You can rent a backyard RV on the Canary Islands, sleep in a farm in the French countryside, or pitch your own tent in the garden of a London flat. As you might imagine, facilities vary immensely. Camp in My Garden, which bills itself as the world’s first (and only) garden camping community, offers a unique way to get off the tourist trail and into a local neighborhood-with the added benefit of staying outside. If you like the idea of home swapping but don’t want strangers in your bedroom, consider renting out your flowerbed. Knok’s community is helpful beyond the home, too-the site (no app yet) offers an extensive peer-sourced travel guide of family-friendly restaurants, activities, transportation, stores, and tourist attractions, each rated on a five-point system based on how kids have reacted to them in the past. By paying subscriptions, which run from $15 to $29 per month depending on your length of commitment, families can swap homes for free or just rent baby-ready or toddler-proofed digs in over 10,000 destinations. Enter Knok-a cross between HomeExchange and AirBnB designed specifically for families.

Each of the 700+ host profiles list locals’ surf style, frequency, and wave preference so travelers can stay with kindred spirits.įamily friendly and inexpensive travel don’t often go together. Together with his cousin Philippe, Garms has crafted the website to give boarders more than just places to crash near prime surf. “We believe the best guides are locals,” says Sylvain Garms, cofounder of Swap and Surf. In partnership with the Surfrider Foundation in Europe, Japan, and Argentina, this website (and soon-to-be phone app) powers a 60-country network of home swaps, apartment rentals, and couch surfing for the surf community. These days, you’re just a few taps away from learning how to cook a family recipe inside someone’s kitchen, or even pitching a tent in his backyard. But a new wave of travel apps is helping travelers connect with locals in more meaningful ways-and get outside with less hassle. Breaking through the tourist barrier used to take weeks of exploration.

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