Moldova Discovery

“Ina, our guide, was fantastic. Knowlegeable, friendly, excellent English (and French!). She ensured the trip, even in the monsoon-like weather was hugely enjoyable and extremely interesting.”

“The Bristol Hotel was a particularly good location. Great breakfast options. It was a very good trip. Although the accommodation in the village hotel was less sophisticated it was very enjoyable for its atmosphere and peace and quiet. The guide, Natalia, was exceptionally good. ”

“Guide was great, knowledgable and welcoming. Locations visited gave a good cross section of experiences.”

“A very well organised trip with a very, very good guide - perhaps the best I've ever had.”

“Natalia was a great guide, very knowledgable about her country. I learned a lot. She was also good fun. The Hotel Bristol in Chisinau was fine, nice big room, good breakfast. Loved the stay in Butuceni, basic but lovely. It would have been good to have another night out of Chisinau, maybe add a day to the trip to see more of rural life? The timing of the meal and wine tasting at Cricova was not great. We'd not had lunch so were really hungry by 4pm or so. All that wine at that time just felt wrong. Ideally this would be an early evening event (say 6pm). The 'Art Rustica' craft centre turned out to be someone talking about rugs. She was very enthusiastic and some of the rugs were interesting, but it was I'm afraid pretty boring. A craft centre (not just carpets) would have been better. I appreciate that UD can't arrange trips to Transnistria but it would have been good to advise travellers to spend an extra day in Chisinau and arrange our own trip. I've seen it go badly wrong when someone from the travel company goes on a recce. Emma handled the relationship with Natalia brilliantly. All in all a fascinating country and the Moldovan wines were terrific! ”

“I was extremely happy with the whole trip: organisation, my companions, the places visited and, especially, our excellent guide, Natasha (aka Natalie). She was extremely knowledgeable, professional, personable and wecolming. Throughout our trip, she was determined to show us the best Moldova has to offer - and did so with great enthusiasm. My only criticism would be that the initial walking tour of Chisinau could have been taken at a slower pace, allowing a little time for photography. Maybe also a little time initially to meet and chat with the other articipants. Accommodation was good too. The City Park Hotel is well located for seeing the best parts of the capital. Moldova exceeded my expectations!”

“I would recommend a trip to Moldova.|As a driver Boris was unflustered and professional making the journeys stress free.|Natasha is a first class guide - enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable. |Her desire to make Moldova a discovered tourist destination was clear to see and infectious.|Victoria at Cricova was very good. Please pass on thanks for the wine tasting and bottle recommendation at the shop. So too Anastasia at Purcari. I used her tips to top up my purchases at the airport in my way home. Would love the chance to stay at Purcari - the lunch was amazing. Top quality food. Very good value.”

“Natalia is professional, prompt, knowledgeable, provides the right amount of information, (ie. she doesn’t speak incessantly:) )and takes questions from clients. Hotel Bristol is very conveniently located; the reception area needs a facelift & lifts are ancient- took ‘forever’ to arrive. (Not that you can do anything about it but it did add to the ‘stress’ especially when in a hurry). Misha is hardworking, safe driver. Operator fulfilled expectations, and we were fortunate to also have good fellow travellers. The only letdown was the food - f&b does constitute an important factor on the overall enjoyment of a trip. Lunch at the fort at Soroca was below par (chicken was dry and apple strudel hard and cold). No coffee was served / offered at any of the venues (perhaps not a local practice?) ”

“Natalia was a wonderful guide, one of the best.”

“Natalia the guide was very good. Really helpful and knowledgeable. The hotel was great. Nice big rooms, fantastic breakfast, good pub and great location. The village accommodation was very cosy and nice and the people friendly. Really good well organised trip. Good food, great accomodation and good itinerary. Enjoyed it all especially the lovely wine. Natalia was a great guide. Knew her stuff and was very good at keeping to schedule. A great ambassador for her country. Moldova exceeded my expectations in lots of ways including being very clean in most places and being quite litter free, unlike Britain! ”