way-to-russia

WAY TO RUSSIA

Way to Russia Guide started after Dmitry Paranyushkin  traveled to Europe in 2000 and discovered how many people wanted to visit Russia but couldn’t do it because of all the red tape and lack of quality travel information. This gave him and his partner Dan Perushev  the idea, but the real motivation was friendship and love.

  • Rent-a-Village-House-with-a-Sauna-in-Russia

During his trip Dmitry met a beautiful girl (Celine), who wanted to visit him back in Russia. She had to get the Russian visa, but it seemed nearly impossible then. Step by step we (Dmitry, Dan, and Celine) learned everything about the process and put all this information online, so that nobody runs into the same problem again. The website was started, then. As we went on and met some of our first readers, went out with them together, showed them Moscow and other places – there was this unique moment of rediscovering your own country through the eyes of someone else who was coming from a totally different place. Many things that seemed a bit ridiculous, suddenly took on a whole new beautiful side to them (see the photo below), some other things that we liked seemed naive.

There was also this general feeling that Russia was not probably the best place to live, but through writing the guide we had to learn to love this place again. And maybe transforming it as well, by changing the people’s attitude. We were not interested in presenting things in a tongue-in-cheek, “look how clever I am and how fucked up everything else is” way, which is so common among travel guides. At the same time, no one wants to read a travel brochure. So our idea was to resuscitate the love for our habitat by introducing renewed pathos and affirmation into the language we use. Finding positive sides everywhere we can, without being too eager or naive. We think that we managed to pull this off quite well, mostly thanks to our readers who have always inspired us and have always been open to be as excited about Russia as we are.

Gorneshno Spa: Rent a Village House with a Sauna in Russia

Gorneshno is a village situated near Borovno lake in Taiga forests in the beautiful pristine Valdai National Parkbetween Moscow and St Petersburg. It’s perfect for a short break from the city life or for a stopover on the way between the two cities, as you can get there in just 3 hours with a train and a short taxi ride from either Moscow or St. Petersburg. Once you get to Gorneshno, you can experience the real Russian village life, try the Russian sauna, enjoy walks in the nearby Taiga forests, picking mushrooms and berries, swim in the vast pristine Borovno lake, do fishing, biking, camping at the lake, snowmobile riding, and many more activities.

What to Do at Gorneshno

Gorneshno Spa is a name we gave to the house that our friend Igor built in the village. It’s a small guesthouse with a sauna and a terrace kitchen on the ground floor and a beautiful stylish living space on the first floor. Igor works as a designer and film maker, so both the interior and exterior have a very special flair: there’s lots of light, it’s stylish but also authentic, comfortable and natural, the perfect place to chill and enjoy the nature. Igor lives in the big house next door. We like to come to see Igor a lot and we thought it would be a great idea to also offer the house to Way to Russia readers, so they can enjoy the Russian village in a comfortable way.
Gorneshno isgreat both in summer and in winter. During the summer months and early Autumn until mid-October you can pick mushrooms and lingonberries, do fishing and walks around the forests and the nearby Borovno lake (only 8 minutes by foot). During the winter you can experience the real Russian frost, beautiful as it is, in the comfort of the warm house with a great view. You can do walks, take snowmobile rides, and even do winter fishing. Of course, you can always do the sauna. Igor has a nice pond and a wild garden next to the house, so it’s a perfect place to rest and enjoy.
If you decide to travel around Gorneshno, you can go visit the nearby Valdai National Park and Iver Monastery (in about an hour’s drive) or visit the beautiful Novgorod Veliky, just 2 hours away. If you’re up for a trip into the wilderness, you can also go deep into the Taiga forests towards Korobozha lake (2 hours away).
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