Hospitality Description: Are you on your way to or from Scandinavia and would like to stay in Hamburg for one or two nights? Or would you like to make a short trip to Hamburg while you are on another exchange nearby? We don't have a guest room, but can often make one bedroom available for a short stay. We would love to be your local friend and guide: Have dinner with you, chat and explore the city. You are very welcome!
Statistics
Listed January 2019
Views 9513
General overview
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Features
Washer
Dishwasher
Clothes dryer
Oven
Microwave
Coffee machine
Fridge
Iron
Hair dryer
Heating
Air conditioning
TV
WiFi
High Speed Internet
Bathtub
First aid kit
Wheelchair accessible
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguisher
Bed sheets
Towels
Workspace
Fireplace
Home cinema
Toys
Gym
Sauna
BBQ
Pool
Hot tub
Balcony
Garden / yard
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace
Covered porch / verandah
Kosher home
Meat-free kitchen
Gated community
EV Home Charger
Bikes
Camping gear
Kayak
Tennis court
Standup paddleboard
Travel Styles
Weekend
Budget
Family
Sport and leisure
Foodie
Relaxing
City
Beach
Water
Culture
Cycling
Good public transport
House rules
Suitable for infants under 2
Suitable for children ages 2-12
Pets not allowed
No smoking
Allergens
Dog free
Carpet free
Smoke free
Dates of Availability
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Neighbourhood
We live in a nice and leafy area of Hamburg between picturesque Blankenese and lively Altona, 3.5km from the Elbe River with its beaches and a ferry station. It is possible to walk or bike down to the river - your path can almost always lead you through parks. A large shopping center and a bus stop serving many lines are only 500 meters away. The subway station (2 km away) can be reached by bus or bike, and trains leave for the city center every five to ten minutes. It is 8 minutes to Ottensen, a bustling neighborhood with many small stores, restaurants and bars, 15 minutes to Landungsbrücken (the entrance to the harbor, one of the largest in the world), and 20 minutes to the main train station. If you prefer to cycle to the center, it is a nice ride along the river (10 km). 200m behind our house is a park for a quick morning run.
Hamburg, as the second largest city in Germany (1.9 million people live here), is a great place for all kinds of cultural activities. What we also enjoy is the variety of outdoor activities it offers. The Elbe River divides Hamburg into a northern and a southern part, and right in the middle lays the river Alster, more than 800 years ago dammed into a lake. Whenever the sun comes out, people go for a walk, skate, run or bike along the Elbe, the Alster or in one of the many parks, or they engage in water sports like sailing, kayaking or standup paddling.
Nearest airport
Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel (HAM) is our nearest airport, 20 kilometers away from our house. A direct metro line (S1) runs from the airport to our station (Klein Flottbek) within 50 minutes. You will need 20 minutes to drive home from the Airport.
But you can also look to Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf or Frankfurt Int. airports to check for lower prices, as it is easy and often cheap to take the train from there to Hamburg.
Getting around
If you plan trips to the seaside - beaches of the Baltic Sea or the North Sea (including the Unesco World Heritage Wadden Sea) can be reached in 1-2 hours. The German-Danish border is 1,5 hours away and within two hours by train you'll be able to visit Berlin.
Beautiful cities like Lüneburg, Lübeck, Bremen or Stade are 40 to 60 minutes away by car or regional trains.
Map of Approximate Location
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People Like Us Local Guide
We're happy to meet you!
It may be for breakfast, coffee or dinner, go for a walk, make a day trip together, visit a museum, go to a concert, or simply give advice in case you need help.
We had a great time at Andrea’s wonderful and very cosy home in Hamburg. Andrea is a fantastic host and was extremely kind and helpful before and during our stay. She helped organising an amazing kayaking trip in the many canals of Hamburg, she helped getting football tickets and was eager to help and organise our trip so we got most out of 3-4 days. She even left homebaked bread for us and a wonderful apple pie.
The house is big and very well located and we enjoyed taking the ferry into dowmtown (one-day travelcard for all public transportation for 5 adults was only 13 EUROs!)
I am giving Andrea and her family my warmest recommendation if you ever want to visit Hamburg.
Nice house, with a small garden, lots of plants and flowers.
Really inviting.
All has been perfect.
Glad you enjoyed your stay!
On our way back from Denmark Andrea and her family offered to host us in their beautiful family home in Hamburg. We felt so welcome after a long day's drive. Andrea pampered us with a delicious meal. The family moved out of their rooms to offer my friend and I each a separate sleeping room, incredible. Andrea and i made a hike to the river Elbe, passing through 3 beautiful parks; the green lungs of this big city. I still wonder how amazing it is this can work this way within PLU. Making such great new connections. I am very thankful!!
