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This trip will take you across Russia tracing its often tragic history and taking you to places less traveled by the majority of visitors to the country.
In Kazan you'll get to see a different side of Russia - this is the capital of Tatarstan and exploring the city on foot with a local guide will give you an interesting insight into the Muslim Tatar culture as you visit mosques and try the traditional sweets like "chak chak" from market stalls.
Travelling from place to place we will be using public transport, be it local trains and buses to small out of the way towns to overnight train journeys to cover the big distances of this immense nation. Using public transport is fantastic opportunity to interact with local people traveling the same route.
The accommodation used on this trip varies but will really give you a true experience of the local culture. In St Petersburg we stay in a small locally owned guesthouse, while in Suzdal we rent a traditional wooden country house from Lena, our local friend who may even come around in the morning to prepare a pancake breakfast! Travellers also have the chance to stay with a Siberian family in a small village between Tobolsk and Tyumen for the night where you'll no doubt be touched by the warmth and hardiness of the villagers.
At the conclusion of the trip travellers are encouraged to donate toiletries and unwanted clothes to Nochlezhka in St Petersburg, one of the community projects we support. Nochlezhka is an NGO looking after the needs of the city's many homeless people.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
