Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

'The beautiful South Downs' - my home swap in Sussex

The beautiful South Downs, West Sussex

"Vaughan and Sally's home is a pebble's throw from the beach in one direction, and a couple of miles from the southern edge of the South Downs in the other. It's also convenient (walking distance) for shops, restaurants and pubs (we particularly recommend the Georgi Fin micropub).

The vibrant city of Brighton, with its charismatic and quirky shopping areas, restaurants and pubs (the Lord Nelson on Trafalgar St near the railway station is especially good) is easily accessible by train from West Worthing railway station, which is only 15-20 minutes` walk away, and Worthing Pier is also just a short walk away on the very pleasant promenade (which incidentally also boasts an excellent children`s playground at its closest point to their home).

Sally and Vaughan were excellent exchangers - great communication, left our house lovely, clean and tidy, etc. Thanks for a very enjoyable exchange!"

- Evelyn

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Highlights of our home swap in West Sussex:

1. Walking the beautiful South Downs
2. Excellent communication with Sally and Vaughan
3. A day out in Brighton

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Meet the members:   Check out Sally and Vaughan's beautiful home swap offer in West Worthing.  Also check out Evelyn's (pictured in photo) home swap offer in Yorkshire, a lovely stone Victorian home in the market town of Penistone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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Arrange free holiday accommodation

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and enjoy free accommodation. 

• Search thousands of home exchange offers

A wonderful one-week home exchange in Oxford

The iconic 'Radcliffe Camera' - library building behind the famous Bodleian Library

"We have just returned from a week in Oxford - our home exchange partners wanted to walk in the Peaks and we wanted to wander a city. We stayed in a small apartment, just a short bus ride from Oxford city centre, so we travelled in most days. So much to see and do! On the days which were too hot, we spent our time in one of the many museums or university buildings, and on other days, we managed to get out and about to the surrounding areas.

The city of Oxford is quite small and easy to walk - we picked up a self guided walking tour to give us the feel of the place and decide what we wanted to return to later. The astonishing Pitt-Rivers Museum swallowed up several hours! Take yourself back to the 1950s - a dimly lit, multi-layered universe of glass cases, full of all manner of objects from African spears to Indian embroideries - beautifully displayed and explained. It it attached to the Natural History Museum - astonishing skeletons of long-gone species,rocks, jewels, maps, arts and crafts, and hands-on items for children to get close to. Then the Ashmolean Museum sucked up another day - a huge place, which rivals the British
Museum in London, easily! Then the Botanical Gardens - the weirdest, most aggressive-insect-eating, boldly coloured plants, beautiful lilypads, herbal medical plants, and all manner of native and exotic flowers. The architecture of the city itself was so beautiful! Constructed at a time when benefactors valued artistic merit as much as functionality - sweeping staircases, inlaid marble, carved stone and gilded statues in places where students have studied for hundreds of years - and continued to do so! The trip out to Blenheim Palace though was extraordinary - we converted our day ticket to an annual one at no extra cost and went back twice - we still didn't manage to see everything! I would love to return at Christmas and see the displays then! No expense was spared in the construction and decoration of this stately residence, and the tourists who visit are treated to additional spectacles of costumed figures walking about, entertainments, children's areas, huge gardens and plenty of places to stop and stare, or take in a coffee with a view.

We also managed to fit in a few trips to the pubs frequented by the famous Inspector Morse - there are plenty of literary celebrities whose footsteps you can tread too in your wanderings about town. August was a very busy month there - so many summer schools running for overseas students, as well as the usual tourist routes including it on trips out of London. We probably clocked us as many miles as our exchange partners who came to Derbyshire for a 'walking holiday'! - Oxford has a lot of fascinating backstreets and passageways!

Oxford would be great at any time of year - you could plan indoor and outdoor activities to suit our unpredictable weather, but get out and walk about too if you can - there is so much to see!"

