Ungheni can now be seen end to end, with a guide and along a set thread. In early July, the Ungheni Tourist Information Centre officially launched its first guided walking route through the city — „Ungheni – Urban Value” — a tour of 17 stops at cultural, historical, architectural and spiritual landmarks.
According to the centre’s announcement, the tour lasts roughly an hour and a half to two hours, starts from the same place — the Tourist Information Centre building — and can be taken Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.. It is not a walk on your own with a map in hand: the activity is guided and interactive, designed alike for pupils, organised groups and tourists, and places are booked in advance, at the phone number or address the centre provides.
Among the 17 landmarks, the centre puts the markers the city is identified by — from the „Eiffel” bridge over the Prut, the railway structure on the edge of Ungheni, to the cathedral in the centre. These are the points a resident of Ungheni passes every day without stopping, and which a visitor would otherwise not know how to string into a single story.
Beyond the walk itself, the route is one of the few concrete and visible products of a large investment. The Tourist Information Centre was built with almost three million lei through the European „Mayors for Economic Growth” programme, and its stated role is precisely to put Ungheni on the tourist map. Yet the figures also show the stakes behind it: the district’s accommodation capacity has dropped to about a third of its 2008 level — a sign that a city wanting tourists needs not only routes, but also places for them to stay overnight.
For the people of Ungheni who want to rediscover their city or show it to guests, the tour remains, for now, the simplest way to cover it in an organised fashion. Bookings are made at the Ungheni Tourist Information Centre, during the announced opening hours.