Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

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

Home swap holiday in a 300 year old barn conversion

Rick & Jen enjoyed exploring the North Devon coastline on their home swap holiday

It's so nice hearing Home Base Holidays members' home swap experiences. Here's a lovely trip report from very experienced home swappers, Rick & Jen, on their recent holiday exchanging to Sue & John's beautiful 300 year old barn in North Devon.

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Superb holiday in North Devon swapping to a 300 year old barn conversion "We've enjoyed a superb holiday swapping to Sue and John's lovely home in West Buckland, North Devon. Their home is a beautifully converted 300 year old barn on the edge of a small Devon village with gorgeous views over distant rolling hills. It was such a great location to explore areas around the North Devon coastline. We managed to walk over various days from Combe Martin round to Clovelly - highlights being the beaches at Instow and Braunton Burrows, and a seven mile circular from the village to the Jack Russell pub in Swimbridge. Our favourite meals out were to the Boathouse and Glorious Oyster beach cafe in Instow, the New Inn in Goodleigh and a couple of trips to the Pack 'Cards in Combe Martin which allowed some beautiful sunset strolls on the beach afterwards - heavenly! Really enjoyed the regular catch ups on WhatsApp, making sure we were both happy with how to find things around our respective homes and providing regular suggestions for trips, particularly when the rain appeared on occasion. Hope you enjoyed your stay in Grassington Sue and John, thanks again for agreeing to this excellent home exchange!" - Rick & Jen

Highlights of the home swap holiday: Sue & John's lovely 300 year old barn conversion Exploring the stunning North Devon coastline Boathouse & Glorious Oyster at Instow

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Photos from the home exchange

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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	Sue & John's barn conversion in North Devon 300 year old barn that's been converted into a comfortable country home. 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

We swapped our Paris home during the Olympics for a relaxing summer holiday in the Swedish countryside

Beautiful morning views from Alex's family home near Umeå, Sweden

It's lovely hearing Home Base Holidays members' home swap experiences. Here we have a trip report from Heather who swapped her townhouse in Paris during the Olympics for a fabulous summer holiday in Alex's family home in a quiet village close to Umeå, Sweden.

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Home swap in Sweden gorgeous family house set in glorious countryside "We managed to dovetail the home swap so that both families met, which was really delightful. It was great to escape Paris during the Olympics for a relaxing summer break in the beautiful Swedish countryside. The drive from France to Sweden was looooooong but we found great places to stop along the way.  The Swedish outdoor life in summer was a revelation - eating strange new berries and mushrooms, the light nights and incredible skies, swimming and building bonfires. Costs in terms of supermarkets etc were pleasantly similar to France. The weather was mostly great and the extra trip we added to visit Norway was easily done with Umea as a base. We only visited Umeå once (beware the incomprehensible parking regulations and speeding fines!), we didn’t make much of an effort to get to know the town - we were set for an outdoors/country break and it couldn’t have been lovelier. The house itself is in a pleasant hamlet, just a short bike ride from an amazing lake. So civilised! Fire pits and little huts you can stay in - then wander into the forest for a handful of blueberries. Alex’s garden was bountiful and we feasted on her delicious potatoes, beans and redcurrants. The house was spotlessly clean and tidy but spacious and very comfortable - we particularly appreciated the minimalist feel, which was the direct opposite of our house and has inspired some epic clearouts, now that we’re home. We’ve had many home swap holidays and they’ve pretty much all been fantastic, but this one was particularly lovely. The camaraderie between us messaging each other and sharing our family delight at how extraordinarily different our summers were, was very warm, genuine and funny and I hope we’ll stay friends! Can’t wait to come back to see the Northern Lights! " - Heather

Highlights of the home swap holiday: The fact that we escaped the Olympics to visit beautiful Sweden Picking wild blueberries, swimming in pristine lakes, the High Coast Meeting Alex and her lovely family and swapping lives

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Photos from the summer swap in Sweden

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Heather's townhouse in Paris, France 3 storey family home in a friendly quiet neighbourhood with excellent transport links. View their home swap holiday offer	Alex's lovely village home near Umeå, Sweden Northern Swedish village house in picturesque location only 9 km from city centre. 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

Wonderful home swap in Lake Constance, Switzerland

Beautiful views from Marianne & Hubi's home in Weinfelden, Switzerland

We love hearing from Home Base Holidays members about their home exchange holidays! Here's a recent trip report from home swapper, Linda, on her summer holiday staying in Marianne & Hubi's beautiful home located near Lake Constance, Switzerland.

