Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

One of the best home exchanges we've ever done!

Paddy & Kath's sea view home in Ireland and Graham & Linda's thatched cottage in Suffolk

We love hearing from Home Base Holidays members about their home exchange holidays! Paddy & Kath swapped their seaside home on Ireland's stunning Ards Peninsula with Graham & Linda's lovely 18th Century thatched cottage in Suffolk.

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Graham & Linda's home swap just yards from the Irish Sea "This was one of the best home exchanges we've ever done, and we've completed exchanges all over the World! Firstly, the accommodation in Paddy and Kath's seaside home was superb, so comfortable we would have been quite happy to just sit and enjoy the stunning views of the sea! But there is so much more to see and do. The scenery along the coast and around the Lough are some of the best we've seen anywhere, the trip to Giants Causeway and the Rope Bridge was memorable as were the views. The two National Trust properties we visited (Mount Stewart and Castle Ward) were great and we spent several hours there enjoying the garden walks and views. In Belfast we visited the Titanic Exhibition which we highly recommend and also the Crumlin Road Prison, and Black Cab tours. We were spoilt for choice when deciding where to eat out, but the Artisan Cookhouse, that Kath recommended, was the pick of the bunch. I think our most striking memory will be the humour and friendliness of the people we met during our stay. Many thanks, Graham & Linda"

Highlights of the holiday: Superb sea views and beautiful countryside with lots of interesting places to visit Lovely comfortable house to come back to each evening Everyone we met was friendly, chatty and proud of their beautiful country

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Paddy & Kath's home swap to a thatched cottage in Suffolk "We had just over a week in The Nest, Graham and Linda's beautiful thatched cottage in the really lovely village of Rattlesden. We were spoiled with wall to wall sunshine so enjoyed breakfasts in the garden, and endless trips to the plethora of national trust and other beautiful gardens. Our favourite was Fullers Mill. We got to Sutton Hoo which was fascinating. We loved the distinctive villages and rolling countryside, the village pub, and a memorable trip to Hyde hall. Graham and Linda’s neighbours were super friendly, everyone was. We loved our home swap in this lovely place! Thank you so much, Paddy & Kath"

Highlights of the holiday: Staying in their lovely and comfortable thatched cottage Exploring the beautiful area Fullers Mill garden

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Graham & Linda's thatched cottage in Suffolk Grade II Listed 18th Century thatched cottage situated in a picturesque village. View their home swap holiday offer	Paddy & Cath's seaside home in Ireland Spacious detached seaside property just yards from the Irish Sea. View their home swap holiday offer

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Lovely home swap in New Quay (+ host's friendly cats!)

Rick & Jen enjoyed an Easter holiday exploring the Ceredigion coastal path

It's so nice hearing from Home Base Holidays members about their home swap holidays. Here's an excellent trip report from very experienced home swappers, Rick & Jen, on their recent holiday exchanging to Susanne & John's home next to the Ceredigion coast.

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Rick & Jen's lovely Easter swap exploring the Ceredigion coastal path "We had such a lovely home swap in Wales over the Easter period. Susanne and John's home is just inland from some glorious coastal scenery, prompting regular evening walks along the beach watching the sunsets. New Quay port can get busy so we opted for the free parking at the old waterworks and walked around the sandy bay when the tide was out, we loved it! Highlights of the home exchange - being welcomed by the friendly Greek cats, superb views from the house over the Welsh countryside, cycling the numourous lanes, the woodland walk from the centre of Llanarth round to the New Quay road, and the garden centre just next door made few quite a few visits. Recommended trips for coast walks and sandy coves would be Mwnt and Llangrannog, and the National Trust gold mines at Dolaucothi is well worth the trip. Great tips and communications made for a very relaxing and stress-free week, thanks again Susanne for the swap, hope you enjoyed your time in the Dales." - Rick & Jen

Highlights of the holiday: Great location in gorgeous Welsh countryside Friendly welcome from the cats Regular communications made for stress-free week

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Rick & Jen's farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales Stone farmhouse in quiet location just off the main square in Grassington. View their home swap holiday offer	Susanne & John's house by the Welsh coast Cosy 4-bedroom house in the beautiful area of Wales called Ceredigion. View their home swap holiday offer

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Start home swapping and cut the cost of your next holiday Sign up to Home Base Holidays and save up to 90% on the cost of your holidays by arranging a home exchange. Search the latest home exchange holiday offers

Home swap holiday: cosy log cabin in Eryri (Snowdonia)

Home swapping to a log cabin in the Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park

We love hearing about your home swap holidays! Here we've received a trip report from Home Base Holidays member, Madeline, who enjoyed a lovely family home swap holiday to Karen's cosy log cabin set within the beautiful Eryri National Park (Snowdonia). 

