Apartments in Europe

Slow Travel Apartment Living

European Apartments - © Slow Travel Tales
My flats in Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Vienna

Get to know a European city by staying in an apartment for 3 slow travel months. The flat type, size, location and neighborhood matters. London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, and Munich are wonderful cities to live in.

You can easily live abroad within a fixed budget by adopting some new frugal habits. Think of it as being a local resident instead of being a tourist in a foreign city. Slow travel living means continuing to live a similar lifestyle to the way you would in your own hometown.

Whether in Europe or elsewhere, you’ll live in your own apartment aka flat for an extended time period, such as 3-months. However, instead of eating in restaurants for every meal, you'll shop at nearby farmers markets and grocery stores. You'll cook in your kitchen and eat most of your meals at home. You'll still be able to go to an occasional bar and restaurant, but now it'll be more of a special time out.

You'll continue with your regular habits such as frequenting neighborhood businesses such as hair salon, pharmacy, department store, movie theater, and concert venue. The shop owners will come to recognize you, and you'll likely meet some of your neighbors.

You'll continue taking care of your personal business matters online, such as banking, bookkeeping, legal, professional, tax returns and more. The only difference is that you're now living in a foreign country.

TIP: Regardless of what city I want to live in, I do not book my airline or train reservations until I’ve made a confirmed apartment/flat reservation and have provided a deposit and/or 1st month payment (whatever the owner requires or is negotiated by you both).

Good To Know

Accommodations come in many sizes and are known by different names. The goal is to find the best residence you can, in a nice location, with good transportation options and a rental cost within your monthly budget. Below are accommodation types with definitions and photographic examples.

TIP: Photographs of rooms and their size can be very deceiving. Upon first or second glance, you might think a room or flat is a reasonable size and that you’ll feel comfortable in it. Be sure to look closely to know what it truly represents or you might be very disappointed and uncomfortable.

Bed-Sit, Efficiency, Chambre de Bonne

London Southbank University

Flats known as a bed-sit, efficiency, or chambre de bonne (maid's room) are lower cost very small single rooms, for one occupant. It’s used as a bedroom and a sitting room. Often, a kitchen, bathroom and toilet (WC - water closet) are shared with others living in the residence.

The photo collage is my 2011-12 Friendship House London, Southwark bed-sit (with ensuite toilet, sink and shower), which I lived in for 4 months. It’s owned by the LHA London Ltd. (London Hostels Association Ltd), which was founded in 1940, Today, the LHA provides affordable accommodation to young professionals and students.

This Friendship House building was architecturally designed and purposefully built to be a self-catered residence. The individual rooms have a well thought out window, bed area, closet, drawers and shelving. And, the ensuite bathroom is very functional although compact. In fact, the overall project design is so good that it achieved the status of being an architectural-award-winning building.

I think this bedsit was approximately 104 square feet / 9.29 square meters. To give you an idea of the space, look at the photos, think about, and imagine the dimensions:

Left photo - main area:

Single bed - 6 ft long and 3 ft wide
Table top/desk - 8 ft long and at most 2 ft wide
Drawers under the table top: Left, a small bar type refrigerator and right, a freezer (foot of the bed)
The television is on the table top right (under burgundy fabric)

Right bottom photo - hallway:

At the edge of the left wood shelves, toward the door, I think it’s 8 ft long and 3 ft wide.
There is a small built in closet on the left
The bathroom door is left of the main door
The bath area is at most 4 ft long x 3 ft wide (including walking area with sink and toilet built into wall)
The shower is 2 ft x 2 ft sq (tucked into space behind the closet)

Right top photo:

Nice window with view that opened a little for fresh air (faced north, saw London Eye)
Nice table top used as desk and dining table

All residents share common rooms (tv room, study room, gym room), laundry facilities, bicycle racks and communal kitchen/dining rooms on each floor.

TIP - In order to live abroad within a fixed budget, it's a good idea to start your pre-planning early by keeping track of costs in a travel planning notebook. Consider adding money to your Miscellaneous category for household items you may need to purchase. This residence didn't provide towels, which I needed to buy. In addition, I bought a twin bed set (pillow case, bottom sheet, duvet) to give my room a more comfortable personal touch.

The LHA London has 13 hostels across the city of London that provide affordable accommodation for young professionals and students. They offer single or double rooms, male shared rooms, female shared rooms, catered or self-catered.

Long stays are 14 plus nights up to 4 years. You may contact LHA and make a booking inquiry via their website. Once you learn about space availability dates, you would contact the specific hostel directly via phone to confirm availability and make your booking deposit with your credit card.

Contact:

LHA London Ltd.
Website: LHA London Ltd.

Phone: +44 (0)203 911 5656

Email: Contact Customer Service @ LHA London
Post: LHA London Ltd.
11 Belgrave Road
London SW1V 1RB

Very Small Studio

2 Room Studio
1 Bed Flat
2 Bed Flat

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Penthouse 2 Bed Flat

Budget: Living abroad on a budget is challenging sometimes, especially if you're doing so as an individual; without anyone to share housing expenses with.

Mail Box

Square Feet vs Meters

Stairs and Elevators
Stairs with Spiral
Stairs with Landing

Heat and Air Conditioning
Bath Tub vs Shower

Juliette Balcony
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