It was a pleasure spending time with you!
We had the pleasure of staying in Andrea’s lovely home in a wonderful location for one week. Andrea was so very kind in her communication and very hospitable from afar. She even had hot homemade baked bread delivered from the neighbor— talk about a wonderful gift 💝 woah! During one week, we were able to experience beautiful parks and gardens, the ferry boat to the Landungsbrücken Pier, yummy bakeries for pretzels and bread, the Alter Elbtunnel (a must see!), an awesome graffiti exhibit at the Hamburg History museum, and the most fabulous Minatur Wunderland (never seen anything like this in our life!)… So it's a perfect base to explore! Andrea’s home is very nice, clean, well equipped, cozy, the gardens outside were lush and beautiful to enjoy, and we felt perfectly at home there. Thank you again! Hope to meet you in person one day, Andrea!
Thank you Jess and Lake for taking such good care of our home and our cats! Hopefully our paths will cross again!
My 3 kids & I had a wonderful time at Andrea's home.
Andrea is incredibly nice and helpful. We had a long phone call before our exchange and she gave me a lot of tips and insights as a PLU newcomer.
Andrea's house is in a nice neighborhood. The bus, which leaves nearby, takes you directly to the ferry terminal. From there you can explore Hamburg wonderfully.
The house is very spacious and well maintained. Andrea provided extra toys for my boys, so we could relax and spend a few rainy days indoors.
She was always available and we felt very comfortable and cared for.
Her 3 cats are also a dream. Very relaxed and patient residents.
An absolute recommendation from the bottom of my heart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you Andrea for this great experience ♥️
Those are such lovely lines, thank you very much Diana! You were perfect guests and we hope to soon meet all of you in person! ♥️
Andrea and Stephan’s house is a wonderful, welcoming, interesting home, made even better by the personal welcome we had from them. There’s something about homemade bread that makes you feel at home!
We had a very comfortable stay - there is plenty of space, interesting books, a nice garden and terrace. Just lovely!
I would immediately bake more bread for you to come back ♥️
My son spent 2 fantastic weeks with the lovely family of Andrea. They were welcoming, absolutely friendly and helpful. My son could also go to school there, which was again a great experience!
I cannot be more grateful to Andrea and her family :)
Thank you Tünde, it was a pleasure to meet Csongor!
We had a wonderful time in Hamburg in Andrea's beautiful large and bright house. Due to a pleasant misunderstanding, we found the family still at home when we arrived, extremely cordial people. Andrea was even fine with two friends joining us later in the week. She had left more information about Hamburg than the tourist office had. There was a lovely sitting area in the green garden, the bus stop was within walking distance as well as a beautiful shopping center. Taking care of the three cats was no problem at all. Hamburg is a big city with lots to do, and we enjoyed a performance at the Elbphilharmonie.
Cycling in the area is also fun to do.
Thank you Annemarie and Eric for being so easy going! We now know the difference between German and Dutch coffee time :)
We had a wonderful swap with Andrea and het family! Communication went fluently before, during and after. We stayed at their spacious warm home in the great city of Hamburg. Also Andrea supported us with lots ot tips about her city. Back home we found our house exactly as we left it, our two cats taken care of well.
Thanks again for this experience Andrea!
Thank you very much as well, Martin. We hope to come back and meet next time!
We can just say a big thank you to Andrea and her family for a great hospitality stay. Their home is lovely, has a relaxing garden, cute cats... and everything had been prepared so nicely for us, that from the very beginning we really felt at home!
From the house it is very easy to get to the Hamburg city center using the public transport (even by ferry!). In Hamburg itself, there is a lot to do and see...
Andrea kept in touch throughout our stay with help and suggestions for us. From the very beginning the contact was easy and friendly. Although we had not the chance to meet the family in person, we hope we will keep in touch and will meet some other time in the future!
Thank you very much for your positive words, Britta and Philip! Our cats and our house were in excellent hands with you.
Wow what a welcome! From the delicious meals to the tours of the area, Alizee was totally pampered. She loved meeting the numerous cates and being introduced to friends and she got on particularly well withyour daughter! Thank you for an amazing hosting experience and hopefully we can reciprocate one day!
It was a pleasure to meet Alizée, she is welcome back anytime!
We exchanged with Andrea and her family for two weeks in July. Arranging everything was easy and communication before and during the exchange worked super.
