Housesitting is a temporary arrangement where a checked live-in sitter will take an assignment to care for the property and usually that includes the pets of a homeowner; house sitting Europe is when a homeowner anywhere in Europe is looking for sitters to care for their property and pets.
Travelling while house sitting Europe offers an enormous variety and diversity of experience.
The European Union offers easy access to a wealth of culture and history. It also offers a great way to start housesitting.
Many home owners and pet owners are looking for affordable pet care and live in house and pet sitters. For example, in home dogsitters would tend to their property, taking care of their pets and possessions. Housesitter duties also extend to keeping gardens clean and tidy to deter opportunist burglars.
House sitting anywhere in Europe can save a significant amount of money when you are travelling, especially in the cities and capitals where hotel, Airbnb and even hostel accommodation can be exhaustive on any travel budget.
What is a house sitting Europe assignment?
The definition of what is a house sit is best described as the individual house sitting opportunities. Many house sit assignments are facilitated through a housesitting website, a home/ pet owner registers paying a nominal annual fee and proceeds to post a house sit advert on the house sitting website. The advert will usually describe the opportunity, location and various attractions of this housesit, including features of the property and where it is based. The owner will use the advert to ask a sitter to mind my house and care for my pets.
Whether the pets are cats, pet dogs or farm animals house sitters will review the opportunities on the house sitting site for a good match to their experience and skills in a house sitting job.
Most house sit assignments do not require payment, the sitting job offers an exchange of services with free house and pet sitting in exchange for free accommodation.
The length of a sitting job can vary from a week to a longer period sometimes up to six months. Longer housesits are possible but rare.f the house sitter is coming from outside of Europe then a visa check needs to happen to ensure commitments are within the agreed visa period.
Some pet sitting jobs could be classified as luxury house sitting, with the house owner looking for an experienced house carer.
As a house sitter house sitting Europe offers
Some countries in Europe like the UK are expensive to visit and live in. And finding accommodation for holidays or brief trips can be difficult. Finding affordable places to stay especially in the most popular capital cities can be a challenge. That is why house sitting Europe and house sitting UK create excellent opportunities for affordable travel.
House sitting opportunities in Europe
Even previously affordable peer to peer generated accommodation like Airbnb are now being priced on a par with more traditional forms of tourist hostelries.
This makes securing a housesitting job to help you go travelling the world very appealing. However, if you are travelling in Europe you need to research what visa applications you need to ensure uninterrupted travel.
House sitting abroad
There are many house sitting jobs in Europe and free housesitting assignments where you can exchange your home and pet care experience for free accommodation.
If you have experience taking care of your own or other peoples homes, keeping a property clean and tidy and love animals then you will not find it hard to secure your first housesitting job.
Each house sitting assignment usually requires some pet care.
The most popular pets for house sitting Europe are cats and dogs. They love company. Then there are rabbits and small mammals like guinea pigs. Bird sitting is becoming increasingly more popular across Europe.
Seeing the sites
Seeing the sites in London is a huge attraction to travelling in England. Housesitting anywhere in the United Kingdom makes peak season especially affordable according to some regular travellers.
Some people adopt housesitting as a way to travel full time, adopting a whole new travel lifestyle.
House sitting Europe as a house sitter offers you the opportunity for homesitting in Europe without paying for accommodation.
This can be a great boost to your travel plans, cutting the cost of your trip by a significant percentage by allowing you to exchange your services as a housesitter or petsitter for free accommodation.
Wherever you choose to go when house sitting Europe, whether house sitting in London, house sitting in Paris, house sitting in Berlin, house sitting in Rome, house sitting in Amsterdam or anywhere else in Europe it could be a great adventure and a rewarding experience allowing you to visit new cities and experience them from within a new location living like a local.
Huge diversity between each house sitting assignment
Castle Neuschwanstein in Germany
One of the major attractions to housesitting in Europe is the sheer range and variety of places to visit and diversity between each house sitting assignment. the trick is to find the house sitter jobs.
The European Union currently has 28 countries each with a history and culture and topography unique to its own dominion.
Intense variety on a continent
What a great way to start housesitting, choosing to live in beautiful cities, towns and villages across the Union.
From European capital cities like London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Lisbon and Berlin to the broader boundaries of new Europe. Access to new Europe allows you to explore Czech Republic, Montenegro, Estonia and further afield such as Kiev.
There is a huge opportunity to experience housesitting in new and wonderful locations. Some of our housesitters combine travelling with housesitting as a way to explore Europe. One particular housesitter regularly housesits for us in Spain and documents her journeys in blogs about travelling and housesitting in Spain.
Another housesitter chooses housesits in Europe with her dog Eddie and documents her adventures housesit to housesit.
Housesitting provides an extraordinary opportunity to experience a wide range of cultures. When living like a local within a real home set in a neighbourhood you sample the way of life first hand. It’s an authentic and affordable as a means of travel. You just have to find pet sitter assignments to get started on your adventure housesitting Europe.
Experience house sitting Europe with either a short or long-term sitting assignment
Depending on your planned length of stay in Europe, you will need to apply for the appropriate visa for entry.
If travelling to Europe from outside the European Union (EU) you will need to be aware of the Schengen Treaty. This treaty was signed in 1990 in Luxembourg. If you are from outside the EU It places time limitations on your stay within the Union.
