9 stunning Apartments We’ve Rented around The world

We love renting apartments around the world. It gives us the opportunity to live like a local and spend a bit of extra time in a place so that we can learn much more about it and understand the culture a little bit better. but it’s also a lot of fun to have multiple “homes” all around the world.

As full-time travellers and digital nomads, it feels terrific to unpack our stuff, hang up our clothes and actually spread out a little bit. We love hostels, hotels, B&Bs and guest houses, but after a while we just feel like we need a place to call our own.

Sure, we have to do our own dishes, and clean up after ourselves (apartments rarely come with daily cleaning / turn down service!), but it’s worth it to delight in a piece of “normal” life for a few weeks or a few months.

We’ve done a pretty good job of finding terrific apartments in numerous different countries, so today I thought I’d share the ones that stood out, tell you how much they cost, how we found them and show you some images so you can get an idea of what you can afford / delight in in different parts of the world.

Here’s a list of a few apartments that we’ve rented during our time travelling & living abroad.

*Note, as with all of our articles, unless otherwise stated, all prices are in us Dollars.

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Yangzhou, China

Area: 88m² (880 square feet)

Monthly Rent: 2,200 RMB ($322)

Utilities: 488 RMB ($71)

Internet: 110 RMB ($16) Not very fast, but reliable. price included in utilities

How We found It: help from school recruiters.

Our first experience living overseas was when we chose to stop travelling for a little while and instruct English for China for one year. The school helped us to find this place by driving us around to look at various apartments. The school recruiters also went though a rental agency and we paid the rental agency half of a month’s rent ($160) to show us around.

The first few places they showed us in Yangzhou were pretty basic and we were concerned that we were going to have to live in a grubby place. but then they showed us a pretty good one bedroom house and we were sold.

Christmas in our China Apartment
The house was on the 8th floor and it was bright with tiled floors. The kitchen was tiny and the mattresses were paper-thin (as numerous are in China). The furniture was very basic, but we spruced the place up with some of our travel photos on the wall and some good plants.

The house was close to the school that we worked at and it was also close to some main amenities like grocery stores, a mall and a nearby lake that we always walked to. We loved our time in China and our little house will always have a special place in our hearts as our first “home” abroad.

We’re moving to Yangzhou, China

Santorini, Greece

Area: 40m² (400 square feet)

Rent: 16€ / night ($18)

Utilities: Included in nightly rate

Internet: Included in nightly rate

How We found It: Booking.com

We only spent a few weeks in Greece, but we realized that we could save some major money by booking apartments on Booking.com very early. So we did some advanced planning and we got some terrific deals.

Our house in Santorini Greece

The house was called Sandy Villas in Perissa, Santorini was a loft style house within a hotel-like complex complete with a pool and restaurant. The only thing that made it an “apartment” was a small hot plate, sink and mini-fridge. but the place was really good and the family who owned the place was very friendly.

They even gave us discounts on the big Greek meals that they made because they knew we were on a very tight budget. $18 / night for an house just a 10 minute walk from the beach was an amazing bargain for Greece. in some cases it pays to travel in the take on season (we were there in March).

Crete, Greece

Area: 45m² (450 square feet)

Rent: 14€ / night ($15)

Utilities: Included in nightly rate

Internet: Included in nightly rate

How We found It: Booking.com

Another one of our bargain deals that we found while travelling Greece was this little place called La Luna Apartments. The place was basic but spacious and only cost us 14€ / night ($15). in some cases it pays to book well in advancement on Booking.com and also to travel take on season.

We based ourselves in this spot for a few days and drove around the island of Crete in our rental car. The house had a little kitchenette and a small fridge. probably not a place we would spend much more than a couple of weeks in, but it was clean and pretty comfortable. One major draw back was that there were two single beds rather than one big bed!

Click here to search for apartments on Crete, Greece.

San Pancho, Mexico

Area: 80m² (800 square feet)

Rent: 5,000 Pesos / month ($240)

Utilities: around 300 pesos / month ($15)

Internet: No wi-fi!

How We found It: Walking around the town and knocking on doors

After spending 5 months travelling through northern & central Asia and Iran, we chose to relocation to Mexico to find an house and meet up with family in the small town of San Pancho. It took us a really long time to find a place here because we came just before the Christmas top season and numerous places were booked up.

Our funky little Casita in San Pancho Mexico
After 4 days of calling apartments, looking online and even knocking on doors, we finally found a cute little conventional casita for just $240 / month. This place was a terrific deal, especially considering it was a large, 2 level, 2 bedroom apartment.

Some major downsides were no hot water and no wi-fi, certainly not optimal for digital nomads! but the lady who owned it was really sweet and it was in a very local neighbourhood.