We met up with Andrea and family en route to Hamburg and had a great time getting to know them and exchanging sightseeing tips etc. On arrival in Hamburg we were greeted by Sammy, the cat, gifts of lovely wine, coffee, a delicious strawberry cake and even some holiday reading in the form of two novels set in Hamburg. Thanks a lot, Andrea & Co.
The house is really nice and roomy with a lovely secluded patio where we had many of our meals. It's easy to get into the city centre, as there are 3 buses that stop near the house. Several times we also took the harbour boat bus from the nearest river stop into the city. There are supermarkets and a shopping centre within walking distance, so we only used the car to drive out into the countryside. Highly recommend a trip to the picturesque Altes Land area just south of the river with beautiful little villages and orchards.
Andrea with her husband and son stayed in our Stockholm primary home and what a joy it was to come home to a perfectly clean and tidy home that has been really well taken care of - big thanks! Before, under and after we had great and swift contact and Andrea updated us about what they enjoyed doing while staying in our home-So nice.
We also got a lot of nice presents when returned. As this was our only second exchange in our primary home, it turned out so well so now we’re totally into home changing with PLU and longing to invite new guests like Andrea A heartfelt thank you from us to you!
A few years back Andrea and I was supposed to exchange, but COVID had other plans. We''ve not succeeded since in organizing a new swap, but we've kept in touch afterwards. And then FINALLY we were able to meet in person due to the Danish PLU meet up in Copenhagen on May 1st <3
Andrea wanted to attend the meet up and asked if I would host her and I happily agreed. Originally she was coming ofr 3 nights, but then she got the opportunity to stay with another PLU'er in Malmö (Theresia), which I thought was a wonderful chance to get.
So eventually Andrea only stayed with me the night after the PLU meet up, along side my Aussie exchangers Bonnie and Graham, who also attended the meet up.
We didn't have much time to chat, but we did our best and can certainly agree that we have lots to talk about! :-D
It was a pleasure to meet Andrea and have her stay and hopefulyl it wont be too long before we get to meet again here, there or somewhere else.... ,-)
Till next time Andrea <3
Thank you Lone, I felt very welcome and hope we'll soon have a longer chat <3
It was a true pleasure to have Andrea as a guest in our home. She is friendly, interested, humble, easy-going, talkative, helpfull and just a really nice person to have around. She even brought us presents! The room she stayed in was left spott-less. I am looking forward to having her here again and hope she brings more of her family along next time! And we hope to be able to visit them in Hamburg.
When we tried to find pet lovers to take care of our 3 furry animals (2 dogs, 1 cat) on a hospitality stay while we would be away, Andrea was the very first to answer our call, offering the help of her daughter Zoë, already an experienced home exchanger, and her boyfriend Korbi. The communication was great from the beginning. We were lucky enough to be able to live a couple of days together at our home before leaving on vacation, and we had a very good time together! Zoë and Korbi are kind and trustworthy, and they handled every issue very well during our 2 weeks away. They took great care of our home, and were so kind to our pets! I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for true pet lovers.
It was a real pleasure to have Andrea and her family at home. Andrea was a tremendous help as an experienced member of PLU, providing me with a lot of advice. Communication has been very smooth before, during, and after, and even though we haven't met in person (I hope to do so at some point), I feel like I know her and can rely on her to learn a lot from this great community. Thank you, Andrea. You know where your home in Spain is, and you're welcome to come back anytime.
Thank you for your kind words, Verónica, I also hope we meet one day!
We loved having Andrea, Stephan and Leander in our home. We had chatted lots before the exchange so we knew we got on well with them. Then we met up en route to each others’ houses so again we felt really comfortable. We chatted throughout the exchange and we were both happy in each others’ houses! Then when we got back to England Stephan had prepared the most wonderful lunch for us and Andrea had made the effort to wash all the sheets and they were drying out in the sun. Not expected but a lovely sight! Andrea, Stephan and Leander looked after our home so well and we would have them back in a heartbeat. Friends for life!
We loved your home and loved having you in our home! Thank you my dears! Here's to a long friendship!
It was great to share a couple of days in Brussels with Andrea and her family. I was a bit sorry because I had a lot of work those days but we found time to visit the Council and have dinner together at home before they continue their trip to UK.
Thank you very much for the nice time and the opportunity to get to know Hamburg. Eric returned to the Netherlands by bicycle in five days.
Back home we found our house exactly as we left it, our two cats taken care of very well. Andrea and her family were also flexible as we didn't manage to get some shelves in cupboards-space for them. Thanks Andrea!
