Monday 30th August – Chisinau, Moldova

• Arrive at your leisure in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. It is well connected with many destinations across Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus. Self-transfer to our centrally located Soviet hotel. Pre-tour accommodation can be arranged for your convenience (additional charge).
• Our pre-tour meeting will be held in the hotel lobby at 6:30pm to discuss the itinerary and meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• We’ll then head out for dinner and, for those who are keen, experience Chisinau’s nightlife.

Tuesday 31st August – Chisinau, Moldova

• At 9am, meet our local guide and begin a walking tour of Chisinau. We’ll see one of the city’s most impressive monasteries, thankfully spared destruction during the Communist era, and pass the infamous city prison, which has been condemned for human rights abuses, amongst other sights.
• We’ll also visit the enormous World War II Memorial and climb aboard tanks and surface-to-air missiles at the Military Museum.
• We’ll round off the morning with a visit to the local flea market, an excellent place to browse antiques and Soviet memorabilia.

Afternoon

• After lunch at a traditional Moldovan restaurant, you’ll have free time to explore the capital of Europe’s least visited country at your own pace. This is a great opportunity to visit the National Museum of Moldova, wander out of the city centre to admire the brutalist masterpiece that is the partially abandoned Chisinau Circus, the first permanent circus in the entire USSR, or see the impressive Soviet-era Komsomol Monument.
• Later, we’ll head up to the abandoned National Hotel, formerly the city’s Intourist Hotel during Soviet times, to enjoy sunset views across Chisinau.
• Dinner and drinks in the evening at what is arguably the best steakhouse in town, and one of the cheapest in Europe.
• Overnight in Chisinau.

Wednesday 1st September – Chisinau – Bendery – Tiraspol, Transnistria

Morning

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• At 9:30am, we’ll meet our Transnistrian fixers before departing on the 1.5-hour drive to the breakaway republic of Transnistria. YPT will take care of all permits, border formalities and any conversations with the Transnistrian KGB/MGB.
• Our first stop will be Bendery, Transnistria’s second-largest city and a war-torn frontier town. During the Soviet era, Bendery was renowned throughout the USSR for its high-quality shoemaking, textiles, food processing, electrical cables and silk production. Many of these industries continue to operate today.
• Whilst in Bendery, we’ll visit the city hall, which has been left almost exactly as it was during the civil war and still bears the scars of countless bullet holes.
• We’ll continue along the main street to Lenin Park, where we’ll see the central fountain and Lenin bust before stepping inside the local cinema, which has changed remarkably little since Soviet days, except that Mission: Impossible has replaced Soviet propaganda on the screen.
• Next, we’ll visit the railway station, beautifully restored and impeccably maintained. It feels almost deserted, with only a handful of trains stopping here each day. Beside the station stands an old Soviet armoured train from the Second World War, complete with the hammer and sickle on its front.
• Lunch will be at Stolovka CCCP, a recent project created by a local restaurateur with a passion for Soviet history. Combining excellent food with an impressive collection of Soviet artefacts, the canteen doubles as a fascinating museum that transports visitors back in time.

Afternoon

• After lunch, we’ll transfer to Tiraspol and check in to our hotel.
• We’ll then visit the legendary KVINT Wine & Brandy Distillery, established in 1897. It became one of the Soviet Union’s most famous cognac producers and today continues to produce excellent brandies and wines while investing heavily in new vineyards. During the tour, you’ll become acquainted with the distillation process, explore the production facilities and have the opportunity to sample five different brandies aged between eight and fifteen years.
• Dinner and drinks will be at 7Fridays before continuing to some of our favourite craft beer bars in town and, perhaps, a Russian-style nightclub or two. Who knows?
• Overnight in Tiraspol.

Thursday 2nd September – Tiraspol – Transnistria National Day!

