyard hectares in the Codru and Bugeac wine regions.
Dinner at the winery.
Day 5 Château Vartely – Tiraspol – Château Vartely (A,L,I)
Today we make a full day excursion to Transnistria, travelling back in time to the Soviet Union, to the town of Tiraspol, which looks like a Soviet-era ghost town. Lunch we will enjoy in the Ukrainian restaurant Kumaniok. A visit to the Kvint factory, we taste brandy.
In the evening we arrive at Château Vartely, dinner and accommodation here.
Day 6 Château Vartely – Chișinău, Moldova Independence Day celebrations (A,I)
We drive to the country’s capital, arriving around 11 am, leaving our suitcases at the hotel. At 14.00 we get our hotel rooms. We will enjoy a free day and enjoy Moldova’s Independence Day festivities. We stay for the next two nights at the Jolly Alon Hotel.
Day 7 Chișinău (A)
Free time.
Day 8 Back home! (A)
Before the transfer to the airport, we enjoyed an early breakfast at the hotel. From Chisinau we fly to Kiev at 07.20-08.25, with a connecting flight to Helsinki at 09.30-11.35.
Accommodation:
Chisinau -JollyAlon
Butuceni – www.pensiuneabutuceni.md
Château Vartely – Château Vartely
