Tour itinerary can be seen below.
The group will meet at Bucharest train station ready for departure at 19:15. We are split into 4 berth cabins. Relax for the evening with a few beers from the drinks carriage. Our passports will be checked at the border as we exit the E.U and the train will also stop for a few hours while the wheels are changed (railway tracks in ex Soviet states are a different size).
Arrive in Chisinau at 08:55. Check into our hotel and have a couple of hours rest before we head to Orhei Vechi, Moldova's most important historical site. There are picturesque villages, archaeological sites, hills, valleys and Moldova's most famous site - a cave monastery. The monastery was carved into the cliff by Orthodox monks in the 18th Century and is still inhabited by a sole monk. In the late afternoon we return to Chisinau and have the evening at leisure with the chance to check out some of the city's restaurants and bars. There may also be a chance to visit the casino in the basement of the hotel.
We have a free morning to spend at your own leisure or take our optional walking tour of the capital. In the afternoon we take a tour of Cricova underground wine city. Cricova is the second largest wine cellar in the world. The tunnels were dug into limestone back in the 15th Century, which was used to build Chisinau but it was only in the 1950s when it was converted into the vast wine cellars we see today, stretching out over a massive 120 kilometres. After a tour of the cellars, we have a traditional Moldovan meal before the highlight of the tour, wine tasting! Afterwards we will return to the hotel and spend the rest of the evening at your own leisure.
This morning we depart Moldova for the self declared republic of Transnistria. Pass through border control and collect our visa papers before a Soviet architecture tour of the city of Bendery. After a Soviet-style lunch we head onto the capital city of Tiraspol. Here we will take a ride on an old Soviet trolleybus, walk around the markets and take a tour of the city's Soviet monuments. Later we check into our hotel and spent the evening at leisure.
In the morning we watch the national day parade before a tour of Tiraspol in the afternoon and chance to soak up the atmosphere of Victory Day; one of Transnistria's two major annual national holidays.
After breakfast we will return to Chisinau and have time for lunch before our 16:35 train departure.
We arrive in Bucharest at 06:15 and here the tour ends.
For those wishing to fly in and out of Chisinau, there will be a £50 reduction in tour price.
