bixy Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Since the French all take their holidays at the same time, out of season accommodation can be incredibly cheap. Mid August €800, mid May or September €200. That's for a two room apartment for a week. And those months can be very nice, pleasantly warm without roasting. Pick up some brochures, especially the supermarket ones.Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Supermarkets?Any UK websites advertising these cheap rates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 If you have any preference to any part of France then it is a good idea to look at the web sites of the Tourist Infomation in that area. They will be able to give you details of all sorts of accomodation at all sorts of prices.One of the best sites for a different 'gite' in our area is www.penichelodela.com . You may well find a very pleasent surprise?I have no connection appart from knowing the quality of this gite and the lovely tranquility of where it is located on the Canal du Midi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liz Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 To get a holiday without paying accommodation costs why not try a home swap? There are a number of web sites that provide listings of people who want to do this all over the world and you can also swap your holiday home. A modest fee will give you a listing for a year. The only down side so far as I can see is that you have to get your own house in a reasonably tidy state beforehand[+o(].Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 [quote user="liz"]To get a holiday without paying accommodation costs why not try a home swap? There are a number of web sites that provide listings of people who want to do this all over the world and you can also swap your holiday home. A modest fee will give you a listing for a year. The only down side so far as I can see is that you have to get your own house in a reasonably tidy state beforehand[+o(].Liz[/quote]As I've posted before, we've done this lots of times with both our main home in the UK and our second home in France. This year we spent Easter in New York (6 bed 4 bath brownstone in a very smart part of Brooklyn just 15 minutes from downtown Manhattan). July we are going to Prince Edward Island in Canada for just over two weeks - again a very nice 6 bed 3 bath house. The NY trip cost us the £240 each return flights plus spending money, the Canada trip is costing us £500 return plus £388 for 16 days car hire. Next Feb we are off to Rio for 10 days for carnaval for just the cost of the flights (staying in a lovely 3 bedroom apartment 5 minutes from both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches). Summer 2010 we are swapping for a 4 bedroom villa with a private swimming pool 5 minutes from the beach in Aruba in the Carribean. We also have swaps 'banked' for a beach house on a private island off the cast of N Carolina and a lovely spanish style house in Southern California. For both of these we will probably agree other swaps so we can see the area properly (our first retirement wanderings!). Previous swaps have included: Iceland, skiing in the CZ Republic, Portugal, Galway and the Burren on the west coast of Ireland, a 6 bed maison de maitre by the sea in Britanny, a beach house in Spain... The other alternative is 'couchsurfing.com' which we also do...to allow our older kids to indulge their wanderlust! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lollie Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 In comparison to your swaps how big is your house? Often thought about this, but not sure if our house would be up to standard. Lollie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 We have never liked the idea of other people that we don't know staying in our house and poking around? The preperation beforehand would take any edge off it for us.If we want a good, cheap holiday we just chuck the tent in the car and go. No hassles or complications and putting personal things away safe, just lock the doors and enjoy the break. Mind you, since we have been here we have so much to look at with a couple of hours drive there is no reason to go anywhere else for the forseeable future. Maybe one day we will go back to owning a caravan again and that is something that I would enjoy again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 [quote user="Lollie"]In comparison to your swaps how big is your house? Often thought about this, but not sure if our house would be up to standard. Lollie[/quote]Our house in the UK is a 4 bed cottage; in France it's a 5 bed house. We have swapped with houses and apartments larger and smaller than our own. If it's a destination we really want to visit we are happy to stay in a smaller place. The properties on the home exchange listings range from modest studios, apartments and terraced houses to luxury 10 bed mansions on private beaches etc complete with a full complement of staff....with everything in between.Jonzjob - it is much easier to swap our house in France but having swapped our home in the UK a few times we can now get ready for a swap fairly quickly. The kids are now well versed in pre swap preparations and will 'blitz' their rooms fairly rapidly. The first swap is the most traumatic - it's very weird that first time - walking into someone's house knowing they are wandering around your home. The kids were also a bit freaked about the idea of other kids going through their stuff. However, after the initial time we all don't really think about it now. We have usually emailed and spoken to our swappers many times in the lead up to a swap so by the time we exchange we feel like we know them quite well. In fact we have stayed friends with a lot of the people we have exchanged with. In any case, any really important stuff is always locked away and we have a 'guest' user set up on our pc so our files etc are safe. TBH the benefits of all the home comforts at the swap house are worth the minor hassles of getting the house ready. We also get lots of inside information from our exchangers: where to go and where to avoid, best restaurants, markets etc, hidden gems we would otherwise have missed, theatre tickets, passes, invites to events, discount offers, public transport passes etc. It was actually quite therapeutic getting ready for the first swap. It makes you look at your home with a fresh pair of eyes and we cleared out so much clutter and junk we had hoarded over the years. We are now a lot more organised...even the airing cupboard has the bed linen etc boxed and labelled by room! The idea was to make it easier for swappers to find the right bed linen but we found it makes life so much easier for us too....no more rearranging the linen cupboard when the kids have been rifling through looking for a change of sheets! We used to have a caravan a few years ago but found that as the kids got bigger it was very cramped. I also developed problems with my back and found the beds increasingly difficult to sleep on and my OH was finding hitching it up to the car etc mauling in his 'older years'...hence we sold it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Good article in the times last Sunday for any one who might be interested in this type of holiday: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/where_to_stay/article6585189.ece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now