May tour in Moldova including a spring picnic at Asconi winery

On arrival at Chisinau International Airport, you will arrange your own transfer to the hotel in Chisinau (optional private transfer upon request). After settling in, you can have a walk through downtown and explore the city centre on your own.

Optional: Dinner at the restaurant.

The first stop of the day will be at Château Vartely winery in Orhei town. Château Vartely is a modern complex, which comprises hotel-type houses, restaurants, tasting rooms and a huge inner yard. In the cellars and then in the tasting rooms you will be acquainted with the particularities of Château Vartely wines made from grapes from own vineyards, you will learn how they are made, kept and served and you will have the opportunity to taste some of them.

Next, you will set off on a time travel to Orheiul Vechi (Old Orhei) to see a natural amphitheater revealing a territory which was first inhabited 40 000 years ago. The Cultural, Natural and Landscape Reserve Orheiul Vechi includes a series of historical and cultural monuments as well as natural landscapes in the gorge of the Raut River. Ancient fortifications, cave monasteries, monks and hermits – here you can follow the history of this more region. The originality of Orheiul Vechi landscape is due to the gorge of the Raut River, dug under the form of a canyon in the limestone layers of the former Sarmatian Sea, about 14 million years ago.

In the afternoon, you will have lunch at Butuceni guesthouse in Butuceni village where you will taste dishes from the slow local cuisine.

You will continue your trip at Cricova underground winery. During the excursion at the winery in the tourist train, at a depth of 80 m, you will discover the underground galleries formed by over seventy streets covering an area of nearly 120 km, each bearing Bacchic names: Sauvignon, Cabernet, Cahors.

In the evening, you will be transferred to the hotel in Chisinau.

This day will begin with an excursion at Zamfir Ralli Arbore manor. The Rally family, a family of Greeks by origin, came to Moldova in the 18th century. Zamfirachi Ralli Boyar had a large family, who lived in Chisinau for a year, only the holidays they spent in Dolna in a villa. Here, in the summer they organized balls and parties with violinists and gypsies. It was here that the library functioned, then the music school, and only in the 1970s the museum was opened with a few changes, which today operates as a branch of the Puskin Museum in Chisinau.

Next, you will travel to Capriana Monastery, founded in medieval Moldova, which is one of the oldest monasteries in the country. It is located in Capriana in a picturesque forested area once called Codrii Lapusnei. During a long period, Capriana Monastery acted as the residence of the Moldovan archbishop.

In the afternoon, you will travel more to in Ulmu village where you will discover Poiana winery – a modern enterprise with a picturesque landscape of the vineyards and the lake. Here, you will enjoy tasting delicious wines and a copious lunch. You will also have free time at Poiana winery to enjoy beautiful views or engage in active forms of tourism such hiking or riding a bicycle.

In the evening, you will be transferred to Chisinau.

On departure day, you will arrange your own transfer from the hotel to Chisinau International Airport (optional private transfer upon request). If your flight is in the afternoon, you will have the option to explore Chisinau for a while on your own in the morning and buy some souvenirs.