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Swiss swap: amazing holiday exploring Lake Constance, Switzerland "We had an amazing summer swap exploring Lake Constance region of Switzerland. There was so much to explore, we felt spoilt for choice. Our only regret is that we didn’t ride the cable car to the top of Säntis, as it was too cloudy and we had left it to our last day. So we hope to return one day and discover more of the delights that the region offers! Our most memorable days were probably those that included swimming in the lake at Rorschach and the river at Zurich, the historic bathing huts simply made us smile. We found travelling around really good and easy whether by public transport or on foot. Getting to grips with the ticketing system and timings of boats on Lake Constance was a little tricky but we soon got the hang of it and loved exploring the beautiful region. Our hosts, Marianne & Hubi, were excellent and very thorough in preparing for our home swap. They provided heaps of information on local recommendations, places to visit, transport options, as well as useful information about their house. They made everything so smooth and worry free! Their home was a delight to stay in and couldn’t be faulted in any way. Thank you both so very much indeed." - Linda

Highlights of the home swap holiday: Staying in Marianne & Hubi's unique and lovely home. Stunning location with a great choice of places to visit and things to do. Reliable and regular public transport including boats on the lake

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Photos from the home swap in Switzerland

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Linda 's stone cottage in Swanage Charming 2-bedroom stone cottage located on Dorset's Jurassic Coast. View their home swap holiday offer	Marianne & Hubi's home in Switzerland Lovely 4-bedroom mountain view home located near Lake of Constance. 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

Stunning unique summer home swap holiday in Scotland

Stunning views of the River Tay from Peter & Angela's home in Scotland

We love hearing from Home Base Holidays members about their home swap holidays. Here we have a trip report from very experienced home swapper, Irene Bews, on her summer swap to Peter and Angela's stunning home overlooking the River Tay estuary in Fife and Angus, Scotland.

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River view home swap holiday in Fife and Angus, Scotland "I'm currently on my third home exchange through Home Base Holidays this summer! Each have been truly unique, staying in fabulous homes and locations ...this current one is absolutely exceptional. This has been such a wonderful home exchange swapping to Peter and Angela's stunningly unique home overlooking the River Tay. Their home has incredible gardens with the most beautiful views over the river. The weather was so good, which made it hard to leave their lovely extensive gardens. We explored a lot of the local area by bike and chilled out with long swims in their private pool at the end of the day. It's been an absolutely wonderful home exchange holiday. Thank you so much Peter and Angela!" - Irene Bews

Highlights of the home swap holiday: Staying in a stunning unique house with incredible river views The hidden gem of a swimming pool in the garden Exploring the local area by bike

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Photos from Irene's summer swap:

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Irene's rural home on the Orkney Islands Stunning rural 3-bedroom family home on the idyllic Orkney Isles, north of Scotland. View their home swap holiday offer	Peter and Angela's home in Fife and Angus Beautiful 4-bedroom Victorian home with wonderful views overlooking the River Tay estuary. 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

Swapping to a beautiful 'pueblos blancos' village in Spain

Stunning village and mountain views from Emma & Paul's private terrace

We love receiving feedback from Home Base Holidays members' on their home swap holidays. Shown below is the trip report from Gareth & Christine swapping to Emma & Paul's beautiful 'Pueblos Blancos' village house in Gaucin, Andalucia, Spain.   

