Camping In Russia

There is camping but not in the middle of cities. You could camp in the Lake Baikal area but that's really about it.

Plan to stay in hostels, or homestays or with people through groups like
hospitalityclub.org
couchsurfing.com
place2stay.net
globalfreeloaders.com

Unless you are planning to go to rural places forget about bringing camping gear.

Ruth

Very general advice follows:

I've not been camping along the Trans-Siberian area, but will suggest two contradictory points:
a) it will be much more difficult than you imagine
b) it will be relatively easy if you can find students to do this with

I have no idea what the rules or regs might be (full disclosure!) where you're going, but the Russians I met on the Black Sea were camping at the edges of towns in numbers like I have never seen! Russians definitely have a thriving backpacker culture - my 19yo friend invited me to sleep with him on the rocks, with the stars for my ceiling - I could only imagine the backache & mozzies. And he thought I was crazy/rich, to spend $60./night for a hotel room.

There should be some camping forums - IN RUSSIAN. And we're supposing you're stopping at natural places that Russian backpackers might go, along the Trans-Siberian railway? Tavolgi? You should make detailed plans, based on research. Do you know these places?

My experience in the tourism-friendly Crimea is that nothing's online in English , internet access is unreliable, don't presume anything works like Western Europe! Not speaking Russian, for two summers I've attached to Russians, Ukrainians, Byelo-Russians and I find my expenses drop 50% or more: they know the system and ways to save money, etc. I don't.

Find and connect with good locals/natives, and you'll save money. Otherwise, prepare to do research full time with online translators like Babelfish, guessing words - even that won't save you much (or find the cheaper options) if 'getting there' requires Russian.

You saw this? I thing a Russian student might spend 25% what they did ...

I have to agree with E_Armand that there is plenty of camping but not in cities along the Trans Siberian route unless you get outside the city. For example, there is a place not far from Yekaterinburg in the Urals on the EurAsia border where people hike and camp but its a drive from the city and without a car there is no easy transportation from there back to the city.

There is plenty of camping in Lake Baikal and in parks but not parks in Moscow or Petersburg or any other city. Camping is find almost exclusively in resort areas.

Yes, if you can attach yourself to locals, you can find cheaper places to stay and possibly to camp but there are no guarantees about this particularly along this route.

Ruth

There is a lot of space in Russia, and the infrastructure is not very dense. So, the basic rules here are not about finding authorized places to camp (there is no general law, prohibiting this), but about finding a suitable place.

There will not be a lot of info about it on Internet in any language - maybe only advices about some particular places. General advices regarding safety and convenience are simple in words, but should require some practice: just find a calm place, which is not inside a village or a city, and not on a road. E.g., on a lake shore, or at a river bank, separated by forest and not visible for people going by a road or living in a village. The place also should have plenty of firewood (it can be really cold in the evening without fire). Really, if you could find a Russian native, who could show you some tips about camping, that would be very helpful for you.

But the main problem with you is that you don't travel by yourself (i.e. make your way by feet/bike etc.), but you plan to arrive by train to the central station. Imagine e.g. 1.5 mln. Novosibirsk -- there is no suitable place for maybe 30 km around the city center. Camping in such case is not effective in Russia. If a Russian stays in a large city, he prefers rather to find relatives/friends to live in their house, than using a tent. Also, hitch-hikers have very developed system of staying in cities on a short budget, read e.g. here http://www.avp.travel.ru/
(look for "вписка") but it's not easy and straightforward, and requires knowledge of Russian.

Heya!

Thanks loads for all your help: i've really enjoyed looking at your links, though i have to admit, looking for вписка in the midst of cryllic alphabets is sth i didnt even try to attempt:P Sad to say, we've decided to give up on the idea of wild camping considering that we will not have bikes to travel to the outskirts, though the link which E_armand gave definitely did spark off an idea of doing a cycling trip in China after graduation!