Tahiti

Tahiti might be most people's idea of paradise, but it's a paradise that doesn't come cheaply. Now there's a way to cut the cost and interact with the locals.

The tourist board's new website that gives details of family stays throughout the archipelago. Staying with Ato and Cornia at their over-water guesthouse on Fakarava, for example, costs £71 pp per night full-board. Details: www.tahiti-pensions.com.

Wales

The world's best homestay holidays

The only way to get under the skin of a place is to stay with a local. Here's how to homestay in India, Africa, South America and more

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What's the difference between a B&B and a home-stay? “A willingness to interact, not just hand over the keys and vanish,” says Kathleen Coleman at Tregarth Homestay near Bangor in Gwynedd. “We have an open kitchen and we cook for guests and chat while they sit at the table.

If he's got time, my husband Peter will take people out round the mountains.” The Coleman's home is a good base from which to explore Snowdon, Caernarfon and Anglesey. Details: 01248 600532, www.tregarth-homestay.com; doubles including breakfast from £55.

Belarus

OK, so there's a McDonald's in Minsk but, that aside, if you dream of escaping from coffee chains and the could-be-anywhere-ness of Noughties life, then Belarus is for you. Particularly if you stay with a rural family, helping them to milk the cows, pick berries and mushrooms in the forest and chop wood.

In the Lida region, you could extend your trip for a few days for fishing or canoeing down the Neman River. Expect to pay from £17 pp per night full board. Details: 00 375 17 2510076, www.greenbelarus.com). Belavia Airlines (www.belavia.by) flies three times a week from London to Minsk in summer.

South Africa

Johannesburg doesn't exactly have the best public image in the world. Get a good guide and use common sense, however, and you'll most likely come away with a lasting impression of a vibrant, cosmopolitan and fun city. Sure, stay in ritzy Sandton with its malls and open-top BMWs if you want, but to see how the vast majority of Jozi's residents live, spend some time in Soweto.

Rainbow Tours can arrange for you to be picked up at the airport, have a full day tour and stay with a family overnight from £110pp including breakfast. Try to go to a local jazz joint for a really memorable night out. Details: 020-7226 1004, www.rainbowtours.co.uk

India

Village Ways, winner of the Times Travel Green Spaces award, offers walks in India in the Binsar wildlife sanctuary, towards the Tibet border. The idea is to become more involved with the community than on some treks in the region that skirt around village life.

For example in the village of Risal Ishwar Datt Joshi will advise guests on local history, and in Kathdhara Bacchi Singh will show guests local farms and let them help with activities in the fields if they want. Details: 01223 750049, www.villageways.com. From £630pp for nine nights excluding flights.

Peru

You can stare at a language textbook for years and get nowhere. Immerse yourself in a foreign country for a few days, however, and find that words and phrases magically stick - even more so if you practise with a host family.

Journey Latin America can add a one-week language course and home-stay in Cuzco as part of a longer stay in South America, so you can work on your Spanish before setting off to nearby Machu Picchu. Details: 020-8747 8315, www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk, from £309pp, including tuition and accommodation, but not flights.

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