Family holiday in Wales: scenic log cabin & caring home swap hosts "We enjoyed such a wonderful one week home swap holiday staying in Karen's lovely log cabin. The cabin is in such a fabulous location, in a beautiful spot within the Snowdonia National Park with amazing views over the Rhinog Mountains. The log cabin was so welcoming, it is really nicely renovated, clean, plus warm and cosy, perfectly equipped for colder days! Communication with Karen was excellent and we really appreciated the thoughtful recommendations for our family. The cabin is in the Trawsfynydd Leisure Village which is very family friendly, our kid really enjoyed visiting the playground on site. The setting and surrounding area is just stunning with lots of walks and outings to choose from. Plus what a treat to watch all the busy bird feeders in the garden! Thank you so much for such a lovely holiday." - Madeline

Highlights of the holiday: Swapping to a cosy log cabin with stunning views Beautiful location in the Snowdonia National Park Kind and responsive owners

Madeline's riverside home in Frome Lovely, peaceful family flat in Frome, a beautiful, historic town in Somerset. View the home swap holiday offer	Karen's log cabin in Snowdonia, Wales Norwegian style log cabin nestled within the Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park. View the home swap holiday offer

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Start home swapping and cut the cost of your next holiday Sign up to Home Base Holidays and save up to 90% on the cost of your holidays by arranging a home exchange. Search the latest home exchange holiday offers

"Our only regret is we didn't start home swapping sooner"

"My wife and I have enjoyed four very successful home swap holidays. Our only regret is that we didn't start swapping sooner - had we known about Home Base Holidays earlier we would have used this wonderful service before we retired. Apart from the pleasure of first hand experiencing the cultures and lives of other countries the biggest advantage has been the wonderful friends we have made in the process. 

 

We have found home swappers to be friendly and very helpful in every respect. We have never been disappointed with our experiences. We have made firm friends with our swap partners and continue to be in touch and have had many requests for repeat visits. We've found that people are generally more careful with somebody else's property than in their own and respect the wishes of their swap partners. 

 

We also really appreciate the freedom home swapping gives us - the freedom to come and go as we please, to save money by making some of our meals at home and the space to just relax when we want... and relaxing is after all what holiday is about!"

- Bernard & Ruth

 

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Start home swapping and cut the cost of your next holiday Sign up to Home Base Holidays and save up to 90% on the cost of your holidays by arranging a home exchange. Search the latest home exchange holiday offers

Travelling with kids: wonderful home swap in Devon

We love receiving trip reports from Home Base Holidays members! In this trip report, members, Eliza and her two young daughters, enjoyed a wonderful non-simultaneous home swap holiday staying in Isabel's cosy cottage set in the beautiful East Devon countryside. 

Eliza's home swap holiday in the Devon countryside "We had the most wonderful time in Devon swapping homes with Isabel and her family. We'd arranged a non-simultaneous home swap holiday and Isabel couldn't have been more welcoming or lovely. It was such a treat to get to enjoy a couple of nights in such a beautiful part of the Devon countryside. Isabel's home is a lovely cosy cottage set in a beautiful valley close to the coast. The cottage is in such a perfect location, just a short stroll to Lyme Regis and ideal for exploring East Devon's Jurassic Coast. My husband couldn't join us so it was just myself and my two little daughters. Isabel went to every effort to make sure I had everything I needed, including a cot for my youngest and even a bucket and spade when we went to the beach. It really was such a lovely break and I'd recommend Isabel's cottage to everyone. Thanks so much!" - Eliza

Highlights of the holiday: Enjoy gorgeous country walks direct from the cottage Going to the beach. The cottage is less than 10 minutes from Lyme Regis! Cosying up in Isabel's beautiful cute cottage

Photos from the home swap in Devon

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Reply from Isabel: "Thanks so much Eliza for the great review. We really enjoyed meeting you and your daughters. We loved our home swap to your beautiful Cotswolds cottage and I really hope we can arrange a swap again later this year! Many thanks, Isabel"

Eliza's cottage in the Cotswolds Cosy cottage on the edge of the Cotswolds. Set in a pretty village in the Wiltshire countryside. View the home swap holiday offer	Isabel's cottage in Devon Lovely cottage in the beautiful East Devon countryside. 10 minutes from Lyme Regis. View the home swap holiday offer

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Start home swapping and cut the cost of your next holiday Sign up to Home Base Holidays and save up to 90% on the cost of your holidays by arranging a home exchange. Search the latest home exchange holiday offers

First time home swappers: fabulous trip to the UK and Italy

Jarn and Ian's home swap holiday to Burnham-on-Sea and Lake Como

We love receiving trip reports from Home Base Holidays members. First time home swappers, Jarn & Ian, enjoyed a wonderful home swap holiday with Jenny & Colin, swapping to their house in the English seaside town of Burnham on Sea. They even enjoy a short trip to Italy's Lake Como!  

