Behind the Iron Curtain: Romania and Moldova

Tour price from(€):

1470

About Tour

Order now

This 8 days tour will take you through some of the most significant sites associated with Romania's and Moldova's communist history, remembering the Nicolae Ceausescu’s dictatorship, the 1989 anticommunist revolution in Romania versus Republic of Moldova Soviet Experience - who is still struggling to find its identity, embracing two post-soviet daughters – the controversial regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia.Want to learn more? Join us for this tour and learn what life was like in communist Romania and soviet Moldova, but also the consequences of the communist regime's social and economic policies for both countries. Unfortunately, Romania was the only one among the communist block of Eastern Europe where the communist regime was overthrown through violence, with many deaths and victims as a result. For Moldova, the collapse of the Soviet Union was accompanied by a number of ethnic conflicts. After declaring its Independence, Republic of Moldova faced civil unrest in the early 1990s in the southern region of Gagauzia and the armed conflict in Transnistria in the East.

Highlights:

Discover how the communist regime ended after the 1989 anticommunist revolution
Visit the Ceausescu Grave
Celebrating a nation that doesn’t exist – Transnistria
Have a look at the Ceausescu Dream Palace, today headquarter or Romanian Parliament
Get an insight into the link between communism and faith
Live the past while visiting the autonomous region of Gagauzia and breakaway republic of Transnistria.

1 ^st Day

Arrival in Romania

August 29 ^{^st}, 2021

Included highlights:

Fly to Bucharest and transfer to your hotel. If time permits, visit some of Bucharest’s important sights. Check-in to the hotel and enjoy a short presentation about Romania’s communist history. Welcome dinner.

Included meals:

Dinner

2 ^nd Day

On the way to Brașov

August 30 ^{^nd}, 2021

Included highlights:

Spend the morning exploring the city, visiting Bucharest’s Parliament Palace, built in the 1980’s by order of Ceausescu, and Ghencea Cemetery, where Nicolae Ceausescu, his wife Elena and their son Nicu are buried. Before leaving for Brasov, stop in a canteen mall, formally known as a ‘cantina’, where due to a shortage of food in communist times, people were forced by the authorities to eat in large work style canteens. All the cantinas are now malls, where people freely choose to eat. Lunch on the way. En route to Brasov, stop to wander around the famous Bran Castle, which is said to have been Bram Stoker’s inspiration for the residence of the vampire count in his famous novel. Overnight in Brasov.

Included meals:

Breakfast
Lunch

3 ^rd Day

Exploring Braşov

August 31 ^{^rd}, 2021

Included highlights:

A morning walking tour of Brasov will lead you to The Black Church and up Strada Prundului to Piata Unirii. Here you’ll find the beautiful Church of St. Nicholas and The First Romanian School, situated in its grounds. Depart for Birlad for overnight stay in a soviet inspired hotel. In the evening, meet with a typical Romanian family and discuss over dinner how life has changed for them since communist times.

Included meals:

Breakfast
Dinner

4 ^th Day

Meeting Republic of Moldova

September 01 ^{^th}, 2021

Included highlights:

Set off today to the Republic of Moldova and to one of Moldova’s well known sights - Old Orhei, Here, visit 15th century “Adormirea Maicii Domnului” Cave Church. See the remains of Geto-Dacian fortress, a functioning cave monastery, and ruins of the old Turkish bath. After a delicious traditional Moldovan lunch in the village, continue to the capital of Transnistria - Tiraspol. Transnistria is a breakaway territory within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova. Although not recognized by any state or international organization, it is de facto an independent state named the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The country’s national coat of arms still includes the traditional hammer and sickle and a load of Lenin Statues that have not been pulled down. Overnight Tiraspol.

Included meals:

Breakfast
Lunch

5 ^th Day

Awake in Soviet Union-Cricova Wine Cellar

September 02 ^{^th}, 2021

Included highlights:

Awake in Transnistria and see a communistic-type military parade. Enjoy the atmosphere as families relax and shop in the many small stalls lining the main street and pavement cafes are full with people enjoying local beer and freshly cooked shashlik. In the afternoon transfer to the world-famous wine cellars of Cricova. Here, see an underground city with obscure streets that are carrying the names of wines kept here: Aligote, Riesling, Codru, and Feteasca. The wines from this collection have an old history with bottles over 100 years old. Overnight in Chisinau and enjoy a special dinner with wine tasting. Overnight in Chisinau.

Included meals:

Breakfast
Dinner

6 ^th Day

Discovering Gagauzia

September 03 ^{^th}, 2021

Included highlights:

After breakfast we depart to another autonomous region of Moldova – Gagauzia. In order to understand who, the “gagauz” are we shall pay a visit to the Museum of History and Ethnography from Besalma village. There we will learn about the history, culture and daily life of the Gagauz from ancient times to the modern days. Next, we shall visit the last living “Kolhoz” - a collective state farm. Lunch will be served in the canteen of this “kolhoz”, where also the workers eat. In the afternoon, cross the Prut river, the border between Romania and Republic of Moldovia, at Cahul-Oncesti. In the evening reach Galati, an industrial city on the Danube, where the jewel of the communist industry was built - the Steel factory. Overnight in Galati in a communist era hotel.

Included meals:

Breakfast
Lunch

7 ^th Day

Back to Bucharest

September 04 ^{^th}, 2021

Included highlights:

Return to Bucharest – the 300km journey will take around 4 to 5 hours and a stop will be made en route for lunch. Spend some time at leisure in Bucharest before attending a farewell dinner.

Included meals:

Breakfast
Dinner

8 ^th Day

Departure home

September 05 ^{^th}, 2021

Included highlights:

Departure home.

