Moldova, Ukraine & Romania holiday

Environment

Our small group size allows us to stay in family-run hotels and pensions throughout this trip. We also support small restaurants and cafes, serving locally sourced produce.

All our tour leaders are passionate about responsible travel, so the message is consistent at all times in regards to environmental issues. In Eastern Europe the main issue is littering, and our leaders address this issue on the ground.

Especially in Moldova a lot of businesses are not yet across environmental responsibility, however we are trying to educate them by giving them business and delivering our message to them as well. The main environmental issue in Moldova is littering. We actively educate locals by showing an example, such as picking up rubbish others have left behind.

We are proud to be a carbon neutral company. We offset all our global carbon emissions and offer a carbon offset option to passengers booking their flights through us. Through these schemes, significant financial contributions are being made on behalf of our business, suppliers, staff and travellers to internationally certified carbon abatement projects.

Community

The local train and bus journeys on this trip are excellent examples of travelling like a local, with locals.
•Bucharest to Tulcea – local bus
•Tiraspol to Bender return – trolley bus
•Tiraspol to Odessa – local bus or train (depending on schedule)
•Odessa to Kiev – overnight train

The remaining parts of the trip are done by private transport, the operators of which are always sourced locally.
This small group tour has a maximum of 12 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people.

This tour actively encourages guests to chat with local people, visit local cafes and bars, purchase local produce, gifts and crafts and discover what life is really like in this part of Europe. In the Danube Delta we visit a local home for lunch and all ingredients are sourced from within the delta.

In Valeni (en-route from Tulcea to Comrat) we stop at a local family’s home for lunch, and our guests are treated to a folklore music show while having lunch. The lady of the house is known as “the grandma” throughout Moldova. She is playing the drum, her husband plays the flute, and both sing.

In Chisinau we visit the local market where our guests are encouraged to buy local produce to create a picnic lunch. Our visit supports the local economy and it allows our passengers to have local integration with the vendors.

On our day trip from Chisinau to Old Orhei we visit yet again another family in a village for lunch. Ingredients are sourced locally, and our clients have the opportunity to partake in a cooking lesson for traditional Moldovan sweets. While the group eats lunch the sweets are in the oven, and the group then eats them as a desert after lunch.

Our accommodation on this trip is very varied, but all are in small locally owned hotels or guesthouses.
We employ local leaders as much as operationally possible. Guides are always local (e.g. the included guide in Bender Fortress is a local who studies tourism at Tiraspol) and they set their own rates. Leaders are always European, and wages are standard salaries as found elsewhere in the tourism industry.