Travel the Home Exchange Way

Home swap: felt like we were exchanging with old friends

Barbara and Iain's beautiful London apartment

We love hearing about members' home swap experiences. Here's a recent trip report from Home Base Holidays member, Bernard, from his recent home swap staying in Barbara and lain's beautiful London apartment.

---

"One of the lovely things about home exchanging is that, although you rarely meet the people you exchange with, while arranging your exchange you get to know the people you're exchanging with so well that they feel like old friends. So it was with Barbara and Iain, friends who would leave no stone unturned in making our holiday in their top floor luxurious flat hugely enjoyable. Their flat is truly lovely - big rooms with big windows overlooking well kept private gardens and the Thames river. At the end of their road is Hammersmith Bridge, walk across it and there is Hammersmith Bus Station and Underground. By tube central London is minutes away. Frequent local buses will take you into the tranquillity of Barnes village with its yesteryear collection of independent shops, its famous duck pond and a terrific Thai restaurant; to Richmond and Kew Gardens. On the river's towpath you will find some splendid old pubs including The Dove where it is claimed James Thomson wrote Rule Britannia. In Barbara and Alan's beautiful flat you really feel you are on top of the world - in absolute luxury you are sitting on top of the Thames, on top of London and on top of one of London's most beautiful and unspoilt villages. Thank you so much Barbara and lain!" - Bernard (Alicante, Spain)

 

Barbara and Alan's home in London

• 
• 
• 
• 

Bernard's home in Alicante, Spain

• 
• 
• 
• 

 

---

Meet the members
	Barbara and Iain (pictured): Beautiful apartment overlooking the Thames in fashionable Barnes, SW London. View Barbara and Iain's home swap in London Bernard: Luxury villa with private pool in Spanish village of Forna, Alicante. View Bernard's home swap off in Alicante

 

---

Interested in home swapping? Sign up for free!

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange free accommodation by arranging a holiday home exchange. Sign up to the Home Base Holidays two-week free trial.

Brexit and travel? Good time to arrange a UK home swap

Arranging a home swap has always been a great way to dramatically reduce your holiday expenses as you totally cut out the costs of accommodation. However, with the value of the pound sterling falling in the seemingly never-ending Brexit muddle, now is an even better time to visit the UK, with more spending money to enjoy all the wonderful sights and attractions.

Live in the UK? Over the last five years we have seen a big rise in UK members arranging home swaps within the UK. However, if you still plan to travel abroad but are worried about the currency exchange rate, you can take comfort in the knowledge of saving a huge sum of money by choosing to swap homes rather than pay for hotel rooms or holiday rentals!

---

Some UK home swap holiday offers to tempt you:

	Scottish Highlands: Dunnet Brough, Highlands, ScotlandThis gorgeous eco-friendly, architect designed home in Dunnet Brough, in the Scottish Highlands, is set on 5 acres of grassland and is only 75 meters from the sea. With stunning views across the Pentland Firth to the Orkney Islands from every room. View this home swap in Scotland
	English thatched cottage: 16th Century thatch cottage in a small English village next to Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-upon-Avon. The house is full of quirky and authentic features and has a fabulous floral/vegetable garden well stocked with salad leaves, tomatoes and plenty of herbs. View this home swap in Warwickshire
	Snowdonia, Wales: Ripon House is an 1830's, characterful, modernised, end-terraced house in the centre of a small Snowdonia village. It is only 3 mins walk from the lake, close to facilities, numerous tourist attractions, and at the start of paths to Mount Snowdon. Castles, beaches & coast are 20 mins drive away. View this Snowdonia home swap
	Central London: Light spacious Art Deco 1st floor apartment by beautiful Regents Park. Quiet, safe street. Friendly local cafes, food shops 2min. London's cultural attractions, art galleries, theatres and cinemas, Oxford Street or Bond Street for shopping, and mainline train stations all walking distance. View this home exchange in London
	Downpatrick, Northern Ireland: The area is steeped in history and there are museums, and historical sites too numerous to mention. It is a beautiful spot in the spring and summer especially, and sitting down on the decking by the pond and our little orchard of apple and pear trees is very relaxing in the long summer evenings. View this home swap in Northern Ireland

---

• Browse thousands of Home Base Holidays offers in the UK and beyond

On Canada Day ...some home swap offers to tempt you

Visit Canada: find your home swap accommodation

Happy Canada Day 2019! Wishing all our Canadian friends throughout the world a wonderful day. Looking to visit Canada? Here's a small selection of home exchange vacation offers available through Home Base Holidays:

	Quebec City: beautiful family home in one of the best location in Quebec city situated in the heart of Old Quebec, but on a back street away from the crowds. You can see the St. Lawrence River the minute you step out of the door. Horse-drawn carriages trot by the door. View this home swap in Quebec
	Vancouver Island: spacious home with ocean and mountain views. Located in beautiful Royal Bay, with sweeping ocean and mountain views. Harwood floors throughout the house, 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms. Well equipped kitchen, sliding door to huge sun deck with barbeque. View this Vancouver Island home swap
	Montreal: great house for families and couples. You will be charmed by this quiet house in a lively friendly neighbourhood. Located just steps from the Promenade Masson, where you can find great restaurants, cafés and shops. View this Montreal home swap
	Toronto: modern three bedroom house is in the north-central part of Toronto, but feels like a country property. Ten-minute walk to main street with chic shops, restaurants. Great neighbours. View this Toronto home swap
	Vancouver: stay in the fabulous luxury condo in West End, downtown Vancouver. View the sunsets, English Bay and the North Shore mountains from our southwest facing 15th floor condo in the West End of downtown Vancouver. View this Vancouver home swap