What to check first –
Here are some top tips for whether or not and how to apply for a Schengen visa:
Check here first if you need a Schengen Visa
What types of Schengen Visa are there? Be careful to choose the right one.
- Uniform Schengen Visas (USV) – stands for a permit of one of the Schengen Area Member Countries to transit or reside in the desired territory for a certain period of time up to the maximum of 90 days every 6 month period starting from the date of entry.
- Limited territorial validity visas (LTV) – This allows you to travel only in the Schengen State that has issued the visa or in some other cases, in the certain Schengen States specifically mentioned when applying for the visa.
- National Visa of “D” category – is granted to the individuals who are studying, working or permanently residing in one of the Schengen countries. It can be a single entry visa, granted to anyone who needs to reside in the Schengen country for a certain period of time.
ENJOY THE DIVERSITY WHEN HOUSE SITTING EUROPE
Vanessa and Ian, Full-time International house-sitters and publishers of House Sitting Magazine offer some tips from their extensive experience of house sitting Europe. Here are some of their personal experiences:
Starting your house sitting adventures in the European Union –
This is a great way to quickly build your experience, pet sitter skill-sets and most importantly, your reference base. You’ll find many short term sits in the UK. Here homeowners take regular long weekend breaks and short vacations. There are also longer sits in expat communities in popular countries like Spain, Portugal, and France. These are great places to enjoy longer Summers!
Inexpensive travel –
What we love too is that, when planned in advance, travel can be fairly inexpensive. There are budget flights that quickly whisk you around the European countries. Great train and coach networks exist to get you from one city to another.
And on that note, you have available some of the best city experiences the world has to offer. If you can’t find a house sit in the city of your choice, stay close by and add a few nights at the end of your trip, or between sits, with the money you’re saving on accommodation by house sitting Europe.
Countryside and the European rural idyll –
If cities aren’t your thing, you can quickly access beautiful countryside. Or even go up in the mountains where outdoor activities abound. With rivers, woodland, safe long distance walking and cycling, Europe really does have something for everyone.
Build your property experience –
You’ll also get to experience all manner of different property types. Properties will vary from ancient cottages, rural farmhouses, historic buildings, right through to sunny villas in the warm countries. Here you might even learn some swimming pool or off-grid skills.
Our top three tips for house sitting Europe:
Northern European climates –
A couple of tips for the more northerly, cooler countries and especially the UK, pack an umbrella or “brolly”. Ask the home owners if they have some spare “wellies”. Countryside living often involves muddy walks with the dogs, all great fun with the correct attire!
Prepare for different driving conditions –
Driving in some countries or regions can be more of a challenge. If you’re used to wide open, multi-lane highways, small European roads can be a challenge. If this is a worry, stay in the suburbs. You can stay away from the city centres until your confidence builds, or take advantage of public transport.
Home conveniences and electrical goods –
If you’re coming from countries where modern appliances appear in every house, prepare to adapt. You won’t necessarily find a dishwasher in every house, or the latest coffee machine. However, you could enjoy a quaint old cottage. You’ll be cuddling up to the pets in the coziest of properties, enjoying the amazing ambience that Europe offers. Above all you can enjoy the wide diversity of experiences on offer in Europe.
As home owners house sitting Europe offers
As a home and pet owner in Europe when you travel away from home you can invite checked sitters to live-in. They will maintain and care for your property and pets. Many home owners who engage housesitters across Europe use sitters to ensure their property is well cared for. This is more common especially in the cold winters in the Northern Hemisphere.
If pipes burst in cold weather or other unexpected domestic challenges occur, then a resident sitter can act quickly. They can take swift action to minimise damage and fix any plumbing, electrical or structural issues.
Northern Winters can present unexpected challenges for homeowners, especially when absent. Homeowners increasingly look for a sitter to look after their property.
As a pet owner find a sitter to look after your pets
Domestic pets are very popular in Europe. 45% of UK homes have a pet living with the family. Dogs, cats and rabbits are the most popular pets.
In other countries pets are also popular – according to Tammy Dray in an article posted on Pets the nest blog
“It’s hard to estimate how many pets live in European households because of the many countries involved. The largest pet survey to date was taken by the World Society of the Protection of Animals in 2008.
Cats and Dogs
The survey estimates that there are 6.7 million dogs and 9.8 million cats in the United Kingdom, for example. Italy and Poland actually have similar numbers. Germany has a more evenly divided love, with 7.8 million cats and 5.2 million dogs. Other countries are more pro-feline. Switzerland’s houses, for example, are home to an impressive 1.4 million cats. However, Swiss homes have fewer than half a million of dogs.”
House sitters as an affordable pet care solution for multiple pets
If you are looking for a petsitting resource that is flexible, affordable and fun there are housesitting and petsitting membership networks online like HouseSitMatch.com.
Look for a reputable house sitting network that offers pet house sitting and will enable you to meet and collaborate with pet lovers who will also care for your home, garden and family pets.
Pet sitting for free
All this in exchange for free accommodation and a good sitter review at the end of the assignment.
The petsitting is for free with genuine pet lovers caring for your pets in their own home.
There are many sitters in Europe and around the world who find that house sitting Europe can be a great benefit on many levels and would gladly exchange their time and experience for free accommodation.