Jarn & Ian's fabulous home swap holiday in the UK & Italy "Thank you so much for the opportunity to be in the UK again! We had house sat and exchanged homes with friends of friends, so we were a bit hesitant at first to go on-line and find a suitable couple to stay in our house and us in theirs. We had contacted a few members while looking for somewhere suitable and close to see our family in the UK.  When Jenny and Colin responded, we were thrilled! We chatted online, then emailed and after a few days we called and spoke. It’s actually a bit like online dating!! These lovely people, were so knowledgeable and helpful throughout the process. We both discussed dates and cars, insurances for the houses, passports were viewed and driving licenses. Arriving to their beautifully cleaned home, we felt at home straight away. Plus they provided lots of food in the fridge, which they told us to help ourselves to... how kind and appreciated that was after a long haul flight! We both have dietary restrictions and so it was so handy and cost effective to be able to cook delicious, home cooked food. Plus having laundry facilities was a great plus too. The supermarket was less than a mile away. Jenny and Colin’s home was close to Bristol Airport, so we even enjoyed a short trip to Italy and Lake Como. On our return, we relaxed for a couple of days in a comfortable home. Recovered for the next adventure, where we explored this wonderful area and ended up in the beautiful town of Clovelly, near Bridport. We also visited Bletchley Park, which was amazing. The home swap was fantastic. Now we are great friends but never meet. We speak and email each other often. We feel very blessed and lucky." - Jarn & Ian

Highlights of the holiday: We were extremely lucky to have a delightful exchange with Jenny and Colin, such beautiful people. Visiting Clovelly, Bletchley Park and a trip to Italy's Lake Como The best part is having a home from home… no unpacking and packing up... blissful. Home exchanging makes everything so much easier.

 

Photos from the home exchange

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Jenny & Colin's home in Burnham-on-Sea, UK Lovely semi-detached house close to Europe's 2nd longest sandy beach. View their home swap holiday offer	Jarn & Ian's home in Adelaide, Australia Fabulous home close to city, beautiful beaches and vineyards. View their home swap holiday offer

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Start home swapping and cut the cost of your next holiday Sign up to Home Base Holidays and save up to 90% on the cost of your holidays by arranging a home exchange. Search the latest home swap holiday offers

Home swap holidays? Go for it... you won't regret it!

Bell Lane House: Sally's beautiful cottage in Gloucestershire, England

It's always lovely to hear from Home Base Holidays members about their home swaps. Sally Hadley sent in this lovely feedback after just returning from a two month home exchange holiday to the north shore beach area of Sydney, Australia. Sally and her husband are very experienced home exchangers, enjoying their first swap in 1990, with three swaps already lined up for 2025. 

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Thinking about home swapping? Go for it... you won't regret it! "Back in the day - as they say - when our children were young teenagers we ventured on our first swap to Santa Barbara in California. A lawyer’s house with all kinds of goodies. Cars were swapped; we had a blow out at 37degrees of heat in the desert – our kids still remember it. But all was fixed and we had a wonderful time visiting the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Since then we have had a month in Brittany (very relaxed and quiet), ventured to Grenada in the West Indies (very hot and beautiful) and to Australia twice (Brisbane and Sydney). In fact, we have just returned from two months in Sydney up on the northern beaches, high above trees overlooking the yachts on Pittwater and Scotland Island. We couldn’t believe our luck that a couple close in age to us (70s) would want to come to the UK in the winter. But they loved it – even the ice and snow. I think they forged more friendships in our small Cotswold village than we have in the two years we’ve lived here. We loved their house and we were so sad to leave. It was such a s fantastic base from which to visit our family and friends travelling up to the Sunshine Coast and down to Melbourne and Point Lonsdale over the Christmas period and New Year. In addition to the big home swap holidays abroad, we have had lovely swaps closer to home here in the UK. We've swapped to Cornwall, Derbyshire, Kent and Cheshire... all of which have been amazing. No troubles, ever. We have returned each time to find the house immaculate and even lovely gifts left for us. The key to successful swaps is certainly to have a friendly approach with lots of communication, and we always choose to exchange with like-minded people. We have found it excellent to talk on the telephone and to meet the other members if at all possible. We have been approached by people who we felt would not get on well in our cottage or where their offers did not appeal to us, and so we have declined gracefully so that they could contact other members. We have always known almost from the first message we received if it felt like a good match and that they would enjoy our cottage and location. If you're thinking about home swapping, my advice is to go for it… you won’t regret it! We have loved our experiences and can’t wait for more - closer to home; Cumbria, Cornwall – already organised for 2025. Thank you Home Base Holidays… our best investment ever." Sally Hadley

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Photos from Sally's home swap in Australia

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Sally's stone house in Gloucestershire   Bell Lane House was added to a much older house about 100 years ago. It is a lovely 3-bedroom stone built house with a garden overlooking the neighbouring church. It's in the centre of the small town of Minchinhampton, in the south west Cotswolds (the hilliest section). The ancient town is built on top of a ridge with wonderful views over the "golden valley", towards the river Severn and close to Stroud. An excellent location for walks in the beautiful countryside and there is a highly rated golf course nearby.

View Sally's home swap offer in the south west Cotswolds

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