Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Our idyllic home swap summer holiday in Cornwall ❤️

Staycation in Cornwall: an idyllic swap staying in a lovely village "Just home after an idyllic home swap summer holiday staying in Sally and Rob’s lovely bungalow in Cornwall. We arrived back to find our home very clean, tidy and with well-watered plants and garden... perfect! Their home in the Cornish village of Mawnan Smith was well equipped with everything we needed to make our holiday go really well - they included maps, ideas, BBQs, bikes, SUP boards and kayaks. Their kitchen / lounge space opens up to a sunny terrace, ideal after a day of walks along the stunning coastal paths. On their recommendation we had a superb meal at The Ferryboat in Helford Passage, ate and drank in many Falmouth pubs, enjoyed the local Pizza van that calls in the village on Fridays - great gluten free option too.  The £7 ferry to St Mawes was delightful. We tried to eat at the highly rated Hidden Hut but it was very busy so instead we had an excellent bowl of mussels at the Rosevine Hotel with views to die for. The National Trust Durgan Gardens were beautiful as were the gardens in St Mawes. Walking around The Lizard and Kynance Cove was amazing and we had the chance to do some seal spotting. The King Harry ferry took us over to explore the wonders of the Roseland Heritage Coastline with the stunning Porthcurnick beach a favourite... in fact we loved this whole area of Cornwall. Thanks to you all for such a fantastic home swap summer holiday!" - Barbara & Stuart (Wrexham, Wales)

Highlights of the home swap: Ferry from Falmouth to explore St Mawes Friendly Cornish village of Mawnan Smith with lovely pub, coffee shop, craft fair, shop and splendid beaches Kindness and fun communication with Sally & Rob

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Photos from the home swap in Cornwall

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View their home exchange holiday offers:

Overton-on-Dee, Wrexham, Wales (HE40395) Stunning, spacious, sunny home on the Welsh / Cheshire / Shropshire border. Heated swimming pool (June, July and August). Charles Darwin spent many a summer next door with the local GP and his sister ...so maybe as the house was the orchard, you may well step where he did! View Home Base Holidays offer	Mawnan Smith, Cornwall, England (HE39824) Mawnan Smith is a lovely village surrounded by woodland leading down to numerous beaches. The pet friendly bungalow is near to centre of village and just a few minutes walk to the coastal path and beaches. Musical instruments, kayaks, surfboards and bikes available on request. View Home Base Holidays offer

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Home Base Holidays: join for free and start home swapping Sign up to Home Base Holidays two-week free trial or select a full membership (6-month membership is just £29 and 1-year at £49). Home swap guarantee: second year free if you do not arrange a swap during your membership.

Q&A: switching from holiday rentals to home swaps?

Q: We have a traditional cottage in Devon which we have been successfully holiday letting for many years. However, we are becoming more and more disillusioned with the holiday letting industry, with huge multinational corporations taking over the market and charging extortionate prices to us the property owners as well as the potential guests themselves. We are therefore looking at other options to make the property work for us and are very interested in home swapping.

As it is all new to us, we are a little nervous about arranging our first home swap and would appreciate any further help and advice you could offer.  Our main concern is that we are still worried about travelling while Covid is a threat (we are slightly more vulnerable than most) and while there are ongoing flight disruptions at many UK airports. 

 

This will be a learning curve for us but we're very keen to try home swapping and are hopeful that it could be way forward for our future travel plans. 

- Sally (Devon, England)

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A: It really does feel like the holiday rental market is getting very expensive both for property owners and their guests. Home swapping is an excellent alternative as, other than the small fee to join a home swap website, there are no additional costs ...which makes it a very affordable and very rewarding way to travel!

Your cottage in Devon sounds ideal and I am sure you will find lots of people that will really like to arrange a swap. The first step is to add your cottage to Home Base Holidays. You can either sign up to the two-week free trial or to a full membership (6-months is just £29). Once you've added your cottage, you can browse home swap offers and start contacting members to see if they would be interested in an exchange. 

 

Successful home swaps require good communication, so give yourself plenty of time to find a member that is interested in swapping with you and then make sure to discuss all details of the proposed swap before making any firm commitments. Stay in communication with your exchange partners in the lead up to the travel dates. 

 

House insurance: it’s very rare that we hear of problems during an exchange but it’s important to contact your house insurers to confirm your policy will cover the period your guests will be staying (we can also point you in the direction of reasonably price top up insurance for home swappers).

 

Home swapping helps you step away from the busy tourist trail and enjoy the space, comforts and safety of a home from home. This can be especially reassuring at this time while Covid is still a real concern.

• Check out our cleaning guidelines for home exchanging during Covid.

As a result of recent travel restrictions, we’ve seen a big increase in members looking for home exchanges closer to home (such as members in cities looking for swaps to the countryside). A good option for a first swap could be to arrange a shorter break such as a long weekend getaway within the UK. Once you have your first successful swap under your belt, you could then start planning a longer trip or even plan a swap abroad.

Understandably, it can be quite a daunting planning your first home swap holiday but we're always here to help in any way we can! Contact us with any questions

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Start planning your home swap holiday accommodation

Join Home Base Holidays: start home swapping Looking for a much needed break? Arrange free holiday accommodation by choosing to swap homes rather than book hotels or holiday rentals. View the latest home exchange vacation offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.