Vacation Home Rentals Abroad
Vacation rentals are a great alternative to staying at a hotel. Not only will you save on your accommodations, but you can also prepare your own meals with food from local markets while enjoying all the other amenities that come with renting a vacation home. Since many rentals are weekly, travelers get the chance to spend more time in one region and explore the surroundings in more depth, and often meet the hosts and local people on a deeper level than most hotels afford. In addition to articles about vacation homes published in Transitions Abroad, we have also compiled a list of websites where travelers can look at photographs of vacation rentals from all around the world and book their stay directly online. —Senior Living Abroad Editor Volker Poelzl
"In most European countries, you can rent apartments in towns and on farms and houses in the countryside through agencies or directly from the local owner. The Italians call them 'agriturismos;' the
Brits call them 'self catering apartments;' the French call them 'gites;' the Swiss and Germans call them 'ferienwohnungen.'
Vacation rentals come equipped with everything you need to live comfortably: sheets, towels, pots and pans, dishes, and cutlery. The house or apartment is cleaned before you arrive. Food is generally not
provided, so you will need to shop for basic groceries when you arrive.
Rentals range from very simple apartments on working farms that rent for $500 or less per week to luxury villas that sleep 12 or more and rent for $5,000 or more per week."
— Pauline Kenny in Slow Travel: Settle Down in a Temporary Home
