Cricova is an underground wine city ten kilometres north of Chișinău, about half an hour away by car. You can only get inside on a guided tour, it is best to book ahead, and you choose your tasting when you book.
I have been to Cricova dozens of times, and I still look forward to the moment when the car drives into the tunnel. Everyone goes quiet. Some are simply impressed, others are working out whether we will ever find our way back. We will.
Below ground there are more than 120 kilometres of galleries cut into the limestone, and a tasting can be added to the programme. The tour is paid for separately, at the winery's own prices. Cricova is also the name of the small town above the galleries.
Our full day with Curchi Monastery and Old Orhei is described hour by hour in Curchi, Old Orhei and Cricova in one day. This article is only about Cricova: getting there, what is inside and how to make the most of a couple of hours there.
Cricova is a working winery, and its cellars are underground, in old limestone workings. The underground roads have names, like streets in a town: Aligoté, Pinot, Cabernet. Together with Milestii Mici, Cricova is among the largest underground wineries in the world, and that is no exaggeration. One tour shows you only a small part of the galleries, and that part stays with you for a long time.
It is a short trip, and you have three options.
I wouldn't recommend driving yourself. The road is easy, but the tasting usually comes at the end, and someone in your group will spend the evening watching everyone else drink.
You can try, but I wouldn't. Cricova is a working business, tours run at set times, and the most convenient time slots book up quickly, especially at weekends and in season. The ticket here is really the tour: you choose a programme that covers the galleries and, if you like, a tasting.
When you travel with me, booking is my job: I find out which times Cricova has free and plan the day around them. The tour and tasting are not included in the trip price. You pay for them at Cricova or through me, and either way the price is the same: the winery's price list, with no mark-up from me.
Allow about an hour and a half for the gallery tour with a tasting. The basic programme is a route underground ending in a tasting room. Part of the way you ride: the car drives straight into the tunnel, and for most guests that is the most unexpected minute of the day. There is some walking, but no marathon.
I allow extra time for Cricova in the day's itinerary, so nobody has to rush and you can choose a bottle to take home in peace.
There are longer programmes too. On multi-day trips I sometimes add the deep cellar housing the wine collection to the basic programme. For a first visit, the regular one is plenty.
There is a standard tasting and an extended one, with lunch or without, and you decide when you book, not at the bar. On my day trip to Curchi and Old Orhei it is usually three wines and one sparkling. Cricova is particularly proud of its sparkling wine, and that is what guests most often take home.
My advice is simple. If wine is part of your holiday rather than its point, take the standard one. The extended one is for people who came for the wine and are happy to go to the hotel afterwards, not on to another monastery. Bottles to take home are sold right there at Cricova.
I arrange private trips to Cricova: only your group, a guide and a car for the whole day. There is also a group tour, where I bring guests together on the same route on the same day.
I shape the day's route around your group and agree the tour time with Cricova in advance. Language is easier too: I lead the day in English, German, Russian or Romanian, and for Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Bulgarian or French a guide from my team comes with you.
There are no strangers in your group: you walk the galleries with your own party and a guide. You may pass other visitors in the tunnels, but they do not join you. Cricova has its own guides for private visits, always available in English, German, Russian and Romanian. For Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Bulgarian or French, I check at booking whether Cricova has a guide in that language. I usually stay outside, but for a special occasion, or if you would feel more at ease with me there, I come along.
Couples who want the day to themselves. Families: I set the pace for children and grandparents, and child seats are available for children aged nine months and over, just tell me in advance. Business travellers with a free day between meetings. Small groups of friends too. The car depends on group size: a Toyota Prius+ for up to four, an Opel Vivaro for up to six, a Mercedes Sprinter for up to twenty.
If you are hosting business partners or celebrating an anniversary, I agree the visit with Cricova and plan the rest of the day around your schedule: lunch in Butuceni, a visit to Old Orhei or a stop at Milestii Mici. For wine lovers there is an extended programme with the deep cellar and a tasting with lunch. If you want me beside you inside, I come along. A delegation of up to twenty people travels in one vehicle. I organise the visit: you pay for the tour and tasting through me or on site, and never need to deal with the winery yourselves.
Tell me when you will be in Chișinău, how many of you there are and which language you want. I check which tour times are available at Cricova and suggest a day built around them. The classic is Curchi Monastery, Old Orhei, lunch in Butuceni and Cricova: Curchi, Old Orhei, Cricova. For a different route, say with a walk around Chișinău, we build the day around you: One day in Moldova, built around you.
Then I book you in at Cricova, pick you up in Chișinău, lead the whole day and bring you back. The trip price covers the guide, the car with fuel, pick-up and drop-off in Chișinău and water. The tour and tasting at Cricova are paid on site or through me, at the winery's prices with no mark-up; lunch is paid on site. If I am busy on your day, a guide from my team leads the same route in the same car, and I remain responsible for how it goes.
Yes. The basic tour at Cricova is accessible for wheelchair users, which is rare for an underground site: if someone in your group struggles with steps, Cricova works. A pushchair gets through as well. Children usually enjoy the ride through the tunnels more than the adults do, and the tasting, of course, is for adults only.
One rule: bring a jumper. It is cool underground all year, around +12 °C, so a light jacket is useful even in July. I remind everyone the day before, but the ones who get cold at Cricova are usually those who told me: "Don't worry, I never feel the cold."
Morning or late afternoon, depending on which times Cricova has free. We go all year round. The cellars do not depend on the weather, so Cricova is my backup plan for a rainy day: the weather turns, the plan doesn't.
Late in the day Cricova makes a good last stop: after the climb at Old Orhei the cool air underground is very welcome, and after the tasting the only place left to go is the hotel. You can also start with Cricova if a morning time is free and do the rest afterwards. At weekends and in season the most convenient time slots book up faster, so write early.
Cricova is ten kilometres from the city, so it is easy to build a day around it. Most often like this:
I have shown Cricova to guests for years, and I still enjoy watching grown adults photograph a "Cabernet" street sign at an underground crossroads. If you are planning a trip, write to me and I will check which tour times are available at Cricova and suggest a route for the day.
Send me a WhatsApp message with your travel date, how many of you there are and which language suits you. I will find out which times are free at Cricova and suggest a route for the day.
A delegation flies in for three days, with meetings in Chișinău and in Bălți. Here is how my team puts together transport for a programme like that, and what to put in your first email.
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