With a little bit of research, you can find excellent homestays in the world's biggest country - giving you a slice of Russian family life along with a place to rest your head.
Moscow homestays can be arranged through 'Uncle Pasha' (Paul Voytinsky), whose website is as chaotic, unhinged and entertaining as several decades of Russian history. He offers homestays in private houses with English-speaking hosts for no more than £20 per person, per night. Outside of Moscow, finding a hotel is all part of the fun of Russian travel but it can seem draining after the umpteenth babushka has grumbled "nyet" over the din of a TV soap opera. Foreign guests are still too much of a hassle, it seems.
Krasnoyarsk, an industrial city halfway between Yekatarinburg and Irkutsk, may not be first on the list of Trans-Siberian stopovers, but this industrial city ringed by hills and split by the mighty Yenisei river, is a great place to explore. Running a homestay service here is local university lecturer Anatoliy Brewhanov, whose home is located in the western outskirts of the city. From the outside it's unprepossessing, but his tower-block flat is spacious and airy, and the sofa beds are a comforting change from train bunks.
Brewhanov believes Russian hospitality's future may lie in grassroots services like this. "Ninety per cent of foreign visitors just go to Moscow, St Petersburg and the Golden Ring - just 10% travel to other places," he says over coffee at his kitchen table. "As long as there are not many visitors the local governments do not seem to be interested, but I believe initiatives like ours, off the beaten track, could change this. And at our level it makes sense if we're only dealing with ten or fifteen people a month. We're more flexible."
Jack Shermetoff, in Irkutsk, specializes in tours and trips around Lake Baikal. When we reach him a few days travel beyond Krasnoyarsk, the garrulous Jack's warm and welcoming apartment is booked out, but he has us in an alternative just down the road within minutes. The couple hosting us are as friendly as can be. While they don't speak English, their teenage son does - an oddly formal English completely at odds with his gangly frame. Breakfasts are substantial, and the cost - £10 per person, per night - is a bargain.
Another option is the St Petersburg-based Host Families Association (HOFA). It charges a joining fee, but has English-speaking host families in 60 cities across Russia and the former Soviet Union.
Find out more:
Cheap Moscow
Siberian Tour Guide
Baikaler
HOFA
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