Andrea stayed 3 nights at our place (hospitality exchange). We went to the PLU meet-up in Utrecht together. It was our first Plu hospitality exchange and we loved it! We bonded over food and travel stories (she’s quite a foodie!) and chatted a lot. She cycled with us trough the city as if she was a real Dutchie! Communication before and during the stay has been great and very easy going. We are happy we got the chance to get to know Andrea and are sure we will meet her and her family in Hamburg in the future! Needless to say that we can recommend everyone doing an exchange or hospitality stay with her.
Andrea and her family were wonderful. The communication was swift and friendly before and during the exchange. They took great care of our apartments and our three cats so that we had a peaceful vacation in another PLU home. Thank you!
We have really enjoyed having Andrea at home. We had already met her and her two younger kinds, Zoe and Leander, last summer while they were in Málaga on a hospitality exchange at Carmen´s place. We really got on very well with them from the beggining, but thanks to this hospitality exchange with us we´ve been able to share very good moments, many laughs, some hikes, and we are now good friends. She is lovely, easy going, considerate. She has been great with the whole family, including our two cats. If you have an opportunity to exchange with Andrea, do not hesitate, she is the perfect guest, and am sure that she would be the perfect host as well. Looking forward to meeting her again, either in Hamburg or in Málaga again!
This is the second time Andrea stays with us. She also came all the way from Hamburg to join us and attend the PLU meet up. We owe her a visit! She is a great person to have a round. We feel a strong connection. It´s great to be able to host our PLU friends at home. We had never done this before but I have to say that we are truly enjoying the experience. See you in Hamburg Andrea! Carmen and familiy
Andrea and her two younger children have spent a few days at our second home in Malaga. We connected first through PLU´s FB page when none of us could travel and were sharing cooking tips and supporting each other as COVID restrictions made it not possible for any of us to travel. We were lucky to meet and share a meal at home while they were visiting another friend in Granada during the first part of their trip. We chatted for hours in the company of other PLU friends who joined us. The children (13 and 17) also chatted and enjoyed the get together. During their stay we have communicated through Whatsapp and shared some tips with them. We now have an excuse to go to Hamburg and visit them. PLU takes you to unexpected places. You know where you home is Andrea. You have to bring the rest of the family!
Andrea and her family treated our house really well, left it nice and clean, and communication was easy, so we can give them our best recommendations as exchange partners :-)
Eva and her family are lovely people and very experienced and easy-going home exchangers. I had the pleasure of meeting them all when we spent a day together walking in the neighbourhood and kayaking through the canals in the centre of Hamburg. They left our house in perfect condition and took good care of our cats. I can wholeheartedly recommend Eva and her family as guests and I am sure our paths will cross again.
Eloïme and Yoann are experienced exchangers. They took very good care of our house and our cats and are always welcome back. Too bad we didn't meet. We will cook together next time!
Sofie's lovely home, garden and neighbourhood were a big part of our holiday. Her house is large and bright and located on a quiet street just 200 meters up the road from the sea and 700 meters from our favorite swimming spot. The area around Stocksund and Djursholm is hilly and full of nice houses and big gardens. We spent many days just going for a swim, walking or cycling around (thank you so much for your bikes!) or taking the ferry over to Sticklinge pier on Lidingö to relax on the little beach over there. Ekudden, Sofie's ferry station is just a good kilometer away and from there ferries also leave for downtown Stockholm. Downtown can also be easily reached by bus and metro, but the buses, other than the metro, don't run very often. So sometimes we just cycled the 3 km to the metro station and then went into town. We used temporary travelcards (valid for buses, metro, regional trains and ferries) and didn't miss a car during our holidays.
Stockholm itself is a beautiful little capital surrounded by lots of water where we enjoyed walking around. Some very interesting museums we visited were the Vasa Museum, Fotografiska and the Nobel Prize Museum.
Our vacation was a ‘slow cation’ and Sofie's home and neighborhood within easy reach of some city life were just perfect.
Sofie is such a friendly and easy going PLU, the contact with her was very warm from the beginning, all along and after. We felt very welcome and hope we'll meet one day in person with the whole family.
Tusen tack for your hospitality Sofie, Martin och Alice!
Marlijn and I met for the first time at the PLU meeting in Utrecht in 2022 and the next time when she stopped off on her way to Denmark and spent a night at my friend Eleonora. We spent the day together eating, chatting and kayaking in Hamburg. A few days later, Marlijn and I both attended a PLU meeting in Copenhagen. So when she came to Hamburg on her way back to the Netherlands, bringing her friend Dineke with her, it felt like someone familiar was coming to visit. We talked over lunch and dinner and went for a long walk together. I enjoyed the time with Marlijn and Dineke and hope we will cross paths again!
