Home exchange will lower the your travel expenses, so why shouldn’t you plan the vacations you have always dreamed of? Why shouldn’t you go after your perfect trip?

Like your perfect:

… Paris - not only for romantic couples or people interested in art and the museums, Paris can be attractive to anyone. And why wouldn’t it be? We’ve mentioned before: Paris does have everything! But at the same time, Parisians are trying to get away from their city and if your hometown is the city that has everything, where would you be interested in travelling to? Seems like anywhere! Paris is the city with the most houses registered for home exchange in HomeForHome. Paris alone has more registered swappers than the UK!

… beach paradise - It can be a vibrant Mediterranean beach, an exotic sparsely populated Caribbean sandy heaven, a hot spot for water-sports and adventure.

… relaxation in the mountains - Clean air, the clear blue sky, the sounds of nature and your nervous system will reset itself.

Image by Evgeni Dinev /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

… exotic trip to a distant destination - Go crazy! You can almost close your eyes, roll a globe, use your finger to pinpoint where your next adventure will take place and you’ll find a swapper there! That’s if you don’t hit water, of course

… Christmas trip - we insist, if you want to swap this Christmas you need to get started…

What is it going to be then?

Image by Salvatore Vuono /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You may have been surprised by the title, but when your vacation plans include home exchange, you better anticipate what is coming in the next few months and that means not just one or two months ahead. You have to decide which will be your preferred destination (or destinations) and then get into searching and contacting other swappers. If you do not care for last minute rushes, then you may want to get started on your December travel plans.

It is one of the busiest times for the transport industry. Train stations, airports, bus stations, roads, freeways, highways, no matter what you prefer, things get complicated around Christmas and New Year’s Day. You may say “too complicated to find a swap for that date” and you may be right, but if you can exchange during the holidays it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Expending such an especial holiday in a different country is something you will never forget. It is like your first Christmas morning again! Probably many things will be just the same as back home, but no matter which destination you choose, if you swap to a different country during this special date, you will experience a whole new holiday. For example, if you arrange a home exchange with someone in another hemisphere, you will have your Christmas dinner in a different season. December is summer in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, Brazil, New Zealand) and winter in the Northern Hemisphere (most of Europe, USA, Canada, Japan). Depending on the country you choose to visit you may head out to the beach after opening the presents or have a hot cup of chocolate before you heading out to play with your kids in the snow.

HomeForHome has thousands of listings, and a wide selection of destinations for you to choose from. All you need is some time to search around, start a forum or send out a few home exchange proposals, and you could find yourself having a Merry Christmas Swap.

HomeForHome has many homes in Wales. Do not waste another minute and start looking for your home exchange partner to make Wales you next swap’s destination. Then, to plan your activities, you can use “The official getaway to Wales” (http://www.wales.com) where you will find these great itinerary suggestions:

“Wales in a week” - Seven days with the best that Wales has to offer.

“Cardiff, our capital city” - The capital and largest city, “Caerdydd” is the perfect gateway to Wales. If you plan to fly to Wales you are going to start in Cardiff and if you can arrange a home exchange before August 31st, you will visit the capital during Cardiff Festival 2010 (link below).

“Food trail” - The best Welsh flavours in three days of pleasure.

“Parks and gardens” - In this four-day itinerary, one of the beautiful places suggested for you to visit is the National Botanic Garden of Wales, home of the largest glass single structure in the world: “Great Glasshouse“. If you take a look at this suggested itinerary, you will probably agree with me that four days are not enough!

“North Wales coast” - Nothing says “vacation” more than barefoot walking in the beach.

“Myths and legends” - Three days getting to know the settings of some of the most famous Welsh folk stories.

“The trail of King Arthur” – King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table… Truth or myth? Find out yourself.

“Haunted Wales” - Take this four day suggestion and become a ghost hunter (if you dare!)

Image by Matt Banks /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Our suggestion to plan your home exchange is to visit http://www.wales.com and take a little from each of the above suggested itineraries to make your own custom made unique tour.

Cardiff Festival - http://www.cardiff-festival.com/
National Botanic Garden of Wales - http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk/
Visit North Wales - http://www.visitnorthwales.co.uk/
http://www.visitwales.com/

If you are not an active traveller and you would rather spend your vacation time in a “resting” state, there are many things you can do in Wales while you take advantage of the huge savings home exchange has to offer. For example, Wales has 641 castles and three World Heritage Sites you can visit. The three World Heritage Sites are:

Image by Tom Curtis /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd: Beaumaris Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Conwy Castle and Harlech Castle.
2. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape: evidencing the importance of the region’s industries to the 19th century’s Industrial Revolution.
3. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal - Truly a monumental piece of civil engineering, both creative and majestic.

