Hungary & Romania Ag-Venture Tour

Hungary      & Romania       Exotic Names & Unique Tastes

May 23 – June 7, 2014 

Starting with a tour of the Central Market, Notre-Dame church and Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest, we next head to the wine-tasting area at the baroque town of Eger and wine trade exhibits at Tokaj to talk and tour with the vintner.   A tour of the Tokoczi Castle will be especially fascinating. We’ll tour Puszta City by cart and then learn about Hungarian gray cattle, buffaloes, Mangaliza swine, Racka sheep and see  a brief equestrian show. at Hortobagy National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. More Hungarian breeds of livestock and fowl to learn about at Tuba Farm before travelling to Roszke on the southern border to learn about Paprika, the “pepper of the poor”. Tasting local produce and learning about geese farming will be a novel experience before driving to Szeged to tour the palace, cathedral and enjoy a cruise on the Tisza River. Large scale production of vegetables, crops, fruits & wines will peak our interest in the region of Mako Szeged.  Learn about production and marketing Mako onion in Europe. Explore a typical Hungarian village at Ambrozfalva.  A Hungarian farewell dinner by the Fekete family who will serve a traditional feast complete with live gypsy music before departing by bus for Romania on May 30.

Arriving by bus from Hungary, we travel through picturesque countryside to overnight at Sibiu and tour the Hunyad Castle dating from the Middle Ages. Many of Romania’s 19 million inhabitants live in smaller towns and touring the Huert Square, Liars Bridge & Cathedrals in this town will give us an insight into everyday life.  Next, we’re off  to Sighisoara to visit the Fortified Church of Bietan (a UNESCO World Heritage site). Then, we learn all about organics at the ecological farm Tzopa.  Sample their honey, jams, vegetables & milk products before continuing to overnight at the town of Sighisoara, another UNESCO site and birthplace of infamous Dracula with dinner at the Dracula Restaurant in the medieval citadel.  Next day, we travel through picturesque Bicaz Gorges and stop in Lacu Rosu to tour an organic fish farm and taste their fresh trout.  When we arrive in Piatra Neamt, we’ll enjoy a barbeque dinner with traditional Romanian folklore before checking into the Central Plaza hotel. 

TCE 3 Brazi Farm is the most representative farm in Neamt County. We tour the fields, abattoir and enjoy an open air lunch of meats, cheeses & schnapps produced at the farm.  At Agrotrade Company we will learn about machinery, seeds, pesticides & field trials of ag business in Romania. En route next day to Brasov, we visit the potato research center and visit the vertically integrated Targu Secuiesc followed by a city tour and overnight stay at Brasov. Next morning, we visit the vertically integrated Seriana Group farms  SERGIANA  brand meats are well known in Romania. We’ll also visit EcoFarm, one of the most modern livestock farms in this country where 40% of the land mass is arable.  That afternoon, we travel to Bran, tour Dracula Castle and visit Bucegi Farm, to sample traditional cheese made in “fir tree bark”.  The final day in Romania will be spent at AGRIPLANTA, a large, outdoor farm show with displays and demos.