Eco-Resort Butuceni
Restored manor in the Butuceni museum-village, above the Răut meander
Stay in a restored peasant house + authentic Bessarabian dinner
Worth it if you're after lodging in the Butuceni museum-village - a restored manor above the bend of the Răut and authentic Bessarabian dinners.
Eco-Resort Butuceni is the pension that opened the village of Butuceni to tourism in 2008 (it began buying houses in 2004), when Anatolie Botnaru came to own 20 traditional 19th-century peasant houses (7 of them agrotourism pensions) built of wood, clay and straw, preserving the original architecture. Rooms open onto the Răut meander - a direct view to Butuceni Rock and the cave monastery. The kitchen serves an exclusively Bessarabian menu (clay-pot zeamă, hearth-baked pies, mămăligă with cheese and cracklings, cauldron lamb, barrel house wine) at long tables in a stone-walled hall. Activities: guided tour of the Old Orhei complex, hike to the cave monastery, carriage rides, folk-musicians evenings, ethnographic museum in the courtyard.
- a storybook village
- traditional food
- a location like no other
- The cellar-hall with dried herbs
- Long tables set for lunch
- View from the cliff over the Răut
- Stone and shingle entrance
Probably my favorite place to bring someone who wants to taste traditional Moldovan food. Butuceni does a great job of making our traditions feel alive instead of turning them into a museum display. I love the food, the old houses and especially the cellars packed with pickles, preserves and everything our grandparents used to prepare for winter. It's also a perfect ending to a day hiking around Orheiul Vechi, and there are different traditional workshops and masterclasses that can be added to the experience.
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“We had Sunday lunch here after visiting the monastery. The setting is quite nice, and it is very sweet to have so many animals there. Super cute cats running around, and the goat enclosure is a nice touch. The service was moderate. It took us 3 different people until we found a waiter that could actually tell us what seats were available and serviced. The food was not terrible,…”
“Fantastic food and fabulous setting. I recommend the pickled vegetables and borsch (not the chicken soup). Food arrived within 15 min Absolutely abysmal service. Do not wait for service - you'll die of old age first - pick you're own menu up and go to order inside. Very limited English (though better than my Romanian...) Recommended booking to eat inside. You can probably fin…”
“My stay at Eco Resort Butuceni was an experience I’ll never forget. ♥️ Tucked away in the heart of Moldova, inside the beautiful Orheiul Vechi Natural and Cultural Reservation, this place is pure magic. The surroundings are breathtaking — peaceful hills, the Răut River flowing gently nearby, and a sense of history that you can truly feel in the air. It’s a protected natural are…”
- Last few km on unfinished road
- Booking required on weekends