Day 1: Arrival day

Chisinau

On arrival at Chisinau International Airport, you will be transferred transfer to the hotel in Chisinau. After settling in, you can have a walk through downtown and explore the city centre on your own.

Optional: Dinner at the restaurant.

Day 2: Milestii Mici – the largest wine cellar in the world (200 km)

Chisinau – Milestii Mici – Chisinau

In the morning, you will enjoy the city tour of Chisinau and discover the main historical and cultural sights in the city such as the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, the Bell Tower, the Arch of Triumph, the Monument of Stephen the Great, etc. You will also see some soviet buildings and apartment blocks, such as Circus building, Romanita Collective Housing Tower, Library din Hol, Soviet Memorial to Communist Youth, Chisinau Hotel (an excellent example of Stalinist Empire style architecture), etc.

The tour will be followed by an excursion at Chisinau Railway Station built on 15 August 1871. The 2nd World War destroyed the station building, as it was blown up by the Red army in 1941. It was partially restored in 1944, but air attacks destroyed it once again. In 1948, the station was rebuilt. In 1990 at the Station’s Square there was unveiled a temporary stone commemorating the Victims of Stalinist Repression and mass deportations in Soviet Moldova in 1940-1951 - the Train of Pain. A permanent memorial was set up at the site in 2013.

In the afternoon, you will have lunch at a local restaurant in Chisinau.

Next, you will have an excursion at the Eternity Memorial Complex and the Military Museum. The Eternity Memorial Complex is a memorial located in Chisinau dedicated to soviet soldiers who died in the battles of the Second World War. The Military Museum has displays of Moldova's past military campaigns and, in a park outside, a small open-air military exhibition displaying Soviet-made tanks, fighter planes and other military toys inherited by Moldova's armed forces.

In the afternoon, you will take a ride to Milestii Mici winery located at a depth of 40-85 m in Milestii Mici village. Measuring about 200 km, all underground streets make up the largest network of caves ever dug by a human being, which appeared after the extraction of limestone deposits. The winery holds an impressive collection of more than 2 million bottles. The "Golden Collection" of Milestii Mici winery, which has over 1,5 million bottles, is the pride of the whole country, as in August, 2005, it was registered in the Guinness World Records as the biggest wine collection in the world. You will feel like a king/ queen here, admiring the beauty of this place, tasting wines in which you will feel the fire of sun and vigor of earth.

In the evening, you will return to Chisinau where you will spend the night.


HIGHLIGHTS: Chisinau city, Railway Station in Chisinau , Eternity Memorial Complex , Military Museum, Milestii Mici winery

Day 3: Victory Day Military Parade in Tiraspol

Tiraspol – Tirnauca – Chitcani – Tiraspol

In the morning, you will be transferred to Tiraspol where you will attend the military parade organized on the occasion of the Victory Day. The program includes rallies, flower-laying ceremony at the Glory Memorial, a military parade, an Immortal Regiment march. The event will start after the final song of the military parade, which will be performed by choirs. An exhibition of military hardware will be organized behind Suvorov Square.

In the afternoon, you will have lunch at Casa Karaman guesthouse in Tirnauca village.

The day will continue with a visit at the Bottle Museum located in Tirnauca in a picturesque quiet corner, not far from the river Dniester. The main building of the complex is built in the form of a giant bottle being 28 meters high. In six superbly decorated rooms, there are over 10,000 kinds of bottles of various spirits from 105 countries. The collection includes rare, exclusive, numbered and souvenir bottles.

Next, you will visit Chitcani Bridgehead and Noul Neamt monastery in Chitcani village.

Chitcani bridgehead was a strategic beachhead of Soviet troops on the west bank of the Dniester River captured by the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (Army General Malinovsky) during the Odessa operation 1944.

In Chitcani you will also discover Noul Neamt Monastery which is perfect for retreat and meditation. The monastery was founded in 1861. The tour will take you to the outstanding picturesque landscape to be admired from the upper level of the highest bell tower in Moldova (64 m). The monastery museum will be highly appreciated by those who are fond of history of religion. The museum houses icons dating from the 18th-20th centuries, as well as crosses, books, priest gowns and old pictures.

In the evening, you will be transferred to Tiraspol where you will spend the night.


HIGHLIGHTS: Military Parade in Tiraspol , Casa Karaman guesthouse, Chitcani Bridgehead , Noul Neamt Monastery