Other “slow” activities you can enjoy in Wales, and specially recommended for wildlife lovers, are birdwatching or admiring the rare bottle nosed dolphins, basking sharks, leatherback turtles and Atlantic grey seals that can be spotted in the Welsh marine environment. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park,  is the perfect place to do this.

You can also find a list of attractions that can be visited for free if you are looking for a low budget holiday. The list includes museums, art galleries, parks, exhibitions, festivals, castles and trails. Navigate through http://www.visitwales.com/ to find more details.

As you can imagine, Wales is a great destination for family vacations. Three family friendly features of Wales:

- Perfect place for outdoors activities.
- Several free-entry attractions.
- 1,200 Km of coastline: sand and sea are a perfect combination to entertain the little ones.

Find more information in the links below and more ideas in HomeForHome’s next post.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park - http://www.pcnpa.org.uk/
http://www.visitwales.com/
Cadw (the historic environment service of the Welsh Assembly Government) - http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/
Southern Wales - http://www.southernwales.com/
Mid Wales and the Brecon Beacons - http://tourism.powys.gov.uk/
Visit North Wales - http://www.visitnorthwales.co.uk/

A few weeks ago we invited you to take a “tour” through Scotland, and this week we are going to do the same through the best that Wales has to offer. Read on and then explore the home exchange opportunities we have waiting for you in Wales.

Wales is located in the island of Great Britain. It has only one land neighbour: England, and the rest of its borders are 1,200 Km of coastline. So beaches and mountains abound, but there are also smooth hills and valleys, specially in South Wales.

Easy accessible from within the UK, if you are travelling form overseas you may arrive directly to Wales for your home exchange or use the transport connections from the rest of the UK’s main airports.

There are only five cities in Wales that have UK City Status. They are Bangor, Cardiff, Newport, St David’s and Swansea. If you add that there are three National Parks (including the only coastal National Park in the UK in Pembrokeshire) and five Areas of Outstanding Natural beauty in Wales, you will probably understand why it is mostly considered a destination to get in touch with nature and enjoy stunning landscapes.

What can be done in Wales? Golfing, hiking, cycling, camping, mountain climbing, mountain biking, surfing and any other activity that implies contact with nature. If you want to try a local “invention” you may go for Pembrokeshire’s Coasteering. According to “Visit Wales” (http://www.visitwales.com/) coasteering is “a wild combination of scrambling, climbing, traversing, cliff jumping and swimming“

If you are into golf, you may want to attend the first Ryder Cup to be held in Wales while you enjoy your home exchange. When? Well, you better hurry because 2010 is the year! Yes, the Ryder Cup will tee off the first day of October 2010 in The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.

If you are a less active traveller, there are other things you can do and we will let you know all about them!

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park - http://www.pcnpa.org.uk/
http://www.visitwales.com/
http://www.rydercup.com/2010/
http://www.welcome2wales.co.uk/the-2010-ryder-cup/

Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is a 600 year old city proud of its past with a vibrant modern present. As we mentioned in our previous post, 2010 was supposed to be the year to visit Seoul but many of the events programmed to attract tourist are probably going to escape any home exchange arranged form now on. However, no matter when you decide to visit Seoul, the city has something for everyone:

Photo by yeowatzup /Flickr.com

Modern Buildings:

- N Seoul Tower (Namsan Mountain)

- Moonlight Rainbow Fountain (probably the world’s longest bridge fountain)

- 63 Building (63 City)

The Five Royal Palaces - All built during the Joseon Dynasty some 600 years ago, they remain completely blended with the surrounding environment:

- Changdeokgung
- Changgyeonggung
- Deoksugung
- Gyeongbokgung
- Gyeonghuigung

Museums - There are over 100 museums in Seoul, just to mention a few:

- National Museum of Korea (with over 150,000 artifacts)
- National Palace Museum of Korea (mostly artifacts from the Joseon Dynasty)
- Cheong Wa Dae Sarangchae (”Office of the President Museum, previously Hyoja-dong Sarangbang)
- Seoul Museum of History
- The War Memorial of Korea
- Choonwondang Museum of Korean Medicine
- Seoul Museum of Art

Natural beauties:

- Hangang Park
- Seoul Grand Park
- Seoul Forest
- Namsan Botanical Garden
- Dream Forest
- Olympic Park
- World Cup Park

With HomeForHome, the year to visit Seoul on a home exchange never ends…

Resources to find more information:

http://english.seoul.go.kr/
http://sdf.seoul.go.kr (click in EN in the top-right corner to see the English version)
http://www.gogung.go.kr/eng/
http://www.museum.go.kr/eng
http://www.visitseoul.net/en/
http://www.warmemo.or.kr/eng/intro/message/message.jsp

2010 is the “Visit Seoul Year“, a part of a three year promotional campaign designed to attract people to visit South Korea. The “2010-2012 Visit Korea Years” are meant to provide unique opportunities to get to know the country, with several festivals, cultural events, political summits and sport events taking place in every part of the country.