Lone was so kind to offer me hospitality during the PLU meeting in Copenhagen, even though other PLU guests were visiting at the same time. We had planned a simultaneous exchange in 2021, which had to be canceled due to Covid, and had been looking for another time slot ever since. One night was far too short to catch more than a glimpse (Lone had even offered me to stay all three nights of my trip), but I still enjoyed my time at Lone's house and Frederiksvaerk. I went into town with Lone and then explored the area for a few more hours with her very relaxed and friendly dog. When I got back, I had a long chat with her other guests, Bonnie and Graham in her bright and cozy living room, cuddling with one of her cats. Her furry family is lovely and was one reason we wanted to exchange. Lone's home and Frederiksvaerk are certainly a place I would like to return to. And I hope to meet Lone again soon, and for longer.
I had two wonderful days with the Swanholms and felt so very welcome. Theresia and Joakim spoiled me with super delicious food on both days and took lots of time to chat, Linus moved out of his room for me.
How nice to have met the whole family in person now, after I was their "secret santa" last Christmas. I had hoped to meet Theresia and Joakim at the PLU meeting in Copenhagen and was delighted when they invited me to their home for dinner and to spend the night. One night turned into two, when they suggested to spend the next day also with them because it was a very special one in Sweden, Walpurgis Night. I was able to experience this welcoming of spring with bonfire on the sea and Swedish folk songs together with the Swanholms, Carmen, PLU from Andalusia, who had also arrived on the second day, and other guests of the family.
The Swanholms live just a short walk from the center or the sea, the bus connections are also easy and you can be in Copenhagen in half an hour by train. So their home is a perfect base to enjoy both cities, Malmö and Copenhagen. The weather was beautiful and on the Swanholms' terrace you can enjoy the sun and the view into the greenery until the evening. A lovely and welcoming home also when you just want to relax a day „at home“.
Dear Theresia, Joakim, Simon and Linus, I really enjoyed my time with you and very much hope that we can spoil you next month in Hamburg! Tusen tack för allt!
We did a hospitality stay with Laurène & Arnaud where we looked after their two lovely dogs, another dog of their friends and their cat. We were lucky enough to spend a few days with them and their children before they flew to Hawaii. The four of them were super nice and showed us lots of things in the surroundings and made suggestions for visits and upcoming events (e.g. the carnival in Nice).
You need a car to enjoy the area which Laurène and Arnaud kindly provided us with.
From their house you can reach many places without driving far (Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Tourette-sur-Loup and many more). Also the house and garden are beautiful and cozy if you just want to relax for a day.
We are very grateful that we got to know these wonderful people and this beautiful and diverse nature. We recommend everyone to meet them and immerse yourself in this environment if you love a perfect mix of nature, culture and city. Thank you for the great experience, Laurène and Arnaud!
Cuenca was a little discovery for us: the old town with its hanging houses (World Heritage Site) on a rock plateau surrounded by the gorges of two rivers is very impressive.
Veronica's apartment had everything we needed for our stay of three and looked exactly like in the pictures. The best part was the location on the edge of the old town and at the same time just steps away from all the stores in the new town. Communication with Veronica before and during our stay was super friendly and fluid and she gave us lots of great tips. Two full days weren't nearly enough time to follow all the tips, but we were still able to get a good impression of Cuenca and the surrounding area.
In addition to the impressive old town itself, we visited the Museo de Arte Abstracto Español in the same (great!), took a hike along the canyons right from the apartment, and a trip to the impressive rock formations of Ciudad Encantada, all highly recommended. The landscape is so beautiful that we would have liked to hike more – maybe next time?
We arrived quite easily and cheaply by fast train from Valencia in just under an hour, which is about the time it takes from Madrid.
When you go to Cuenca please make sure to meet with Ana Tejedor and her family. Lovely PLU's who were a wonderful and big part of our trip!
Thank you very much Verónica that we could stay in your little refuge!
It was a real pleasure to have Andrea and her family at home. Andrea was a tremendous help as an experienced member of PLU, providing me with a lot of advice. Communication has been very smooth before, during, and after, and even though we haven't met in person (I hope to do so at some point), I feel like I know her and can rely on her to learn a lot from this great community. Thank you, Andrea. You know where your home in Spain is, and you're welcome to come back anytime
Jessica and her family took very good care of our cats and our home and left everything nice and clean. Communication with Jessica was swift and very friendly before and during their stay. We can without any doubt recommend them as very trustworthy exchange partners!
Thank you Jess and Lake, you and your girls are welcome back anytime!
Thank you very much 😊 so grateful for you!
