Recommended travel and ex-pat sites?

[SenoraPostrophe]

I'm putting together a directory of travel and ex-pat sites, but I really want it to be full of independently recommended sites (i.e. not just ones I found on Google).

So can anyone recommend any sites for any of the following:

Holiday rentals (sofiaAmes - I already have your mum's site! )
Property to buy abroad (especially France and Spain)
Ex-pat/relocation services
Ex-pat personal journal type sites.
And anything else that you have found helpful, especially if it's about France or Spain.

Ta very much.

PS does this count as a media request? I'll renew my subs just in case!

There is a directory site for those moving to/living in Switzerland called xpatxchange.ch (started by an expat who has since moved back to US) which list a miscellany of useful services and facilities available in English or of interest to expats. Is that what you are after or more chatty sites ?

Thanks Liz - yes, that kind of thing. Sites with forums would be competitors, so I only want those if they're really good!

Hi, SP! We used Holiday Rentals last year, it's an easy site to use with availability charts so you know whether it's worth emailing or not - the one you visited us in was from there!

(We are looking now for something in October...how are your plans coming along?)

jan - yay! Salobrena and Almunecar are probably the best places to stay - nice quiet bit of coast (well, Salobrena is), and warmer than up here in the mountains. We haven´t got hugely far with plans - we´ve been "testing" potential reception venues (given up on the picnic idea). We have to meet the mayor next week!

www.holidayfrance.co.uk is very good for renting holiday houses anywhere in France.

Is it the mayor who will do the deed? Does he wear fancy dress to do it? It all sounds really exciting! (Don't panic, you've still got 6 whole months.)

Thanks for recommendations, had never heard of either so I'll go and have a look.

CD, I had a look there following your recommendation earlier in the week and nearly went mad and booked one then and there (DH talked me out of it, we haven't got the time or the money!) It works the same way as my Holidays Rentals one.

Thanks CD.

Janh - yes, it's the mayor who does the marrying. The paperwork beforehand however is a nightmare - wish there was a website to help with that!

Hi SP, thanks soooo much for Salobrena and Almunecar - have found several in both places, also Carchuna, love the look of Salobrena, depends on availability now! (Why had I never heard of Costa Tropical before???)

Has led to another good site too (well, haven't tested it yet but like the way it works): SunHolsDirect .

What date is W-Day btw?

wday is the 29th Oct (the Friday of half term - should have made it the Monday as it turns out Sunday flights are expensive, but didn't know! )

The Costa Tropical is a bit of a secret I guess - Salobreña is where we go for our day trips to the beach. There's a big rock at one end of the beach so my friend's kids can do a bit of "exploring" when they get bored of the buskets and spades. I'll look at that site then.

Will have to look into Mon flights then! The boys have an inset day on Fri 22, lots of the villas say they are flexible on dates, so if we can get a villa from Fri 22 - Mon 1 (another site said you could have extra days at 20% of the weekly rate, I imagine it's negotiable with this lot) then with a bit of luck we can have 10 nights and avoid weekend flights altogether. (Better ask the teachers how they feel about them missing one day of school though )