Anyone done this? prices for accomadation seem silly and that includes camping,
Toying with the idea what could go wrong?

Where are you finding silly prices? We rent a ski chalet most summers and its dirt cheap as they are way below winter occupancy.

More importantly where do you live and will the French want to come and stay? 😆

Kendal gateway to the Lakes! Recommend any sites in search of sun and something coastal would be nice 🙂

http://www.homeaway.co.uk

I would swap you my french farm for the lakes though my building works will only be ready end off year so it has to be for 2014

We stayed in a Two Bedroom place on the edge of Lac Tueda in Meribel for £250 for the week last year.

Lovely weather, sunbathing by the lake, biking and walking.

If you don’t find a house swap I would strongly recommend it.

nealgeelover, do you have a link for that? Cheers in advance.

Register on the Guardian Home Exchange website. £35 for the year. You can then post details of your place, search potential swaps and make offers. It covers everywhere – a lot of ex-pats use it to arrange cheap trips back home to visit family etc.

http://www.guardianhomeexchange.co.uk/

Not done an overseas swap yet but we exchanged our 3 bed semi on Dartmoor with a family in London for their huge Edwardian town house in leafy North London over half term. Saved us £££s on accommodation and worked out really well for both parties.

We’ve already had several offers from families in Spain and France for the summer hols. If you’re in the Lakes you’ll have no problem finding someone to exchange with.

Basically you draw up a simple agreement so each party is clear on what is expected of them in terms of bedding, cleaning, key arrangements etc. Some exchanges also allow use of vehicles but that’s entirely up to you. Obviously you need to inform insurers but they’re generally happy as they’d prefer the house to be occupied whilst you’re away.

Example here: http://www.guardianhomeexchange.co.uk/ihea/houseinfo.cfm?id=28537

We did this when the kds were little for about 12 years on the trot in pre-internet days, which involved lots of letter-writing & expensive calls. It’s much easier nOW.
It’s great, cheap, and you get much more accommodation than in a holiday let. We swapped with families in the UK for single weeks or weekends, and for fortnights in Sweden (3x), Germany (several), France & Canada (2x each). Highly recommended!

Postie – are you taking your statins now?? I hope so.

Yep, I think I’ve done somewhere in the region of 40-50 swops, mostly with my parents but carried on the family tradition. We’ve mainly used Intervac url=null]null[/url]and have always found it easier to get an overseas swop. Most people just want a base – started swopping when I grew up in Thamesmead, which wouldn’t be an obvious place for a holiday.

Found it’s a good way to meet people in the community and saves loads of money + you have a fully equipped property to use.

I’d swap my entire house for an annual fortnight in the alps for the rest of my life. They’ll have to take on the remaining mortgage though