Odessa Unveiled: Private Black Sea Day Tour from Moldova

Had fantastic trip to Odessa. Our guide, Corneliu Scurtu, was excellent and very knowledgeable. The city of Odessa is amazing and a ‘must-see’ in my opinion. It is on the world heritage list for a good reason.

Fully packed 16 hour excursion to Transnistria and Odesa from Chișinău. Booked this one day tour impromptu same day after meeting a fellow traveler from Slovakia that booked this trip in advance. We were guided in a nice private car by fabulous, knowledgeable and fun tour guide, Cornel Scurtu. Cornel’s English was outstanding, as was his enthusiasm to show us everything possible in a short time frame. It was a fully packed day, visiting the old wooden church Muzeul Satului where we saw a peacock shake its feathers. What a sight! Then we were off to sample some sauerkraut and Placinte’s on the way to Mimi castle, now a winery, and site of the June 1st European Political Community Summit. We drove on to Transnistria where we visited the former Russian military base in what is now Bender Fortress. Interesting, if not disturbing, torture museum there. We then walked around the surreal city of Tiraspol which feels and looks like a 1950s Soviet republic, where we viewed the famous monument to Lenin in front of the government administration building, War Memorial & Park, and dined at a nice café, also sampled Kvass at a street vendor, saw the Yuri Gagarin mural, and several government and administration buildings, in this self proclaimed Republic of Transnistria, that is actually part of Moldova. We traveled back to Moldova to go through the border at Palanca into Ukraine and onto city of Odesa, where we had an ad hoc walk around the city, viewed the national theater, and had some beers at a cafe. In this beautiful Parisian architecture city, you would not know that a war was going on, except coming through the border area. Cornel was most mindful of our safety throughout this day, and shared with us his objective and deep knowledge of the history of the places and sites viewed. I was initially reluctant to book this trip due to safety reasons. I’m so glad I went. Highly recommend Cornel Scurtu and this tour company.

O tour foi bastante completo e visitei muitos lugares interessantes e históricos, na companhia do guia Corneliu, que me mostrou e explicou tudo. Ele foi muito solicito, cordial e hospitaleiro.