Image by J Frasse /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you want to get into South Korea you will definitely have to start with here: Seoul (officially Seoul Special City), with over 10 million inhabitants, is the capital and largest city of South Korea, and one of the largest cities in the world. The metropolitan area, known as Seoul National Capital Area, is home to over 20 million people, and this makes it the second largest metropolitan area in the world. The importance of Seoul to South Korea is demonstrated by the following facts:

- Since South Korea (Republic of Korea) has a population of 50 million, Seoul’s metropolitan area hosts almost half of the country’s population, and Seoul Special City alone, almost a quarter of the population.

- Seoul is the country’s economic, political, cultural hub and is also considered one of the top ten financial and commercial centres of the world.

The city is located in a natural basin in the centre of the Korean Peninsula (shared by North Korea and South Korea). It is divided in two halves by the Han River and guarded by mountains. As a modern centre with a  carefully well preserved heritage and environment, Seoul has everything to amaze  new visitors.

As we mentioned, 2010 was supposed to be the year to visit Seoul, with these events attempting to get your attention:

- G20 Summit (Nov. 13th - 14th)
- Hallyu Dream Festival (Set. 10th - 12th; it takes place every year, so you may catch it in 2011 to avoid a rushed-swap)
- Hi Seoul Festival (Oct. 1st - 9th)
- Korea Food Festival (Oct. 21st - 27th)
- Seoul Design Fair (Sep. 17th - Oct. 7th)
- Seoul Lantern Festival (Nov. 5th - 14th)
- Seoul Grand Sale (going on right now, it started on July 21st and will end next Sep. 12th)
- Seoul International Travel Fair (Sep. 13th - 17th)
- Seoul International Fireworks Festival (Oct. 9th)

2011 will be Daegu’s year and 2012 will be “Visit Yeaosu Year“. So, the invitations were sent, you have received yours now, just take a look at the listings in South Korea and make your home exchange arrangements.

Resources for detailed information:
http://english.visitkoreayear.com/
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto
http://www.visitseoul.net/en/

We continue with our tour through Scotland’s best. Today: Castles and Edinburgh.

Image by Tom Curtis /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There are several castles in Scotland, so if you are looking for a piece of history combined with beautiful architecture, landscapes and decoration, here are some suggestions:

- Airth Castle (near Stirling)
- Birkhill Castle (Fife)
- Caerlaverock Castle (Glencaple, Dumfries)
- Culzean Castle (near Maybole, Ayrshire)
- Drumlanrig Castle (Dumfries and Galloway)
- Duart Castle (Mull)
- Dunvegan Castle (Isle of Skye)
- Edinburgh Castle (Edinburgh)
- Falkland Palace (Fife)
- Fyvie Castle (Aberdeenshire)
- Glamis Castle (Angus)
- Hermitage Castle (Roxburghshire)
- Inveraray Castle (Argyll)
- Kildrummy Castle (Aberdeenshire)
- Stirling Castle (Stirling)

If your home exchange destination is in Aberdeenshire, you may enjoy the only Castle Trail in Scotland, with 14 castles marked by white on brown signs with a blue castle logo. This is a hihgly recommended activity for families with children, as the younger ones would enjoy discovering secret passages, dungeons, haunted rooms and ghost stories. Visit Scotland.com - The official site of Scotland’s national tourism organisation has a Castle Trail leaflet with all you need to know to plan your own Castle Trail tour.

The Festival City

Edinburgh - The capital is one of the single most attractive spots in Scotland, the 12 major annual festivals that take place in the city account for its nickname: the Festival City, and its spectacular architecture make it an art piece on itself. As we mentioned, there are countless cultural events that take place in Edinburgh, the main being: Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. We did not count them all, but there are probably hundreds of events that take place in this cultural hub, and you could certainly find one that matches both your interests and your home exchange calendar so we will refer you to Edinburgh Festivals to prepare your trip.

Of course this is just peek of Scotland’s vast offer to enjoy your home exchange vacations, so imagine all the things you will discover on your trip!

If you are looking for a different experience for your next home exchange, Scotland sure has some ideas for you.

Green Tourism in Scotland

Photo by lmnyberg /Flickr.com

First things first. Over 700 businesses are registered members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) and are assessed for their energy efficiency and efforts to reduce their environmental impact, to sustain the quality of Scotland’s natural treasures. As a visitor, your support is required to preserve the quality of Scotland’s environment. So look for the identified businesses while you tour through Scotland.

