Eastern Europe small group tour

Environment

We promote small group travelling, therefore maximum group size is 12. This has much less impact when travelling through rural areas, reducing our environmental and social affects. Additionally, travelling in a small group 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 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.

Community

The local train and bus journeys on this trip are excellent examples of travelling like a local, with locals. 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.

On the third day we visit Eger, where we include wine tasting in the traditional cellars in the Valley of the Beautiful Women. Instead of frequenting big state run wineries, we are taking our groups to small family-owned cellars (some just as big as a standard living room) where the owners will tell us everything about the local wine specialties we are trying.

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 plays the drum, her husband plays the flute, and they 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, when lunch is over the group gets to eat the sweets for dessert.