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Gareth & Christine's home swap holiday in Gaucin, Andalucia "We had such a lovely holiday swapping to Emma and Paul's beautiful village house in Gaucin, Andalucia, Spain. We stayed there in Spring 2024, which proved to be a good time of the year for a visit: the weather was perfect for us and the countryside was carpeted in beautiful wildflowers. Emma and Paul were generous and thoughtful home swap hosts and gave us plenty of local tips and suggestions for making the most of our visit. We did our best to try out as many of their recommendations for bars and restaurants in the village as possible, which were varied, numerous, excellent quality and very good value. The village of Gaucin itself was delightful, with stunning views all around. Gaucin is known as one of the most beautiful ’Pueblos Blancos’ villages in Andalucia. We particularly enjoyed our walks up to the castle and the foothills of El Hacho. The local shop was a revelation - how they managed to provide the variety and quality of produce in this location was a wonder! The house was everything we could have wanted: it was clean, stylish and well appointed. The upstairs lounge and terrace were particularly lovely attractive with wonderful village and mountain views. We were able to make day trips out to the coast and other Pueblos Blancos villages, which resulted in a varied and interesting break. Thank you Emma and Paul for a wonderful swap."

Highlights of the holiday: Emma and Paul's local tips and recommendations Exploring the stunning 'Pueblos Blancos' villages Beautiful stylish home with wonderful village and mountain views

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Emma & Paul's reply: "It was an absolute pleasure to host Christine and Gareth and they are welcome to return any time. So pleased they love our little village as much as we do and looking forward to our home swap to their home in Devon. Best wishes, Emma & Paul"

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Christine & Gareth's beachhouse in Exmouth Wonderful 3-bedroom beachhouse in Exmouth overlooking the beautiful Exe Estuary. View their home swap holiday offer	Emma & Paul's home in Gaucin, Andalucia Beautiful 1-bedroom ’pueblos blancos’ village house in Gaucin with stunning village and mountain views. 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

Swapping London for the Lake District National Park

It's lovely to hear members' home swapping experiences. Shown below is Home Base Holidays member, Melanie & Tom, on their wonderful holiday, swapping their townhouse in London for Nic's beautiful cottage in the Lake District National Park.  

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Melanie & Tom: our home swap holiday with Nic was a joy! "From start to finish our home swap with Nic was a joy! We were blown away by the kindness and extensive information Nic provided in order to make sure we had a lovely time. We spent a rainy day on a steam train; enjoyed a cruise up lake Windermere to Ambleside; a pottery session at the divine Farmer’s Arms community pub; as well as paddle boarding around the famous Swallows and Amazons ‘Wild Cat’ island on Coniston Water. After a busy day out we’d return back to Nic’s beautifully decorated cottage for a glass of wine by the fire or in their stunning garden when the sun was shining. And what a garden! We especially loved the huge swing chair and idyllic woodland area. We feel very lucky to have enjoyed such a successful swap and would do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you, Melanie & Tom"

Highlights of the exchange: Wonderful hospitality of our hosts Their lovely cottage and beautiful garden Exploring the Lake District National Park

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Photos from the home exchange in Cumbria

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Nic's reply: our fabulous home swap holiday in Richmond "Hi Melanie, It was a joy to host you and share tips on the area so you got the maximum fun out of your stay here in the Lake District National Park. I feel like we got to know each other well and I hope our paths cross in the future. You all left my home in such a beautiful way even with a pressie to return to after a long drive North from London ....very lovely and uplifting. I'm really open to swapping homes with you again as I loved your home and the area you live in is just fabulous. I really enjoyed the 15 mins walk via the woods and over the Thames to Teddington High Street (great coffee!), visiting Petersham Nursery, oh and the Ivy Cafe in Richmond. Your tips honestly made it for us ...thank you for swapping homes... what a great experience. Best wishes, Nic, Nettie and Maisie xxx"

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Melanie & Tom's townhouse in London Stylish 4-bedroom townhouse in London's Richmond. Located just a short stroll from the River Thames. View their home swap holiday offer	Nicola's cottage in the Lake District Beautiful former detached 300 year old school house nestled in the Rusland Valley. View their home swap holiday offer

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Home Base Holidays: swap homes and cut the cost of your holiday Sign up to Home Base Holidays and start arranging a home swap holiday. Save over 90% on the cost of your next holiday!  Search the latest home exchange holiday offers