Home Exchange to Provence or French Riviera

Hmm I registered our home in Provence once with a house exchange site, but was looking for a break in Thailand at the time. No offence, but Glasgow wasn't the exotic destination I had in mind! You just have to get lucky I suppose, I don't think there's any special trick to it other than using several such sites to increase your chances. Tf I remember right, the better ones you had to pay a subscription...

There is some reasonably cheap s/c accommodation, if the worst comes to the worst...

Thanks wedders!

I'm already subscribed to a supposedly 'good' exchange site and I agree, Glasgow might not be on everyone's exotic list, but it is a great culturally in and around. I'm not from Scotland, so no offense taken!

Best of luck JD!

Hi JD,

This may be a little late, but hadn't logged on for a while.

We've actually done a swap to France (from Canada) with a family on the French Riviera. I think we sent out well over double the number of e-mails you sent before we found someone interested. Like you were were looking for beginning of July and not August.

The swap was fantastic and we've become really good friends with the French family.

We've also discussed (and negotiated) a couple of long term exchanges with people in France - just didn't work out though. Both times they initially contacted us. (So you definitely need to have a backup plan.)

So it's possible to find a July swap. It takes a bit of luck and you really need to be pro-active. Unless you have a stunning flat in London, you need to keep e-mailing. It may take 50 e-mails or it may take 100. Just keep at it.

I also agree, it's best to register on a couple of sites to maximize your exposure. Each site has its own membership - sometimes there is some overlap but the overlap is usually minor.

When we first started to swap, we only joined one site. As we became more experienced exchangers, we realized the value of joining several sites. We are now members on several sites - all of them pay sites. And yes it costs a little more to join several sites but the savings are well worth. We save thousands each time we swap - well worth the couple of hundred we spend for our memberships.

And as far as we are concerned, there's no risk in spending this amount. We are very pro-active and have always found a swap. And because we've joined several sites - we can actually be selective. Not all the time but most of the time - it depends on the destination.

[no free ads thanks]

Anyway, hopefully you found an exchange by now and if not hope this helps!

Good luck

Have you tried YourHomeForMine.com? This  home exchange website has worked well for us. My wife and I have just returned from a home exchange over the Easter break and we never had any problems organising an exchange.

All the best with whichever home exchange website you end up going with - it is definitely a fantastic way to travel :-)

I don't know if this will help anyone but [moderated: no free ads in your first message] gives very cheap help on making your holiday home much more rentable, my cottage property jumped from only a few bookings to 22 weeks by March this year even though my neighbours still have hardly any bookings, after they redesigned my web pages and gave me specific advice on marketing it. They only charge less than a weeks rental.