Day 4: Hiking at Suta de Movile Landscape Reserve, Cheile Butesti gorge and Padurea Domneasca Nature Reserve

Glodeni - Butesti - Cobani - Camenca - Moara Domneasca - Glodeni

The day will begin with a transfer to Suta de Movile (A Hundred Mounds) Landscape Reserve, a unique geological phenomenon in the space between Prut and Dniester rivers. The mounds are much more than 100, as there are over 3500. Their heights range between 1.5 m and 30.5 m. Dimitrie Cantemir, who named in his book “Descriptio Moldoviae” this geological phenomenon as “Centum Monticulli”, completed its first documentary attestation in 1716.

Later this day you will be transferred to Butesti village where another hike awaits you from Cheile Butesti to Cobani village (~8 km). Cheile Butesti gorge is dug by the Camenca River in a reef with a length of over 2 km and a width of 125 m, located in the south of Butesti village, Glodeni district. The coral limestone reef was formed 15-20 million years ago from corals, mollusks, clams, algae, cattle and marine organisms that populated the warm waters of the Sarmatian and Tortonian seas covering northern Moldova at that time.

After having witnessed the remains of the coral reef, you will be able to connect with the locals in the Cobani village while having a lunch break.

Next, you will enjoy a hike from Cobani to Camenca Lake (~10 km), from where you will be transferred to Moara Domneasca village.

Right next to the village, the biggest nature reserve of scientific interest in Moldova named Padurea Domneasca (The Royal Forest) is located on the meadowlands of the middle Prut river. Along the river Prut, covering a vast area, a meadow forest extends with its characteristic species for this type of environment: willow-trees, oaks, poplars, beeches, etc. During the excursion at Padurea Domneasca you will also visit the Bisons’ refuge.
After the excursion, you will be transferred to “Butoias” guesthouse.


HIGHLIGHTS: A Hundred Mounds Landscape Reserve, Cheile Butesti gorge, Royal Forest Nature Reserve

Day 5: Discovery of Moldova’s Fjords

Glodeni - Pociumbeni - Horodiste - Varatic - Butuceni

Your fifth day will start as usually, with a breakfast, after which you will check out of the guest house and be transferred to Pociumbeni, a small yet charming village documentary attested in 1672. Here, you will have a short tour of the village, during which you will see the monument “The Cross of the Witnesses of Hunger 1946-1947”, as well as the cemetery of boyar and poet Teodor Varnav.

Next, you will have a pleasant hike of about 5 km, from Pociubeni to Horodiste, at the end of which you will visit a very nice church.

Later on, another little hike awaits you. From Horodiste, you’ll hike to Varatic (~4 km) where you will have lunch. Then you’ll be transferred to the Varatic bridge, from where you will hike to a beautiful waterfall and to Moldova’s Fjords. This later attraction, the Moldovan “mountains”, are not made of stone, as you’d think, but of remains of living creatures from the prehistoric era, when the Tortonian and Sarmatian Seas used to cover these lands.

A few hours later you will be transferred to Butuceni, check in at the guesthouse and have some free time.


HIGHLIGHTS: Pociumbeni - Horodiste - Varatic landscapes

Day 6: Orheiul Vechi - a 40 thousand-year-old natural amphitheater

Butuceni - Furceni - Trebujeni - Butuceni - Cricova - Chisinau

In the morning, you will be transferred to Furceni, where you will start the first hike of the day following the itinerary: Furceni - Trebujeni - Butuceni (~16 km). While hiking you will visit stone caves where remnants of the first human settlements where found, dating from tens of thousands of year ago. On your way up a rocky hill you will find the ruins of a strong Geto-Dacian fortification, Moldovan ancestors described by Herodotus as being “the bravest of the Thracians” in his historic writings from the 5th century B.C. They where also mentioned by Sophocles, Strabo and many other historians and philosophers from ancient Greece. The originality of Orheiul Vechi’s landscape is due to the defile 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 in Butuceni at a local guesthouse (not included in the price).

Next, you will enjoy an excursion and wine tasting at Cricova, one of the most impressive underground wine cellars in the country and in the world. Covering nearly 120 km, this truly mesmerizing wine gallery will blow your mind with its 70 underground streets, that bear the names of famous wine types such as Sauvignon, Cabernet, etc. The jewel of the underground treasure is the National Collection, including over 600 types of wine totaling about 1 million bottles. Here you can admire the oldest bottle of wine - "Jewish Easter Wine", dating from 1902. While at Cricova, you will have the chance of participating in an amazing wine tasting experience in one of the many tasting halls of the underground “city”.

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

Day 7: Departure day

Chisinau

On departure day, you will be transferred from the hotel to Chisinau International Airport. 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.