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Paxanax Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Area: 65m² (650 square feet)

Rent: $550 USD / Month

Utilities: Included in monthly rate

Internet: included in monthly rate

How We found It: Calling listings & walking around

This is certainly one of our preferred apartments to date. It wasn’t ultramodern, there was no TV and it was a (short) boat ride away from pretty much everything, but we loved our little lakefront casita in Guatemala.

From our bedroom, which had a comfy queen-size bed, we had breathtaking views over the lake and the nearby volcanos. The rental included unlimited, totally free use of kayaks and the owner Armand and his family became our good friends.

We would go wake boarding and boating every weekend with Armand and his kids and we typically hiked into the village of Santa Cruz to get some exercise. The setting was tranquil, the wi-fi was fast and the casita was well stocked, cosy and comfortable.

The monthly rate even included a twice-weekly house maid service and Maria did an amazing job of scrubbing down the flat. She even washed the dishes and wiped every nook and cranny. At the time, it was an expensive place for us, but with all of the perks we thought it was an unbeatable deal.

There was no insuite laundry at this casita, but Maria also did our laundry for a small fee.

We would spend each night viewing sunset on our patio overlooking the lake with some beers or a bottle of red wine and a platter of cheese. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Now that’s a beer with a view! Paxanax was a terrific place to live for 2 months.
This place is now on Booking.com (unlike when we were searching around!). To book this beautiful spot and to learn more, click here.

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Split, Croatia

Area: 40m² (400 square feet)

Rent: $38 USD / night

Utilities: Included in monthly rate

Internet: included in monthly rate

How We found It: Booking.com

While we were travelling around eastern and central Europe in 2016, we started to get behind on work so we chose to book an house for 2 weeks in the beautiful little seaside town of Split, Croatia.

Our house in Split Croatia (Booked through Booking.com)

Our house was one bedroom, had insuite laundry, a good LCD TV and was very nicely decorated. It was small, but comfortable and was within a 15 minute walk from the stunning old town of Split.

Again we booked this place on Booking.com and found a terrific deal by booking a couple of months in advance.

We really didn’t know anything about Split when we arrived, so we checked into our house and left best away to explore. It turned out that Split’s old quarter was one of the most spectacular examples of Roman architecture we’ve ever seen and we never got bored of exploring the uneven cobblestone streets, grandiose cathedrals and hidden alleyways.

To book this amazing little house on Booking.com, click here. To see a list of all accommodations on offer in Split, click here.

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Sliema, Malta

Area: 80m² (800 square feet)

Rent: €900 ($1,030) / Month

Utilities: about €70 ($75) / Month

Internet: very fast. included in monthly rate

How We found It: At first on AirBnB, then direct.

This was probably the most glamorous feeling house we’ve ever had. It was a one bedroom place, but the living room, kitchen and dining area was enormous and it was set in a 200-year-old building.

The interior was really well decorated with modern furniture and a good big screen LCD TV. Our room was set in the back with a double bed (we wish it was bigger) and it was quiet so we had good sleeps.

The house was just meters from the Mediterranean Sea, although we didn’t really have a proper view of the water. The living room was bright because there were substantial floor to ceiling windows on one wall, which faced a lovely back street.

The Internet was blazing fast, there was insuite laundry and the home owners were very attentive and valuable during our entire 2 month stay.

We first found the place on Airbnb for nearly $300 much more per month (because of Airbnb fees and cleaning fees). Luckily, I found the home management company though a few Google searches, contacted them directly, bargained a bit and got a really good deal.

The house was certainly much more expensive than we’re used to, but for a large, modern getaway rental in Sliema during take on season, it was a bargain.

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Area: 35m² (350 square feet)

Rent: $1,250 USD / Month

Utilities: Included in monthly rate

Internet: included in monthly rate

How We found It: Airbnb

The first house that we actually booked on Airbnb, this stunning little place was very nicely decorated and the owners (hosts) became our pals during our stay. It was certainly a small apartment, but it had a smart layout that maximized the space and it had a enormous and incredibly comfortable king size bed.

Our house in Buenos Aires

There was no insuite laundry in this place, but there was a totally free laundromat just two floors up and the machines were always available.

The house was in the vacation home Crespo area of Buenos Aires which is very close to Palermo. We loved our little home and our neighbourhood was nice, but if we ever return to Buenos Aires we would probably stay in Recoleta or San Telmo neighbourhoods.

We spent our time in Buenos Aires working on the blog (of course), going to the gym, drinking copious amounts of (delicious) red red wine and eating way too much steak. The house was a good short-term home, but after 1 month we were ready to leave and get travelling again.

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Valparaíso, Chile

Area: 60m² (600 square feet)
Rent: $48 USD / Night
Utilities: included in monthly rate
Internet: included in monthly rate
How We found It: Airbnb

As I’m writing this, we are currently staying in this apartment.

When we saw this noting on Airbnb, we had to book it. The house is extremely bright and has unbelievable views of the Pacific Ocean! There is a terrific living room with two couche