Duration: >12 hours.
Group size: up to 4 people.
Good to know: nobody has abolished mosquitoes and ticks in the Rominta Forest, so it is advisable to bring some kind of protection against both.
Guide: Mikhail.
Car: Škoda Roomster.
Phone: 8(906)217-39-69.
Chernyakhovsk
We will reach the first town on our way after Kaliningrad in about an hour. Chernyakhovsk (formerly Insterburg) has survived much better than the regional capital — there is plenty to see here. We will get to know two local castles — Insterburg, built by the Order, and the episcopal Georgenburg. The latter, however, we may leave out.
Villa Chibulinski now houses the Chernyakhovsk Children's Music School.
Chernyakhovsk is home to the region's main architectural sights.
The pseudo-Gothic façade of the People's Bank building (1910-11) in Gusev.
Gusev
From Chernyakhovsk to Gusev takes us about half an hour. In the very centre of town we will look at several unusual buildings from different periods and then hurry on to the main goals of our trip.
Krasnolesye
One of the most harmonious settlements in the Kaliningrad Region is surrounded by a relict forest — the Rominta Forest. Here we will visit the intimate Vishtynets Ecological and Historical Museum and the "Rominten" chocolate shop, and see the local church and a very distinctive monument to the villagers who died during the First World War, as well as a memorial to the Red Army soldiers who laid down their lives in these parts during the Second World War.
View from the Deer Bridge in Raduzhnoye of the Krasnaya (Rominta) stream.
If there is time left, we will walk to the local spring.
Lake Vishtynets.
Tokarevka
The village lies where the road leaves the Forest; here we will see the highest and most beautiful railway bridge in the region, beneath which flows the lively Krasnaya (Rominta) stream. Those who wish will be able to wade across it. Then — lunch at one of the best guest houses in the region, named "Rominta" after the stream.
Chistye Prudy
Here we will see the unique Lutheran church of Tollmingkehmen (1764) on the grounds of the museum dedicated to the founder of Lithuanian literature, Kristijonas Donelaitis, who served as pastor in the local church for a large part of his life.
Yagodnoye
After driving almost another twenty kilometres along the edge of the Rominta Forest, we will arrive at the final destination of our journey — Lake Vishtynets. Because it lies a considerable distance from any towns, its nature has remained practically untouched, yet the beach is well equipped and those who wish can swim in the crystal-clear water.
Photos by Mikhail Ogorodnikov.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