---

Start swapping: search home swap offers worldwide through Home Base Holidays

Our home swap in a beautiful villa in a Spanish hilltop village

Bernard & Rosemary’s beautiful villa in Forna, Alicante, Spain

"Our home exchange in Bernard and Rosemary’s heavenly villa in the beautiful small Spanish village Forna, Alicante was just perfect. The villa was truly lovely with large rooms, big windows, four terraces with varying degrees of shade, a glorious pool and plenty of outdoor furniture. It was so nice of Bernard and Rosemary to set us up with a lovely generous starter pack of basic food and local oranges. The village was small and peaceful and the local mountain villages were charming and totally unspoilt by tourism. We were just a 20 minute drive from the long sandy villages near Denia and the pretty town of Javea. A cheap and pleasant one hour train journey takes you to stunning city of Valencia. Arranging the swap was really easy and straight-forward, we always had excellent communication - Bernard and Rosemary were always quick to respond and very honest. We returned to find our apartment neat and clean. Thank you Bernard and Rosemary for a wonderful time in your beautiful villa!" - Barbara and Iain (London, England)

 

---

Highlights of our home swap in Spain:

1. Spacious, elegant and comfortable villa
2. Lovely swimming pool with wonderful views
3. The village of Forna has a castle and a charming café/restaurant and is surrounded by orange groves.

---

Meet the members:   Barbara & Iain's (pictured) home swap in London Bernard & Rosemary's home swap in Alicante, Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

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

One month ski chalet home swap in Le Sappey, France

Home swap: in a ski chalet in Le Sappey, France

It's always great to hear members' home swap experiences. Here's a recent trip report from an exchange this March between Jean's ski chalet in Le Sappey, Rhone Alps, France and Helena and Mike's lovely country cottage in Shropshire, England.

---

Home swap: Shropshire, England >>> Rhone Alps, France

"We swapped homes with Jean for a whole month. She was fabulous and provided care and love for our elderly Labrador who couldn’t come with us. Her ski chalet in Le Sappey was delightful, so when it snowed for a week we loved being indoors and enjoy the cosy alpine atmosphere. Thones is a charming town and Annecy is very close by. We were spoilt for choice with great ski resorts - we chose Le Grand Bonard as it had a wealth of easy green runs. Also great to find a bridge club in La Clusac, so bridge and French language skills got done practice. Thanks Jean for a great home swap!" - Helena & Mike

 

Home swap: Rhone Alps, France >>> Shropshire, England

"My home swap in Helena's house in Oreton, Shropshire, was really relaxing. It's a charming country hideaway, where the pheasants, and even the curlews, outnumber the people. Ludlow was only 20 minutes away and is a really beautiful town; we visited several times in order to appreciate everything it has to offer, including the pubs and restaurants! Even more intriguing, is Cleobury Mortimer, with its crooked spire and unique independent shops. I miss the three beautiful cows in the next field, who always wanted to eat my left over food, and lovely old Stella, Helena's brown Labrador. Helena and Mike are kind and generous people, who made sure that I wasn't short of company during my time there."  - Jean

 

Photos of Jean's chalet in Le Sappey, France

• 
• 
• 
• 

 

Photos of Helena & Mike's country cottage

• 
• 
• 
• 

---

Meet the members:   View Jean's home swap offer: beautiful ski chalet in the Rhone Alps, France View Helena & Mike's home swap offer: country cottage in Shropshire, England

 

---

New to home swapping? Sign up for free!

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange free accommodation by arranging a holiday home exchange. Sign up to the Home Base Holidays two-week free trial.

Home Base Holidays member on Masterchef!

Paul and Judith's home in Olonzac, France and Paul appearing on Masterchef

March was an exciting month watching Home Base Holidays member, Paul, appearing as a contestant on the very popular BBC series, Masterchef. We're all so proud of him and he did incredibly well, making it all the way to the final 12 (episode 15). His French inspired food looked amazing and received excellent feedback from the Masterchef judges, John and Greg. Some of the highlights included cooking a lunch service at The Frog restaurant in London's Covent Garden and cooking for the world-renowned two Michelin Star chef, Michel Roux Jr. Way to go Paul!

---

Paul and Judith relaxing at their home in Olonzac

Paul and his wife Judith are early retiree art & design lecturers and very experienced home exchangers. The couple have a beautiful French home in Olonzac, right in the middle of the wine producing area of the Minervois in Languedoc Roussillon. Their home has a lovely courtyard planted with figs, grapes, lemons, olives, bougainvillea, oleander, hibiscus and lavender, as well as herbs and tomatoes, where you can dine al fresco. You can certainly see where Paul gets many of his culinary inspirations from!   

 

---

On home exchanging and sampling local produce, Judith writes: "We're SO proud of Paul! A great benefit of home exchanging is being able shop and cook locally. We have great memories of the farmer’s market in San Francisco, Piggly Wiggly in Charleston South Carolina, VONS in LA, the roadside stalls in Acapulco, fishermen’s hauls in Spain. We bought the weird and wonderful in Australia - Morton Bay Bugs and kangaroo steaks, then cooked it on a beautiful flowery patio beside our very own pool. Cooking food on a variety of interesting quirky ovens and BBQs is one of the thrills of a home swap, something that would be impossible in a hotel room." - Judith

 

---

Watch Paul's Masterchef journey via the BBC iPlayer: (only available in the UK)

You can catch up with Paul's Masterchef appearances via the BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006t1k5/masterchef 

---

Meet the members  Check out Paul and Judith's home, a lovely 120 year old town house in the friendly, bustling village of Olonzac. View Paul and Judith's home swap offer