It was a pleasure to have Diana and her boys in our home. I felt very confident after we exchanged the first message and even more so when we had a veeery long chat on the phone just short before our swap.
Not only did Diana and her boys take excellent care of our cats and our house, they even fixed a lamp I thought was broken!
Thank you so much Diana, you and your family are welcome back anytime!
Perfect hosts, perfect guests.
Madeleine and I started talking in January and already after the first messages (many chats and some phone calls followed) I felt really confident exchanging with Madeleine and her family, even more when we met for several hours on the way to each other's homes and both families "clicked".
Our home and our three cats have been taken very good care of, thanks a lot Madeleine, Rich, Isaac and Ellie, you are welcome back any time, hopefully soon!!!
If you want to see London while looking for a home away from home, Madeleine and Richard's house is for you. Spacious, bright, cosy and with nice views (and a fantastic coffee machine!).
We enjoyed sitting in the large open kitchen as well as in the garden and watching the flowers. It was only on the last day that our 15-year-old son discovered what a nice little retreat the beautiful summer house could have been, when he played Xbox there with Rich and Madeleine's son.
Mads and Rich had made sure we weren't lacking anything, and we weren't! Neither food nor Beckenham or London recommendations nor forgotten adapters...
Even better: London can be reached by train in half an hour from one of the two Beckenham stations, Andrea even cycled twice into the City. Leander & Stephan meanwhile had a good football practice in the adjacent park, one of several nearby, and met English like-minded people. We were over the moon when Rich even got us tickets to a Crystal Palace match – their grounds are only 15 minutes away. Thanks a million, Rich! Another lovely extra was the 24 hours we spent by the sea with Madeleine's parents.
We’d love to stay in touch with the whole family and are very confident that we will. 💚
Thank you again to the Hays!
Silvia hosted us for two nights on our way to England. We wanted to get an impression of Brussels and visit important European institutions, but also to see Silvia again, who had spent a day with us in Hamburg last summer. It was the perfect stopover. Silvia's spacious house (4 floors!) is very centrally located, only 2 to 3 kilometers from many important sites. We had a very nice day and were able to see a lot. But what made the day extra special was Silvia: She gave us a long private tour of the European Council in the evening and told us many details. Afterwards, she even whipped up a super delicious meal for us at home, right off the bat. Thank you very much Silvia, that was great!
Tünde’s son Csongor was a guest student at our children's school for two weeks and lived with us during that time. Csongor is a very pleasant guest: friendly, interested and always eager to help. He got along well with everyone and we enjoyed being with him.
Csongor, you are always welcome back!
House, garden and especially our three cats were in best hands with Annemarie and Eric and their friends Paul and Marja.
Thank you, Annemarie and Eric, you are always welcome back!
What a relaxing week we had in Annemarie and Eric’s home in Bergen! Just what we needed.
The house large and bright, designed with a very personal touch, the garden one of the most beautiful we know, so lovingly landscaped and maintained! And Bergen? A jewel! Only about 30000 inhabitants, but its own art museum and cinema. Almost every house so beautiful you could imagine moving in. Pretty gardens, great little streets and bike paths everywhere. There were three of us and we were able to use bikes from Annemarie and Eric, we only needed our car to get to Bergen and back. Five kilometers to Alkmaar or the North Sea, even shorter the way to the big dune area or the fields.
Stephan unfortunately had to work half the time, but thanks to the fast Internet and his own study no problem. All the more pleasing that even the walk through the neighborhood was already a blessing. Amsterdam or Haarlem are quick and easy to reach, but we were not drawn there this time.
We were lucky enough to welcome Annemarie and Eric in Hamburg before we made our own way to Bergen. What a lovely, generous and completely easy-going couple! Our communication was friendly and fluid at all times, sometimes in English, sometimes in German.
The icing on the cake of the trip was perhaps their friend Klaas, PLU rock, whom we were finally able to meet after years of virtual contact. Klaas welcomed us, cycled with us through the dunes and Bergen and made sure we were doing fine. The many encounters with him were a real pleasure.
PLU takes you to unexpected places and great people. Many thanks Annemarie, Eric and Klaas!
PS: Annemarie and Eric will soon move into another house in Bergen, also in a very good location and we are sure it will have the same personal touch.
Martin, Esther, Isabel and Rosa were wonderful guests, our house looked exactly as we left it, there were even some extra snacks for us in the fridge when we came back and, what was at least as important: our cats were very well taken care of! Thank you very much for everything!
We had a very nice swap with Martin and his family. The communication was super friendly, fluid and uncomplicated from start to finish, which is a great bonus for us in any swap.