Morning

• We’ll start early with coffee and breakfast before heading out at 8:45am to Suvorov Square to secure a good viewing spot for the National Day celebrations.
• The two-hour ceremony usually consists of a laying of flowers at the Military Glory Memorial, a military parade and a mass performance in Suvorov Square. The commander of the Transnistrian Army first greets his troops before they respond with traditional military chants. Afterwards, the units march through the square in formation, ranging from special forces and presidential guards to the secret police and elegantly dressed female soldiers.
• There are rarely Western journalists here, so don’t forget your camera. We’ll also witness speeches by the President of Transnistria and Russian diplomats from Moscow.
• After the ceremony, 25th October Street transforms into the centre of the celebrations, with exhibitions, concerts, public festivities, open-air restaurants and plenty of opportunities to soak up the atmosphere.
• We’ll continue with a city tour, beginning at the North Korean-style statue of General Suvorov. Around it fly the flags of Russia, Transnistria and its fellow breakaway states, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
• Have your photo taken beside the giant coat of arms of Transnistria, complete with its unmistakable hammer and sickle.
• We’ll visit Parliament, home to one of the largest Lenin statues outside Russia, before stopping at the Eternal Flame Memorial, dedicated to the Soviet-Afghan War, the Second World War and the Transnistrian Civil War. We’ll also visit the battle-damaged T-34 tank monument, which visitors are permitted to climb for photographs.
• Continuing along the main street, we’ll see the enormous billboard of former President Igor Smirnov, the strongman who led Transnistria for almost twenty years. We’ll pass the embassies of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the imposing headquarters of the Sheriff organisation, and stop at a bookshop where you can browse Russian and Transnistrian nationalist memorabilia, Stalin mugs and fridge magnets depicting ICBMs soaring across the sky.
• We’ll also stop at Tiraspol’s flea market, where Soviet antiques can still be found at remarkably low prices. You never know what treasures you’ll uncover.

Afternoon

• For lunch, we’ll head to Casa Karaman, a traditional village house where local enthusiasts opened a rural house museum in 2017, offering visitors an insight into everyday village life during the twentieth century. The visit is followed by a traditional homemade meal, served indoors or outdoors depending on the weather, accompanied by local homemade wine.
• We’ll then board an old Soviet ferry, without an engine of its own, to cross the Dniester River and discover how people live in the villages opposite Tiraspol. This really is a place where time appears to have stood still.
• We’ll visit a still-functioning Palace of Culture with an enormous Lenin head outside, still marked by Kalashnikov bullet holes after Moldovan troops symbolically executed the statue during the civil war.
• Next, we’ll explore a stunning, completely self-sufficient monastery complex that has to be seen to be believed. We know many of the priests here and, if we’re lucky, they may invite us to sample some of their excellent homemade wine.
• We’ll also visit a local village shop that has barely changed since Soviet times and still uses an abacus to calculate purchases. Here you can stock up on €3 KVINT cognac, once regarded as one of the finest in the Soviet Union, inexpensive local vodka and delicious smoked cheese.
• Our final stop is a striking Soviet obelisk overlooking one of the fiercest battlefields of the Second World War. In the Russian-speaking world, it is customary to raise a toast of cognac or vodka in honour of those who fell here, and we’ll do the same.
• We’ll return to Tiraspol for dinner.
• In the evening, enjoy the National Day fireworks before continuing the celebrations at a local bar or nightclub for those who still have the energy.
• Overnight in Tiraspol.

Friday 3rd September – Tiraspol – Comrat, Gagauzia

Morning

• After breakfast, we will leave Transnistria, stopping at the final Sheriff supermarket on the border to exchange our Transnistrian rubles and buy some souvenir Kvint cognac before we re-enter Moldova and head south to Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, which, unlike Transnistria, made peace with the central authorities after a brief civil war in the 1990s.
• Gagauzia is populated by the Gagauz people; they’re Turkic Christians who have remained here since the conquests of the Ottoman Empire. They speak their own distinct language and have a very unique culture. This is the only place in the world to see a Lenin statue opposite a statue of Atatürk!
• After the 1.5-hour journey, we will stop for photos at the welcome to Gagauzia sign before we arrive in Besalma, a village founded in 1791.
• We’ll visit the world’s first museum of Gagauz culture and life. Here, you’ll see hundreds of exhibits of artistic and spiritual value from the Gagauzians who lived in Moldova for the last two centuries. The most valuable item in the museum is the collection of original films produced during the Gagauzian colonisation of the steppe of Bugeac.

Afternoon

• For lunch, we’ll stop at a local restaurant before continuing on to Comrat.
• We’ll explore downtown Comrat, seeing the stunning cathedral, a huge statue of Lenin, the Afghanistan war memorial and the national museum of Gagauzia.
• Dinner and overnight in Comrat

Saturday 4th September – Comrat – Chisinau

Morning

• Breakfast and free morning to relax or explore the town for last minute gifts or photos before we head back to Chisinau via the 1.5-hour private bus ride.

Afternoon

• Upon arriving in Chisinau, we’ll have lunch
• Tour concludes about midday – YPT can assist with onward travel advice or accommodation

Read More