Tour Overview
| Duration | 5 Days / 4 Nights |
|---|---|
| Country | Moldova — Europe’s Best-Kept Secret |
| Price From | $1,948 per person (twin share) |
| Tour Style | Cultural / Wine |
| Data Source | TourRadar — 2026 |
Itinerary Highlights
Day 1: Arrive Chisinau
Welcome to Moldova! Airport transfer to your hotel. Evening walk through Chisinau’s leafy boulevards — a city of wide Soviet avenues, Orthodox cathedrals, and surprising green spaces. Dinner at a traditional Moldovan restaurant. Overnight in Chisinau.
Day 2: Cricova & Milestii Mici — Underground Wine Cities
An extraordinary day underground. Cricova Winery is a subterranean city of wine — 120km of limestone tunnels housing over a million bottles, including Vladimir Putin’s personal collection and Hermann Goering’s wines from WWII. Ride the underground train through tunnels named after wine varieties. Then to Milestii Mici, holding the Guinness World Record for the largest wine collection — over 1.5 million bottles in 200km of underground galleries. Wine tasting of Moldova’s finest. Overnight in Chisinau.
Day 3: Transnistria — The Country That Doesn’t Exist
Cross the Dniester River into Transnistria, a breakaway republic unrecognized by any UN member state. Visit Bender (Tighina), the 15th-century Ottoman fortress on the river. Continue to Tiraspol, the capital — a city frozen in time with Lenin statues, Soviet tanks on pedestals, and streets named after Communist heroes. Lunch at a Soviet-style stolovaya (canteen). Afternoon visit to the Kvint brandy distillery. Return to Chisinau.
Day 4: Orheiul Vechi — 40,000 Years of History
Visit Orheiul Vechi, Moldova’s most spectacular site — a cave monastery carved into limestone cliffs above the Raut River. Humans have lived here since the Paleolithic era. The 13th-century Orthodox cave church still has resident monks. Visit a traditional Moldovan village home for lunch — mamaliga (polenta), stuffed cabbage, and homemade wine. Afternoon at Chateau Purcari, where Queen Elizabeth II’s preferred wines are produced. Farewell dinner with Moldovan folk music.
Day 5: Depart Chisinau
Morning at Chisinau’s central market for local honey, walnuts, and souvenirs. Transfer to airport.
Inclusions
- 4 nights accommodation (4-star hotel)
- Daily breakfast + 2 lunches + 1 dinner
- Airport transfers
- English-speaking guide
- Cricova & Milestii Mici wine tours with tastings
- Transnistria day trip
- Orheiul Vechi guided tour
Why Moldova
- Milestii Mici — the world’s largest wine collection
- Transnistria — visit a country that officially doesn’t exist
- Cricova — an underground city of wine stretching 120km
- Orheiul Vechi — a cave monastery older than Machu Picchu
- One of Europe’s most affordable and authentic destinations
