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Travel through Europe using holiday rentals

The Western Alps Challenge

The Western Alps will satisfy your cravings for twisty roads, high mountain passes, and amazing panoramic views. Enjoy the glacially carved lakes, majestic Danube, and dense forests of Germany's Black Forest region. Take it to the limit while attacking some of the highest European roads in the Savoie region: Col de l'Iseran at 2770 meters above sea level and Col de la Bonette at 2710 meters above sea level. Need a break from the thin air and technical riding? Drop down out of the mountains for a while and enjoy the scenic beauty of Annecy located on the shores of Lac d'Annecy. While there, take a moment to stretch your legs while touring Château d'Annecy and the 12th century Palais de l'Isle prison. Not too far to north of Annecy is Geneva, Switzerland providing many fine shopping and dining opportunities.

Sea to Sea in Central Italy

Incredible landscapes, fine dining, and many cultural opportunities await the avid motorcyclist in the heart of Italy. Whether you start in Pisa working your way east, or start in Ravenna moving west, be prepared to experience the best the region has to offer including tiny medieval towns, vineyards offering exceptional regional wines, ruins, and Renaissance marvels. Make plenty of time to soak in all that Florence, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, has to offer. Why not stop at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence to view famous works by Renaissance masters such as da Vinci, Titian, and Michaelangelo? Or stroll around one of its many famous piazzas? When you tire of the crowds, it's time to hit the road. The medieval castles Guaita, Montale, and Fratta are waiting to be explored high on the peaks of Mount Titano. The mountainous terrain of Umbria also offers amazing riding opportunities while you race through deep valleys dotted in olive trees.

The Lake District

This region of Northwest England offers many fine riding opportunities through the stark, majestic beauty of the Lake District. Start off on a Sunday at the Devil's Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale to meet up with other motorcycling enthusiasts before heading out on your trip. The old Roman road that travels between Hardnott and Wrynose Passes offers some of the most technical and challenging riding experiences. Another good route is the A686 between Penrith and Haydon Bridge. Hadrian's Wall, which traces the original border between England and Scotland, can be followed from Carlisle to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Many Roman fortifications and museums can also be found along this route. Retrace the steps of Williams Wordsworth and other Lake Poets while visiting Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Rydal Mount, Ullswater Lake, and Langdale Pikes. There is also much woodland to explore in the Lake District, including Grizedale Forest. Also, don't miss out on the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick, which offers artist demonstrations, art classes, and more.

How to be a Successful Vacation Rental Owner

The expansion of Internet in the last decade made a revolution in the information delivery. Now you are able to access information from the other side of the world just with a click of a mouse. How does this affect the vacation rental owners? Are you prepared for the new market?

If you are vacation rental owner but you still think whether you need to list your property on Internet you better hurry up - soon it may be too late.

Here are some advices how you can better prepare your listing. Even if you have already listed your rental you may rethink your approach and go and change or add lot of things to your listing after you read the lines below.

• First think of your vacation rental not from your owner's point of view but from the vacationer's point of view. If you alone go to vacation what are you interested in, what do you look for and how do you choose the location? Sit down and list all these things on a piece of paper.
• Now go and speak with your wife, relatives and friends and ask them the same questions, write down the answers and try to summarize the results. When you finish with this start listing the special features of your vacation rental and try to match them to the list you have already prepared. At the end you will end up with a good list of features that your vacation rental has and you need to emphasize when you list it.
• If you are not able to do the research by yourself you can turn for help to some professional marketing or travel agency. Many of the listing web sites can provide you with the same information for a lower cost.
• Second you need to price your vacation home correctly. For sure your vacation rental is not the only one that is rented at its location. Talk with the neighbors and try to learn how much they ask for their rental. You can also do a market research via Internet, just go and search for vacation homes in your region and see what the prices are. Knowing the market is important if you want to keep your place occupied all the time. If you don't price it properly you may lose more than you expected to win.
• Third step is pictures. Don't neglect that one! Providing just a text description for your vacation home is not enough. From other side if you do the description by yourself you may not be objective enough and this may turn on to be a disadvantage for you - keep in mind that anyone can give negative rating for your property or post a comment that will be visible to thousands of people. People say, "Picture is worth thousand words" so place as many pictures in your listing as you can.
• The last step is to find a place to list you vacation home with no or minimum cost. There are web sites that offer free subscription trials or big discounts for new subscribers. Many web sites provide trial subscriptions so you can list your vacation home for month or two and see what the performance is. Also listing prices vary a lot; you can find free sites that allow you to list with no charge and very expensive sites that offer you not only listing but online booking and payments; some of them also provide full management service for your vacation home. One important thing to consider is how many properties you can list for the price you pay and how many pictures you can upload for a property.

Working in this new environment, where information flows easily and almost simultaneously around the world, requires you to be more competitive and aggressive than until now. Preparing for the new world is a big challenge for the small vacation rental owner but not accepting it will not lead you to success.