Choosing A Base in Europe for 3 Months
 

We are considering spending 3 months in Europe to celebrate my 50th birthday in a few years.

I am beginning to investigate an affordable base that would be convenient for trips in western Europe.

I could use either train or car as my primary transportation, so a good train hub, or available parking are part of the equation. I speak a little French but not much else.

Any suggestions?

Have you considered renting a villa or country home in Provence? I understand you can do so without spending a fortune. This way you have a "home" more or less and won't feel like you are limited by a hotel? You may even get to know your neighbors and create a fun and meaningful experience.

You could get to many places in a short time. It sounds like fun. Please share with us what you decide on...

I am positively GREEN with envy Julie :)

I would recommend France, as you could spend the entire three months there and not be bored. You don't mention the time of year, which would make a difference - the colder the month the further south I would go.

If it were me, I would choose somewhere that is a 3-4 hours train ride from Paris on a TGV, which gives you lots of choice. I would personally go to Acquitaine - Dordogne, Midi-Pyrenees, and plan driving or train trips all over the South of France (Provence, Riveria), Northern Spain, Northern Italy. I probably would consider more than one base (I would do one in France and one in Spain and might even consider a third in Italy).

I'd suggest you start with decisions on whether you prefer to base yourself in cities, towns or countryside; would you consider more than one base of operations; have you any particular affinity to any one country or culture?

Enjoy planning ...

regards ... Ger

Any reason you've not mentioned flying? The discount airlines are amazingly cheap. Have a look at applefares.com or whichbudget.com, websites that show routes for a bunch of different low cost airlines. I think it would also help people give input if you said where in particular you'd like to go and/or if you had your druthers, in what country would you like to be based.

If you're concerned about langage, you could base yourself in England & take advantage of the low cost airlines, chunnel, Eurostar. Unfortunately the exchange rate makes the UK more expensive than other options.

One way to keep costs down is to do a home exchange if you would feel comfortable having people in your home. The summer is evidently the most popular time of year for this. You certainly have the lead time to organize it. There was a recent thread on this with websites etc. if you do a text search for home excange.

I like the idea of 2 or possibly 3 bases. Have fun planning.

Hi Julie,

Have you considered doing a month in any three of UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Denmark?

Renting an apartment or villa is a good way to save money and live among the indigenous population.

Thanks everyone - this is excellent food for thought. You've raised some good options for me to consider.

I had not even thought about different bases, so that's a great suggestion. I am not averse to flying if time is more important that sightseeing along the way. And though it's a neat idea, I would probably forgo the villa in favor of a furnished flat that I could lock up and leave for a period of time. I don't think I would want to do a home exchange.

I think I will sketch out a couple of options - France first - and see how they look. Might try a small city on the TGV toward the south. I just returned from Avignon and enjoyed being based there. In the end, all options will be measured against the gold standard -- Paris!

Regarding time of year, my guess right now is September - early December.

Thanks again for all the good advice.
J