Whisky Tourism in Scotland

There are 42 distilleries open to visitors, because not only it is one of the country’s most important exporting industries, it has also become an attraction to visitors and whisky fans from around the globe. The tourism and hospitality sector has joined the distilleries’ efforts to arrange a memorable experience adding other attractions to the “Scotch Whisky Trails“. The most complete online reference on this subject is ScotlandWhisky but you should also check out The Whisky Coast, The Malt Whisky Trail, and for information about the industry visit Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

Just to give you a taste of what you can find:

Speyside is home to half of Scotland’s whisky distilleries, so if you care for a tour covering the different traditional distillation processes, this is the spot. Some of the tourist-friendly distilleries in the area are: Benromach, Cardhu, Dallas Dhu, Glen Grant, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and the Strathisla Distillery, home of the renowned Chivas Regal blend.

Campbeltown is home to the oldest independent family owned distillery: Springbank Distillery. This is not the only fact that sets this distillery apart, it is also one of the two distilleries in the country that carries the complete process from barley and water to bottled Scotch whisky in one single site and it is also the only one that produces three different single malts using three different production methods: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn.

“The Enchanted Forest”

An award winning outdoor show, that uses sound and light to tell the most amazing of all stories: the Earth’s history from the beginning to the modern era. Definitely a must if you arrange your home exchange in the area.  The Enchanted Forest is part of the Highland Perthshire Autumn Festival so visit http://www.pitlochryautumnfestival.co.uk/ to find our more and plan a fun-filled autumn home exchange vacation.

“One for All”

All in one: Cairngorms National Park includes the Aviemore, Angus Glens, Royal Deeside, Donside, Glenlivet and Speyside areas. You can find almost anything here, from family attractions to extreme sports there is definitely something to keep you entertained whether it is cold, warm, hot or even raining. Also, businesses in the park operate under the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) guidelines.

More information:
http://www.visitcairngorms.com/
http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/

The United Kingdom has a strong presence in HomeForHome, and over 50 of those houses that are ready for home exchange are located in Scotland. In this week’s posts, we will invite you to discover this land full of traditions, history, myths and beautiful scenery that goes from moorlands to mountains and rocky coastlines to peaceful lochs.

Photo by conner395 /Flickr

Scotland occupies the northern third of the Great Britain island and over 700 islands. Its official language is English, but Gaelic and Scots are also spoken; the first prevails mostly in the Highlands and Islands of the North and West, while Scots is spoken in the Central Lowlands.

The summer days, long and warm, present visitors with a range of events that would assure you find a fit for your particular interest: music, performing arts, sports, outdoor activities, you will find something for your own taste. Here are a few of the many coming entertainment events:

Edinburgh International Festival - Three weeks of performances from international artists, in one of Europe’s great festivals offering opera, dance, theatre, music and visual arts. This event alone accounts for a doubling in Edinburgh’s population during the Festival. More details at http://www.eif.co.uk/

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo - A three-week long festival where international military musicians take the stage with the majestic backdrop being Edinburgh Castle. The famous ending with the performance of the Lone Piper seems to be the distinctive mark of this world class unique martial music event that takes place every August in the Castle’s Esplanade. Over 100 million people watch the event on international television. For more information, please visit http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/

Aberdeen International Youth Festival - Starting with a colourful parade, this festival allows you to enjoy the best performances from young artists in ten days of literally all kinds of cultural expressions. For more information, visit http://www.aiyf.org/

Arbroath Sea Fest - An annual, 2-day festival to celebrate the Sea. More in http://www.arbroathseafest.co.uk/

The Braemar Gathering -  A series of traditional competitions with a member of the royal family present on the site to support the athletes. More information at http://www.braemargathering.org/

Piping Live! - This international piping event in Glasgow, features several styles from traditional to techno piping. A week of concerts, workshops, masterclasses and street performances, in an energetic environment. Details in http://www.pipinglive.co.uk/

Largs Viking Festival - The place and time for those who wish to know more about the Viking heritage of this area. It includes a Viking Village where the Swords of Dalriada live as the Vikings did, giving first hand entertainment and teaching at the same time. More at http://www.largsvikingfestival.com/

Events about Scottish foods and drinks: Tarbert Seafood Festival, Scottish Food Fortnight, Highland Feast, Whisky Live Scotland, Flavour of Shetland, Taste of Grampian Food Festival.

If you do not find a home exchange opportunity to experience this year’s events, you may want to check next year’s dates in the links provided and mark them in your calendar.