- Jen and Fred

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Highlights of our home swap in Oxford:

1. Walking around and exploring the beautiful city
2. Visiting the fabulous Pitt-Rivers Museum
3. Wonderful day trip to Blenheim Palace  

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Meet the member:   Check out Jen & Fred's beautiful home swap offer in Derbyshire. This two bedroom home is located on the edge of Belper, a market town in the World Heritage Area of the Derwent Valley. Also check out their home swap offer in France. This fabulous two bedroom medieval town house is in the village or Soreze, set at the foot of Les Montagnes Noires - just north of the Pyrenee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Arrange free holiday accommodation

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and enjoy free accommodation. 

• Search thousands of home exchange offers

Home swapping: make a good impression, upload photos of a tidy home

Don and Rita's stunning home exchange in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Don and Rita, the owners of this stunning holiday home (above) with private beach front in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, are very experienced home swappers who recently shared tips on how members could best use photos to ‘sell’ the idea of coming to stay in their homes. If your home has a view like this, selling your home exchange offer should be a cinch!

Of course, not everyone can offer such stunning views and the majority of homes available to exchange will be smaller (and probably not offer a private beach!). However, what every member should do to create a good first impression is to ensure that their home is tidy before taking photos.

Home swap tip: Don and Rita browsed through a couple of home and garden magazines to get some ideas on how best to display and photograph their home.

 

Tidying doesn’t mean depersonalising your home; there’s no need to hide away family photos, books and interesting items you have on display (the things that make a house a home, not a show home) but rather to clear unsightly clutter, e.g. 

• Make sure beds are freshly made up and covers smoothed
• No clothes, toys, newspapers, junk is left lying around
• Definitely no kitchen sinks and work surfaces stacked with last night’s dirty dishes

Another important point that Don makes is that, with the photos uploaded of their own homes, members are giving an impression of how they may look after a home entrusted to them and the state they might leave it in at the end of the home exchange. Now the vast vast majority of members leave a home exactly as they found it on arrival (often better!) but those all-important first impressions you give of your own home do count.

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We have covered how to take good photos of your home in previous blog posts such as: Five tips: to make your home swap photos stand out

Home Swappers newsletter: discover your next destination

Looking to embrace the cold months or escape to the sun? You will find a home exchange holiday offer to suit you. Check out the latest issue of our home exchange newsletter for home swap tips, offers and member stories. 

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In this issue of the newsletter:

• Featured home swap offers: Greek island swap on Crete | UNESCO heritage town of Briancon, France | Houseboat swap in Yorkshire, England | Akkaya Lake home swap in Turkey | luxury central London home swap
• Swap stories: our excellent home exchange in Valencia, Spain
• Promotional code: save 15% on your home swap membership

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>>> View this issue of the Home Swappers newsletter

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Swap homes for free holiday accommodation Arrange anything from a weekend getaway exchange or even a long term six+ month exchange. Browse thousands of home exchange vacation offers Sign up today: add your home to Home Base Holidays so that you can start contacting other members to arrange your home exchange. Join Home Base Holidays

My wonderful home swap with Chrissy in Conwy, Wales

Home swap in Conwy, North Wales: beautiful coastal walks

"I have just arrived home from a wonderful home swap in north Wales. We went with friends, one of whom is a keen walker and climber, so could show us the ropes. I was aware how beautiful North Wales is, but was stunned by the beauty of the mountains and seascapes... and so many romantic and historic stories are linked with the area, so much to see and learn.

Chrissy's home is really lovely and very comfortable, I could not believe how spacious the bungalow was.... I am now even contemplating buying one. The bungalow is really well placed for easy access to everything from a mountain top to Tesco!

We have decided to arrange another home exchange with Chrissy in the near future, as they would like to explore more here, and we would love more time there. Many thanks Chrissy for a wonderful holiday."

- Marguerite

Photos from the home swap

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Highlights our home swap in Conwy, North Wales:

1. Stunning mountains and beaches
2. Excellent communication
3. Very pretty, spacious and cosy bungalow

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Meet the members:   Check out Chrissy and Emlyn's (in photo) beautiful cottage home exchange offer in Conwy, Wales.  View Marguerite's beautiful home swap offer in Harrogate, England

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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Arrange free holiday accommodation

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and enjoy free accommodation. 

• Search thousands of home exchange offers