8-Hour Tiraspol and Bender Tour from Chișinău with Mileștii Mici

The journey

Trip highlights

• 01 Taste wines at the Mileștii Mici wine cellar, one of Moldova's oldest wineries
• 02 Explore Tiraspol, the capital of the unrecognized Transnistria region
• 03 Visit Bender, also known as historic Tighina
• 04 Discover the impressive Ottoman Bender Fortress

Go on a guided trip from Chișinău to Tiraspol and Bender, also known as Tighina, and discover a different side of Moldova in just 8 hours. Visit Tiraspol, the capital of the unrecognized Transnistria region, explore the impressive Ottoman Bender Fortress, and enjoy a tour of the Mileștii Mici wine cellar, one of Moldova's oldest wine production cellars. The experience also includes wine tasting at Mileștii Mici before returning to Chișinău.

Enjoy an excellent opportunity to explore one of the oldest wine production cellars in Moldova, the Mileștii Mici wine cellar, and take part in a wine tasting.

From the itinerary

At a glance

What this trip includes

Duration 8 Hours

Tour type Private

Activity level Easy

Accommodation Not included

Transport Not included

Wheelchair access Not applicable

Cities Chisinau, Tighina, Tiraspol

Languages English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish

Day by day

The itinerary

1

Day 01

Chișinău, Mileștii Mici, Tiraspol and Bender Tour

• After registration at 09:15 am, leave Chișinău with your tour guide to visit a nearby wine cellar. Enjoy an excellent opportunity to explore one of the oldest wine production cellars in Moldova, the Mileștii Mici wine cellar, and take part in a wine tasting. You will also visit the cellar store, where you can purchase a bottle of wine from the heart of the winery.
• Continue to Tiraspol, the capital of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria). Please note that you will need a passport at the Transnistria border.
• If you wish, you can stop for lunch or dinner at one of the best restaurants in Tiraspol.
• Then go on a Bender city tour with your tour guide. Visit Bender Fortress, built in one of the most powerful medieval cities of Moldova, Tighina, which was an important trade outpost. Originally built as a small wooden fort by Stefan cel Mare, it was later fortified with stone during the rule of Petru Rareș.
• At the end of the tour, you will be dropped back in Chișinău.

The route

Where you'll travel

The fine print

Trip details

What's Included

• Moldovan tour guide

What's Not Included

• Personal expenses

• Extra drinks

Know before you go

• The excursion will start with a Tiraspol city tour, in the capital of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic. The town was founded following the Peace Treaty of Jassy, concluded after the Russian-Turkish War (1787-1791) between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire. According to this treaty, the Ottoman Empire ceded to the Russian Empire the region of Ochakov, which included the land between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers. Empress Catherine II, wishing to strengthen the border on the left bank of the Dniester, entrusted Governor V. Kahovsky to "overlook the land between the Bug and the Dniester" and prepare proposals for its administrative and territorial structure.
• After the Tiraspol city tour, guests will have the possibility to enjoy lunch with Ukrainian dishes in Tiraspol.
• The next place visited will be the town known in the Middle Ages as Tighina in Moldovian/Romanian sources and later as Bender in Ottoman sources. The town was first mentioned as an important customs post in a commerce grant issued by the Moldavian voivode Alexander the Good to the merchants of Lviv, Ukraine, on October 8, 1408. The name "Tighina" appears in documents from the second half of the 15th century.
• In 1538, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent conquered the town and renamed it Bender. Its fortifications were developed into a full fortress under the same name, under the supervision of the Turkish architect Koji Mimar Sinan. The Ottomans used it to keep pressure on Moldavia, between the localities of Varna and Bender in the Republic of Moldova.

Logistics

Meeting & route

Meeting point

Chișinău, Moldova

Tour start

Chișinău, Moldova

Tour ends at the same location as the start point.