What does a city look like when its streets are lined with wine instead of houses? Less than half an hour from Chișinău, two of them lie under the hills: Mileștii Mici and Cricova. Together they keep more than three million bottles in tunnels that were once dug for building stone.
Mileștii Mici: the largest wine collection in the world
Mileștii Mici is 18 km south of Chișinău, in the Ialoveni district. For centuries, limestone was cut from under the village to build houses. The old quarries became a wine cellar in 1969, and today they form more than 200 km of galleries, with about 55 km used for wine.
Guinness World Records lists Mileștii Mici as the largest wine collection by number of bottles. When the record was set in 2005 the cellar held 1.5 million bottles; today the collection is close to two million.
The visit is unusual: you drive through the tunnels in a car or minibus, along underground streets named after grape varieties, then stop in the tasting halls deep below the surface. The temperature stays at 12–14 °C all year, which is ideal for wine.
Cricova: an underground wine town
Cricova is 15 km north of Chișinău. Its tunnels, also old limestone quarries, run for 120 km and reach up to 80 m below ground. The winery was founded here in 1952. The underground roads have wine names: Cabernet, Fetească, Aligoté, Sauvignon.
Visitors ride through the galleries on a small electric train. On the way you see the cellars where Cricova makes its sparkling wine by the classic method, with the second fermentation in the bottle, and the collection of about 1.3 million bottles. The oldest bottles date from 1902.
A local legend says that Yuri Gagarin went down into the cellars in 1966 and came back up two days later, with some help.
Mileștii Mici or Cricova?
| Mileștii Mici | Cricova | |
|---|---|---|
| Distance from Chișinău | 18 km south | 15 km north |
| Tunnels | 200+ km (about 55 km with wine) | 120 km |
| Bottles | Close to 2 million (Guinness record) | About 1.3 million in the collection |
| How you move inside | By car or minibus | By electric train |
| Best for | The scale of the cellars and the record | Sparkling wine and the historic collection |
You don’t have to choose. The two cellars are on opposite sides of Chișinău, about 40 minutes apart, so both fit into one day.
Tips for your visit
- Bring a warm layer. It is 12–14 °C underground, even in July.
- Wear comfortable closed shoes.
- Both cellars can be visited only with a guided tour, so book ahead, especially at weekends and around National Wine Day on the first weekend of October.
- Wine tastings are for guests aged 18 and over.
- Don’t plan to drive after the tasting. With a private guide and driver, you can enjoy every glass.
- Both wineries have shops. Check your airline’s rules before packing bottles in your luggage.
Visit both cellars with us
Our Moldova Tour – 5 Days includes tastings at both Cricova and Mileștii Mici. The Moldova Wine Tour – 4 Days and the 2-Day Wine & History Tour both include Cricova. All our tours are private, for groups of up to 8 travellers, with free cancellation.
Want a different plan? Write to us at welcome@toursofmoldova.com and we will put together a day in the cellars around your dates.