Renting by the month
 

My first trip to Europe. thinking of Paxos Greece, to Italy, to France to Switzerland starting in June for 90 days. I will have a car (but not in Switzerland). Thinking it might be cheaper to rent a place long term while in each area and use my car to sight see the area. Is it cheaper? Any good websites to visit for this. Not into hostels, or couch surfing. I would like to find small flats in quiet villages.

http://www.mackays-self-catering.co.....php?browser=1
Just go to the following link, it is exactly what you want.

Many car rental companies won't let you take cars on ferries so you would need to check into that.

Until you narrow down possible areas of interest in each country, it's hard to advise on rentals and some websites are city or country specific. You would also need to state a budget in euro as there is no point in people suggesting rentals out of your range.

It can be cheaper than hotels, if that's what you mean. But it really depends on what kind of hotels you stay in versus what you want in a rental apartment. Because for one person, I haven't really found vacation rental apartments to be any cheaper than a decent hotel, for the most part. And there is a lot more trouble to renting apartments with security deposits, prepayment, trying to get your deposit back, possibly meeting peple on arrival and departure, etc. And you won't necessarily get a break for renting for 30 days versus one week, on a vacation rental apartment. But you might. Finally, there are not usually many vacation apartment rentals in small towns or villages.

There are a couple main websites where owners do this, you can check them out -- www.vrbo.com, www.airbnb.com and www.homelidays.com

<Is it cheaper?>

That's impossible to say. Maybe yes, maybe no. Depends what kind of apartments you find. Depends what kinds of hotels you're comparing them to. Etc. Etc. Your question at this point is too wide open for anyone to really be able to answer.

<i>Thinking it might be cheaper to rent a place long term while in each area and use my car to sight see the area. Is it cheaper?</i>

It may well be cheaper, but you would be limited to sightseeing in the small area that could be reached on day trips from your base. Range any further and you would be paying for both your long-term rental <i>and</i> a hotel room at the same time.

With your example of Paxos you would be more or less limited to Paxos itself, with possible day trips to Corfu and Antipaxos. Taking a car on a ferry (assuming you are allowed) would add considerably to the fare over what a foot passenger pays.

Another point, using Greek Islands as an example. June, July, and August (when you plan to go) are the peak months for island holidays, when accommodation owners expect to make virtually all their income for the entire year. Rents during that period are very high, since the property will likely be vacant for the rest of the year. You could probably get a very good deal if you rented during off-season.

I cannot comment on Greece. But we [ a couple ] travel to France [ and have stayed in rentals in Tuscany ] and we find it cheaper to stay in a holiday rental. We have done this for a week at a time, but for our next trip [ 2014 ] will be staying two weeks in some places. Some give a discount for stays of more than a week. Of course it may depend on when you are travelling. We travel out of season which could make a difference. e.g. we have just booked in the Dordogne in France for mid April 2014 and have a gite for 250 euro per week. In August it is over 800 euro. Here are some sites we have used.

http://www.abritel.fr/
http://www.gites-de-france.com/
http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/
http://www.frenchconnections.co.uk/en/accommodation

You can also look at the tourism sites for particular towns. They often have accommodation and we have found places this way as well.

We find this an affordable way to travel. We have more room than a hotel or B&B room,[ and this can be important if it is for an extended time], a kitchen, a washing machine. We enjoy shopping for food at markets, small shops and supermarkets and then cooking at home. Of course I realise this is not what a lot of people want for a holiday, but it is what we enjoy. Here is my report on our nine week trip to France in 2012 [ April, May ] Our average for rentals was 300 euro per week.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-of-france.cfm

You could do this. There are lots of holiday rentals out there.

Good luck

Do you mean the island of Paxi in the Ionian Sea?

The best way to find something at an affordable price, would be by contacting the owner directly and not through an online booking engine.

Paxi might be a difficult case, especially during the high season, due to this tiny size.

Do you plan to stay on Paxi for one month? or spending just a few days there?

I have used vacation apts almost exclusively for more than 15 years and always found them to be a treasure and a bargaIN!@
Most recently, used www.vrbo.com for sites all over the world.
NEVER had a problem with payment or getting the key, etc