Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with housing and travel

This is stressing me in.

Evstar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:33:14 -0800

What is the best way for me to find an apartment in Lyon, with a kitchen, for 10 months to a year? I'm a Canadian in Toronto with a French Visa good for a year. I'm leaving at the end of August to stay in Lyon for 10 months to a year. My girlfriend and I need an apartment apartment within a reasonable distance of the University of Lyon for those ten months. She is a student, I am not.

We will arrive in Lyon on the 29th of August.

Should we hire a real-estate agent? Search online classifieds ourselves? Would we be crazy to show up in Lyon on the 29th in hopes of finding a place for September in the few days left in August? Is there a better way to go about this?

Oh, and we're on a student's budget. The two of us will be splitting rent halfway.

I would love to hear from people who live or have lived in Lyon, especially from someone with a similar travel experience.

Thanks.

Group lodging in D.C. area in June

caroljean63 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:43:05 -0800

Need group lodging in D.C. area for families with teens and kids in June I'll be traveling with a group of families (with teens and a few younger kids) to College Park, MD in June and we're trying to find somewhere to stay other than a typical hotel. We will have between 7-9 families. It needs to be less than $100/night per family and we wouldn't mind all sharing a house or cabin of some sort. The kids wouldn't mind bunking together (boys and girls separately!), but the parents would want their own rooms.

December trip to Australia

hokie409 — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 17:13:12 -0800

Advice needed for a December trip to Australia from the US. I’d like to spend at least a month in Australia starting in December. There have been some pervious Australian posts that I’ve reviewed here but I’d still like some more advice.

I’d like to spend maybe half of the time based out of Sydney b/c I really enjoy large cities and being in a place long enough to actually meet some locals. Plus my company has an office in Chatswood New South Wales which appears to be in commuting distance. Maybe I could do some of my work out of that office so I can stay as long as possible.

I’m in Washington DC. Would it be possible to arrange a housing swap for this time period? Does anyone have a site recommendation for finding one?

Then I’d like to see what ever else I can possibly fit in. Can anyone recommend a good tour company for doing some hikes? I’d like the see the wine areas and Melbourne but I really have not researched it all yet.

Finally, I’ve been seeing some flight deals. One of them had what seemed like a good deal for a flight to Australia then 2 or 3 flights once you got there. Besides the obvious like sidestep.com, orbits.com, etc are there some sites or ticket consolidators that I should be monitoring?

Any help with the above questions or the ones that I did not think to ask are appreciated.
Thanks.

Copenhagen - London Swap

AwkwardPause — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:16:40 -0800

Housingfilter: My girlfriend and I are going to be "stuck" in London for two weeks (waiting for a flight layover). Does anyone have any cheap suggestions OR interest in a housing swap (we live in Copenhagen)? (MI) It will be from July 21 - August 4. We're basically trying to spend as little money as possible and since the apartment here will be empty the entire time, a trade seems logical (if improbable). Any suggestions?

Home Exchange

jasper411 — Wed, 21 Jan 2004 14:04:19 -0800

We're considering going to Europe for a few weeks this summer, and thought about the possibility of exchanging houses with someone over there, as a way of saving money (we have a house in San Francisco, a pretty popular place to visit).

But we're worried about the possibility of ending up with some crooks or thoughtless people in our house, and coming back home to find that we've been ripped off, had property messed up, etc. Has anyone had any experiences with any reliable (or not so reliable) places that help make house exchanges successful (e.g., screening applicants, etc.)?