Dear GoMad Nomad,
I’m a digital nomad and freelancer and looking to change my scenery to get inspired. I’d like to move to Europe for a couple months in the spring. I was thinking about renting a place on Air B&B, HomeAway, or House Trip. I can only stay for three months because I’m a US citizen. After that I must remain outside of Europe for 90 days. My accommodation budget isn’t too hefty; I’ve got to keep it below 400 € per month. Do you have any suggestions?
-Kiren from Seattle, WA
Where to rent in Europe Short Term
Dear Kiren,
You should easily be able to find a room in a house for less than 400 € per month, even as low as 250 € depending on where you go. Where you go depends on your priorities: Do you want to be able to easily travel to places all over Europe? Or would you rather take a quiet place with good weather to focus your work?
For good weather and cheap living I would suggest: Portugal. It’s cheap, has nice people, good weather and food. Maybe try the Balkans, if you can take chillier weather but enjoy great landscapes and low prices.
Really, anywhere that’s a tourist destination will have rooms for cheap in the off-season.
For accessibility, I would recommend Brussels. This is the only city in this part of Europe where you can still get a room for 300-350 €. Compare with its neighbors Paris, London, and Amsterdam to get an idea. Between Brussels airport and Charleroi (big Ryanair hub) there are flights going all over the continent, often at quite affordable rates.
Brussels is convenient for a couple months, but consider getting a room in a small town in a Mediterranean country if that’s more your style. In the end it depends on your needs. Hope you find the place you’re looking for and enjoy living in Europe!
Sincerely,
Gilbert
This is the excellent advice. However, I want to add one more destination: Andalucia (Southern Spain). We spent 3 months in Jerez that proved to be a perfect destination for our purposes: work during the week; explore the coast during weekends (fast, reliable and affordable trains). Andalucia is much cheaper than usual destinations in Spain (like Barcelona). If, by any chance, you like surfing you might be interested in checking Tarifa; if you like really small towns El Puerto de Santa Maria near Cadiz is a nice place on a water. You can easily find some great accommodations under 400EUR there.
Awesome, that’s for the great advice, Elena!! We’ll check out Andalucia.
Hi Elena.
I saw an article on your website published in January 2012 about the Nenets of Russia by Nell Rakhimova. In that article, Nell says that if you want to visit Yar-Sale you need to have special permission and suggests finding people who can host you beforehand. Are you able to provide advice as to how to do this?