where would you buy a retirement/ empty nester downsizing home in the EU?

[blueskiesandforests]

We live in the most expensive part of Germany - house prices are similar to Guildford. We have rented the same house since 2007 without a rent increase, so we're lucky housing wise to live in a decent size property which we can afford, but we certainly couldn't afford to buy a comparable house in this area despite a fairly reasonable income, and buying a small flat around here to rent out and plan to live in eventually, as an investment for later would be a push, especially if we had non paying tenants and had to try to cover mortgage plus our own rent etc.

We all have EU citizenship.

Just for fun really - where would you buy something along the lines of a 3.5 "room" (2-3 bed, 2 bedrooms and a small study or along those lines) flat or cottage/ bungalow in the EU? Somewhere with excellent facilities which could be accessed without a car eventually would be ideal - thinking of older people who shouldn't really be driving becoming dependant on others or continuing to drive when they shouldn't in rural areas...

Where is the best value for money - facilities and lifestyle against cost?

Anyone got any ideas from the wide and varied experiences on here? A colleague of mine who can't afford to buy here has bought in the Bavarian forest but has family around there who manage his flat as a holiday let for him, I'm not sure how that area is to live year 'round...

Doesn't have to be Germany, but Germany is especially interesting to us due to language and the odds of the kids staying here.

A town in Austria, with good train
Somewhere in Umbria
or Wales

On Netflix there is «Escape to the Country» and «Escape to the Countryside» looking at lots of different EU places, sort of as you describe

What languages do you speak? Because ability to socialise is critical especially once you no longer work.

Start with public transport networks, to cover the non-driving aspects. We live in a rural part of France but as the children became teenagers we moved to a town with good services (town centre shops less than 10 mins on foot, free minibus around town) and access to public transport networks (train station 5 mins walk away with a decent service). I don't plan to grow old here as I want to move back to a city, but you certainly could live a downsized life as a pensioner.

If I looked in France I might look at the Nantes area, though it's not cheap. Friends who live there sing it's praises.

Mistigri we only speak German and English. I've had to learn German as an adult and I don't find languages easy, but I guess we could fight dementia in old age by learning another language... Did French for 5 years at school, but DD has already surpassed my knowledge if French with just over one year of French in a German school! I think in Alsace German gets you quite along way - we visited last year and people kept switching to German when I tried to speak French (not for DD, just me!)

DH seems to pick up bits of languages very easily (he was Croatian/ German bilingual as a preschooler but sadly his mum caved to pressure to speak only German to him from age 5 or so and he's lost his active vocabulary, though he understands a bit).

A medium to large town with facilities might be good. I'd love to live in a city but DH wouldn't.

Lübeck is absolutely gorgeous, not too big, great quality of life. Not cheap, but still a lot more reasonable than Munich.

Leipzig is fab and there are still lots of amazing properties on the market. More expensive than it used to be, but still good value for money IMO.

Other ideas: Regensburg, Würzburg, Baden-Baden. Berlin or Vienna if your husband can be persuaded to live in a big city.

Portugal, within 30 minutes drive of Faro.

• Fantastic climate with cool Atlantic breezes ameliorating the summer heat and warm sunny winters
• Cheap flights from many EU airports so it’s cheap for you and friends and family to visit each other
• friendly people and low crime
• low food costs, both at home and eating out
• excellent food and wine
• great outdoor lifestyle with walking, surfing, SUP, sailing, riding, golf all around you. There are some great walking groups.
• fantastic coastal AND inland hill scenario
• a large immigrant population but very diverse means it’s easy to plug into new networks and make friends, not just friends of your own nationality. We haven’t met people there just to drown in cheap gin and moan about how their country of origen has gone to the dogs.
• although it is probably always easier to make friends with other immigrants for obvious reasons, you are likely to live amongst Portuguese too, as even on “holiday” developments, many Portuguese have second/ weekend homes on the Algarve.
• most larger towns offer free Portuguese classes for immigrants, and there are also affordable private classes of high quality in Faro, Quarteira and doubtless other towns.
• Lisbon and Seville are a couple of hours away for big city culture fixes

We’ve only been out there for three months but have made a couple of friendly Portuguese acquaintances, quite a few English acquaintances, and are probably edging towards proper friendships with a handful of people: 3 English, one German, one Indian and one Indonesian. We are learning the language, the grammar and reading are fine, the phonology is a swine so speaking and listening is tougher.

Berlin like a shot. You could live near the lakes or woods - if you live somewhere like Frohnau or Hermsdorf it feels like a village. We lived there for four years (in Wittenau - so not really a village, but right by the Steinbergpark and close to Tegel Lake). Loved everything about it. Miss it so much - especially at Christmas.

DH's uncle and aunt own a house in Groebming. They worked in Germany for years.
It's very pretty, has a train station, pool and a small ski resort.