Prices and services:

All services as mentioned in the program
Car or MiniVan with A/C
Professional English speaking guide at your all days

Partner Price:

Price in double room/twin: 1368 Eur
Single supplement: 239 Eur

Included meals:

Breakfast

What People Say

More reviews ›

What a wonderful holiday. Everything was well organised and went well.

The guide, Cristina, was excellent, good English and very knowledgeable and keen that we should see every cultural and characteristic aspect of Moldova.

The visit to the Roma "family" was fascinating-not a "family" visit but a meeting with the Roma head of family in his huge house ornate and wealthy and we had a delicious home make cherry juice and had a question and answer session with him. He,Robert, is a relative of the Roma king; This was very informative as I am very interested in everyone and everything but tourists need to be interested in the Roma people and way of life otherwise input wouldn't be so fascinating!!

The visit to the "old believers" village was just great-tea from a samovar and cakes and a very pleasant woman the librarian and museum custodian.

In Gaugazia we met the Museum curator and again a fascinating insight into Gaugazian history.

Much of our enjoyment and insights was enhances by Cristina who translated everything so well.

The visits to the wineries were an eye opener and the wine tasting too. I recommend tourists who go to the Cricova winery to to wear warm clothes and a scarf as we go deep down into the underground "city" to see the stored wine.

We loved the food (and all the wine).

Dear Victoria,

Please accept the endosed as a token of my thanks and appreciation. I have been lucky enough, over the years, to have traveled to many destinations, and to have experienced every sort of guide. In my opinion you are right at the top, one of the select very few who manage to “get it just right”.

Like any skilled job, guiding is something that, when done well, it looks easy! You and I know that is not the case; it’s a tough, demanding profession that few individuals do adequately, and even fewer, well. Hardly any do such a great job that their clients feel cared for, safe, valued and special. You, in my view, are one of those rare tour leaders.

Please, accept my small token of gratitude. You have been kind, lightful, knowlageble (extremly), considerate, tolerant, efficient, reliable… I could go on, but to spare your blushes I will end by saying I cannot find a single criticism (this is a rare thing for me – I have very high standards!).

Your company depends for its success on your delivering what they promised. You have done professionaly this with a smile, a sense of humor, and grate dignity.

I wish you all the luck in the world for the future & thank you for leaving me with not only happy memories but with a positive impression of Moldova.

With very best wishes, Veronica.

Have you ever wanted to go on a culture-wine-food tour? In California? France? Italy? Please, have some imagination! Be a little adventurous and go on one in Romania and Moldova.

It was my good luck to participate in a tour organized by Ways Travel, during which i checked out the many wonders of Romania and Moldova.

Our group on the bus was an international gang of nine – a Belgian, a German, a Norwegian, an Australian, a few Americans of interesting ethnic alloys and me, dual Dutch and American citizen. What can I say, it was an experience just sitting on a bus with these people and hear their war stories and get initiated into the workings of the behind-the-scenes travel industry.

Leader of our tribe was the fabulous tour guide Victoria, who speaks four languages, English, German, Russian, Romanian, one of those people who makes a simple bilingual person such as myself feel humble and uneducated.

The trip was a symphony of history, food, drink, music and dance. Dancing with the Gypsies no less. I tell you, it was fabulous, it was intoxicating. We got history – a dizzying whirl of wars and battles and bloody strife. Of conquests and annexations, of armies rampaging through the countryside, raping, pillaging and impaling. We heard colorful tales about Dacian tribes, the Roman Empire, the Red Horde, the Saxons, the Ottoman Empire, the communist era under Ceausescu. And let’s not forget to mention good old Count Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, who hailed from Transylvania. Really, we deserved every drop of hootch we got along the way to recover from all the tragedies we vicariously suffered through.

In Romania we loved the beautiful towns of Sibiu and Sighisoara. In Sighisoara we missed seeing the house where Dracula was born because a movie was being filmed and they’d closed it off for visitors. Fortunately, we had a liqueur and brandy tasting to cheer us up. We hadn’t had lunch yet and our stomachs were empty, which helped raise the mood quickly.

A highlight was our visit to the home of a Roma family in Transylvania and learning more about their culture and lifestyle. (You can read a story about this on my blog here.) Not all Gypsies are beggars living in the streets of large cities. It’s always a good thing to be disabused of your prejudices and preconceived notions.

We stayed in excellent hotels and lodges, as well as in a humble hostel run by a monastery. We ate fancy restaurant food as well as simple village fare. We saw exquisite as well as cheery architecture, visited opulent cathedrals as well as the modest underground monastery chapel in Orhei Vechi, not far from Chisinau. The vino flowing across the miles was a charming mix of the good, the bad and the holy. The holy being the wine we tasted in a monastery, blessed by the priests. Unfortunately, the blessing did not transform it into nectar of the gods, but the dinner there was quite gourmet, all prepared from food grown by the monks without chemical assistance.

We also visited Transnistria, which is a rather unique place, as most of you will already know. It is also home to the famous Kvint brandy factory and would you believe, we went there for a brandy dégustation – seven varieties of brandy. It was very informative, interesting and intoxicating. It was also lunch time, but fortunately there was food. We eventually struggled out of there, back on the bus, across the border that is not a border, and traveled down to the Purcari wineries in the south of Moldova where we were treated to . . . you guessed it . . . a wine tasting. Of ten types of wine. Not just any old village plonk, either. No, we got to sip the wine of kings, queens and tsars. Our livers got a workout that day.

I’m going to stop here. There was more, much more, but I don’t want to give away everything, because what you should do, really, is check out Ways Travel’s website at www.ways.md .