Martin's home is cozy with a very comfortable large sofa, lovingly decorated and has a great new kitchen. Another bonus was their two easy-care cats to cuddle....
Grocery shopping can be done on foot, there are two large supermarkets less than a kilometer away. And Haarlem? Haarlem is a very nice town with many small special stores, cafes and restaurants that deserves more attention. From Haarlem itself it is only a stone's throw to the sea, the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park with its dunes and pine trees or to Amsterdam. We loved strolling through Haarlem, walked on the beach and in the national park, visited the Frans Hals Museum (highly recommended!), went to Utrecht to meet other PLUs and walked around the neighborhood with PLU friends from Amsterdam :). Speaking of neighbors, we got our keys from Martin's super nice neighbors who provided us with additional tips. Thanks! Four days was certainly too short, I hope we swap again!
What a nice long weekend in Utrecht with great hosts! Anna and Alexander had offered me to stay with them during the PLU meeting and I felt super comfortable there. Both are foodies (me too) and so the hospitality started with one of the most delicious pumpkin soups I've ever eaten (I made it right away today) and homemade foccaccia from Anna. Alexander is a real barista, from him I learned some interesting new details about coffee (cocktails are hopefully for the next time whether in Hamburg or?). Communication before and during the weekend was super friendly, easy and fluid. I especially enjoyed our shorter and longer chats around the dining table or bed in Utrecht!
Anna and Alexander's home is bright and very tastefully decorated. It is centrally located but quiet, so you can be anywhere in the center in one to three kilometers. (Thanks for the bike, it was great to cycle around Utrecht with it!) I slept well, the sofa bed in the study is very comfortable.
I love hospitality stays (both ways) and the one with Anna and Alexander in their hygge little house was a gem. I can wholeheartedly recommend any kind of exchange with Anna and Alexander!
We immediately felt at home in the cozy and comfortable home of Suzana's family and the three cats!
Everything was well prepared for us, completely uncomplicated and communication with Suzana was super fast and friendly, and their cats are very communicative, too!
Ljubljana is a small capital city with a very beautiful old town on the Ljubljanica River, which we enjoyed strolling through. From their home on the outskirts of the city at a nature reserve there is a good and fast bus connection to the center but we were lucky to be able to use the neighbors' bikes. From Suzana and Andrej's home you can also quickly drive on the highway to explore half of Slovenia. We made many nice trips within 45 to 90 minutes: visited the massively impressive Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle, swam in and paddled on the beautiful lakes of Bled and Bohinj, and hiked a bit in Velika Planina (be careful not to miss the last chairlift or cable car! We did – and were taken down the mountain by a Good Slovenian Samaritan!) and Vintgar Gorge. In the evening we also enjoyed swimming in the small, but very deep and nearby lake of Podpeč.
We were very lucky to meet their great neighbors Mojca and Blaž (PLU # 9603!) before they went on vacation themselves. We sincerely hope that we will be able to meet Suzana and Andrej and their children in person as well!
Don't hesitate to swap homes with Suzana and Andrej and travel to Ljubljana!
Britta, Philipp and their two daughters were perfect guests. The communication with Britta was completely uncomplicated and friendly, our house spotless upon return and especially our cats very lovingly cared for. Thank you very much, dear Försters, you are welcome back anytime!
We felt very comfortable in Kristiana’s and Ante's beautiful home, it looks just like the photos, very "stylish" as our 14 year old son put it. The first thing we saw in the morning, was the blue of the sea only meters away. We couldn't get enough of it no matter what time of day it was.
Brist itself is a nice place to unwind and have a relaxing beach vacation. From Kristiana and Antes home it is only a few steps down to the pebble beach and the crystalclear sea, which we enjoyed extensively to swim or paddle along the coast with the standup paddleboat.
We also made some nice trips, went to Bosnia-Herzegovina and visited Mostar, the Dervish House in Vrelo Bune and the waterfalls of Kravice. With Kristiana and Ante we had a picnic in the Neretva Delta, a very special place that we discovered and particularly enjoyed only through them and with them (great for kitesurfing!). There would have been a lot more things to do, but we will visit those places, when we get a chance to come back, preferably not in high season, rather in May or October.
Homeexchange for us always means meeting new people, getting into their skin a bit. In this exchange, we were very lucky that Kristiana and Ante moved into their vacation apartment in the same house for us, so they were on site the whole time. We really enjoyed the little chats and long conversations with both of them. Both are great people and we very much hope to very soon be able to spoil them as much as we were spoiled.
Dear friends, thank you so much for letting us be in your home and with you! Many hugs.
