Forget stuffy hostels, foul-smelling compartment trains, and overcrowded buses. If you have a driver’s license, or a friend who does, Russia reveals itself from a completely different angle. A recreational vehicle—a RV—is no longer just for American retirees in beige shorts. It’s a private mobile homestead that you can park anywhere on the globe.

Wild camping in the forest is romantic only for the first two days. By the third day, you start craving an outlet, a shower, and a decent stove. All of this is available to travelers in a recreational vehicle. You can stop in a remote area or at a specialized RV park. You arrive, plug into 220V, press the tank drain button, and go out to party like a civilized person. We’ll talk about these types of caravan sites and what you can see near them.

Moscow region campsites have already transformed into glamping experiences for those too lazy to set up a tent. The top spot is the «U Kremlya» campsite in Kolomna. Seriously, the parking is right next to the ancient Kremlin wall. You wake up to the church bells ringing for service. You step out of your «restaurant-carriage, ” buy some pastila for dessert, climb the Marinka Tower, head back, reheat some toast on the stove, and just chill. No renting through aggregators with their deposits and passport checks. You just drop anchor wherever you want to wander around and shoot some solid content.

If you’re craving water and a BBQ bash without the risk of getting fined for having a campfire in a nature reserve, head to the Oka River and stay at the «Camp» base near Stupino. They set up RVs right over the river. Five thousand rubles a night for a four-person trailer—that’s about a thousand rubles per person. Try finding a hotel with a water view for that price! I dumped my things, hopped on a SUP, and paddled out to find mermaids. The RV has a refrigerator. I stocked it with a crate of energy drinks and frozen burgers from back in Moscow, so I’m good for food.

For aesthetes and lovers of dark aesthetics, there is the Kaluga region and the «Ivolga» base. Thick spruce forest, a lake, a silence so profound it rings in your ears. It’s perfect for venting all the stress of a tough work week, setting up a portable speaker so the bass shakes the trees, and forgetting about work chats entirely. The «Ugra» National Park is nearby, in case you suddenly get inspired to embrace healthy living and want to hike through a real forest instead of walking the paved paths of Gorky Park.

Time for the hardcore stuff. We’re taking a course to Altai. Forget about sanatoriums with kefir for snacks. In Altai, there are proper RV parks like «Biryuzovaya Katun.» These are massive, paved fields equipped with all the necessary utilities. The best part is that nature comes to you. You don’t have to rattle along three hours on gravel roads to the Katu-Yaryk Pass. You park up, and in front of you is the turquoise Katun River and caves. During the day, you can ride horses or kayak down the river while your phone battery drains from trying to capture this beauty, and in the evening, you return to your home on wheels, fire up the console or a projector on the camper wall, and watch a movie. It’s absolute freedom of movement combined with cozy comfort.

The setup is the same everywhere. During the day, you drop your «rolling shed» off at a paid, secure parking lot or in a private sector of some Rostov Veliky, and you go wandering through museums, bars, and abandoned sites, unencumbered. At night, you return to your personal «capsule» complete with music and food. No midnight checkout at 12:00 AM—just good company, the road, and the beauty outside the window. Start the engine—change location. Romance? No, it’s pure pragmatism and comfort for those who despise hotels.