Quiet, non-lux living along the Mediterranean this summer: where to?
February 18, 2016 7:34 AM   Subscribe

My wife and I would like to rent a simple furnished apartment or small house somewhere along the Mediterranean this summer, for about a month. We just want a place where we can do some writing and go swimming every day. The catch is that we don't have much more than 500€ or so to pay for rent. Seeking recommendations for countries, specific islands, towns or villages, or website recommendations!

Other details/preferences:

- we need to keep food, drink, and transportation expenses low (we will already be in either Berlin or somewhere in Croatia beforehand, not flying directly from North America)

- a landscape with some trees is preferable

- we can do rustic if cars are easily rentable there, but walking distance to a village/town with a basic food and beer store would be great

- as this is basically a writing retreat, we don't need any nightlife--at most a cafe or a local watering hole. So some tips on places to avoid would also be good!
posted by Beardman to Travel & Transportation around Kissimmee, FL (8 answers total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Check out Albania on airbnb. I have never been but I've heard the beaches are gorgeous. Within your budget it may be a good bang for your buck. Here's a promising listing.
posted by pintapicasso at 8:00 AM on February 18, 2016


I've been eyeing a few places in Spain. This one is 23 USD a night
posted by ReluctantViking at 8:11 AM on February 18, 2016


Kotor, Montenegro is amazing but may be too touristic to find someplace at your desired rate; Budva may be a more affordable option. There's potentially cheap alternatives in Greece these days as well.

It's hard to tell exactly from photos, but consider strongly the ergonomics of whatever the setup they might have for writing. I did a retreat for a week in Cuba to write my Master's once, and my room had a lower-slung arm chair with no desk; it was miserable - even a kitchen chair and a table would have been better.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 8:37 AM on February 18, 2016


VRBO lets you search by your daily price max by country. I found a couple decent sounding listings in your range in Greece and even Italy (Otranto), but I'm not sure about swimmable beaches. I did see properties with pools.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:03 AM on February 18, 2016


The cheapest option, but one that'll eat up a bit of time, would be to get a decent VRBO or Airbnb option in a neighborhood you think you'll like for the first three or four nights, then walk around. There'll absolutely be "for rent" signs in English, and you can look at leisure. You'll end up spending much less, and get a good sense of the immediate area. I've done this for hotels all over the world, and long term stays in Oaxaca and Chiang Mai in the past couple years.
posted by tapir-whorf at 9:35 AM on February 18, 2016 [2 favorites]


Ooh, you want Kaş, Turkey (#52 on this New York Times 52 places to go in 2015). Beautiful, inexpensive, and easy to use buses and dolmuses to get around.

A very quick airbnb search returned this place which is $671 for the month of June, not including the airbnb fee. Here is a place in nearby Muğla that is sub $500. And places are often willing to make deals if its a monthly (vice daily or weekly) rental.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 10:55 AM on February 18, 2016


This question seems made for Greece right now. My husband's family live near Nafplio, on the Pelloponese. There are loads of little coastal towns there that only cater to locals and Athenians on day trips. Not much in the way of crazy nightlife (just bars), but gorgeous, cheap to live, and on the beach pretty much every day in season. Plus, spanakopita.
posted by Concordia at 2:48 PM on February 18, 2016


Response by poster: These all sound great! Concordia--would you say that that region is cheaper than the Greek islands? Somehow I was assuming that the islands would be cheaper (because more remote), but then I heard they're super popular.
posted by Beardman at 4:53 PM on February 18, 2016


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