Jose's daughter Alizée spent two days with us on her Europe trip. Alizée is open, interested and attentive, it was a pleasure and enrichment for all of us to have spent time with her. We had funny moments but also deep conversations and hope very much that our paths will cross again! Alizée is a wonderful guest, please do not hesitate to host her!
So lovely to read this about Alizee - thank you again!
Alicia, Carlos, Pablo and Elena are great hosts who made me feel really welcome and at home from the beginning!
Alicia and I began chatting over fb and first met last year when I was in Andalusia with my two younger children and Carmen hosted a wonderful dinner for all of us in Granada. Another day we were guests of Alicia and Carlos in Malaga and were treated to a delicious meal at a nearby „Chiringuito“. It was these encounters that drew me back to Andalusia just six months later, when Carmen and Nona organized a big PLU meeting in Granada. I spent the first and last two nights of my ten-day trip with Alicia and her family in Malaga, and in addition, Alicia even invited me to join her for several days at her friends' home in the Cabo de Gata National Park. She gave great tips for shorter and longer hikes and was very caring at every moment.
Very thoughtful hosts and also a bright and comfortable home: The apartment has a very nice view of the sea and the pool from the large balcony. It is ideally located in a small well kept residential complex just a few steps from the beach in the neighborhood of San Andrés. A quiet but lively area with many beach bars, restaurants and supermarkets. From there you can get to the historic center of Malaga in 20 minutes by bus or after a five kilometer walk along the sea. In fifteen minutes you can reach the airport by cab. I was also lucky here: my "cab" was Alicia both times – thank you!
Thank you very much for a wonderful vacation, dear friend. Hopefully I can spoil you all soon in Hamburg!
Dear Andrea, Thank you so much for your nice words. It´s been our pleasure to have you here. I´ve really enjoyed our hikes, chats and the precious moments we have shared. I already miss you, so hopefully we will meet again either in Hamburg, or Málaga, and why not both?
For the second time I was able to enjoy the hospitality of Carmen and her family - great people who I can wholeheartedly recommend as hosts! Attentive, generous, humorous and very uncomplicated - I wish Granada was closer. Now I hope to welcome them in Hamburg soon.
By the way: The house of the family is bright, cozy and bigger than you expect from outside.
So if you have a chance to meet Carmen and her family - take it!
I also wish we lived closer.
Thanks to Carmen and Luis we enjoyed a wonderful hospitality exchange. We deliberately chose our destination this time so that we could meet some great PLUs and we didn't regret it! Carmen and Luis are great hosts, we really enjoyed our evening with them in Granada, as well as our days in their bright and tastefully decorated cottage in Rincón de la Victoria. Carmen and Luis' house is a bit above with a great view of the sea and sunset and only 500m walk to the beach. We would have loved to spend longer there, three days was way too short to explore the area and follow Carmen's tips but we enjoyed the Cueva del Tesoro and the walk along the beach towards Malaga. We had rented a car for our vacation and went with it also on one day in Malaga to meet lovely Alicia and her family, but you can also find supermarkets and bakers after about a kilometer walk or take the bus to Malaga. The communication with Carmen was super smooth and easy.
Dear Carmen, dear Luis, a thousand thanks for everything, also for all the goodies you left for us! Now we hope to be able to spoil you and your children in Hamburg one day. Here's to a long PLU friendship!
We swapped with Annemette and Ole for two weeks in July. The organization of the exchange and the communication before and during our stay was completely uncomplicated. We also had the chance to meet Ole and Annemette personally at a picnic halfway and exchanged a few tips. Annemette and Ole are very friendly and experienced home exchangers - When we arrived in Silkeborg, folders full of tips, ideas and guides were waiting for us. Along with Ole's home-brewed beer and other delicious little presents.
The house is spacious and very tastefully decorated. All of us loved to relax inside on rainy days reading books, watching movies and playing cards or Mario Kart. We also especially enjoyed the fireplace outside in the beautiful large garden.
Directly from home we could start for walks in the green residential area and the nearer surroundings. The landscape near Silkeborg is very pretty, full of small lakes and - by Danish standards - almost mountainous. :) For places further away and for shopping we mostly drove by car but there is also a small supermarket which can be easily reached on foot. If the hills don't scare you off, you can also take nice bicycle tours. We were able to use five bicycles because Annemette and Ole had even borrowed some from friends in addition to their own bikes.
Thanks a lot for opening your lovely home to us, Annemette and Ole!
Perfect hosts, perfect guests!
Annemette and Ole took very good care of our cat and our home and even left some very pretty handcrafted gifts for us.
We can highly recommend Annemette and Ole as exchange partners!
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