TRAVEL TIPS

Lucia’s Lisbon: Insider’s guide to Europe’s coolest city (part 3)

And so, the end, beautiful friends. Here’s the last day of Lúcia’s secret Lisbon guide.

This week, she cools things down a bit, taking you out of town to walk, meditate and drink some nice wine…

TRAVEL TIPS

Lúcia’s Lisbon: Insider’s guide to Europe’s coolest city (part 2)

Here it is! Part 2 of Lúcia’s secret Lisbon tour, full of more insider tips for you to discover in this amazing city. This week, it’s time to dive into the melodramatic, musical world of Fado…

(photo: pedrosimoes7, Flickr)

TRAVEL TIPS

Lúcia’s Lisbon: Insider’s guide to Europe’s coolest city (part 1)

Amazing food, cool bars, sexy clubs… we can’t understand it, why has Lisbon been overlooked for so long? Here’s a very special insider’s guide to this box of Portuguese delights…

COMPETITION

Show us the city you love and win €100!

Win a €100 9flats voucher, just for showing us the best bits of your favourite city on Pinterest. Here’s how to enter our ‘Pin City’ competition.

**Sorry, competition ended 6 July, you can click to see who won though…

9flats news

And what do our hosts think of us?

We recently sent out a survey to our hosts asking them about why they host, and their experience with 9flats. Here’s what they said…

TRAVEL TIPS

Guide to Pride 2012: Top 5 cities to celebrate in style

It’s Pride time of year once again. We’ve found the best towns for you to paint red (purple, yellow, green and blue), as well as insider tips for clubs, bars and comfy, affordable places to stay…

(photo: Guillaume Paumier, Flickr)

TRAVEL TIPS

3 top film location holiday ideas

Ever wanted to see where your favourite films were filmed? We’ve found 3 cool movie locations in Paris (Amélie), Madrid (Talk to Her) and the Caribbean (guess), that also make great holiday locations…

(photo: Glen Edelson, Flickr)

TRAVEL TIPS

9 unmissable places to see live, local music

Some of the best travel memories I have are of hazy evenings swirling a cocktail in an intimate live music venue. But how do you know which unmarked doors to knock on, and which red, carpeted staircase to venture down?

You’re in luck. Four 9flats musician hosts have let you in on their smoky, moody, must-visit musical secrets…

(photo: ALIghthouse, Flickr)

TRAVEL TIPS

Sand and the city: 3 top urban beaches in Europe

Concrete too hot to sit on? Buses too stuffy to stand on? Shoes melting into the tarmac? Time to hit the city beach! We’ve had a look around, and have found lots of sand in some unexpected places…

opinion

Is collaborative consumption actually new? We think not.

We’re pretty happy to be at the forefront of a new idea: encouraging the world to stop being selfish and start sharing things. But then we thought, are we really that innovative?

Here are six reasons our grandparents might beg to differ…

(photo: Paul Townsend)

travel tips

10 photos to whet your appetite for travel

Every vacation that we embark on is an opportunity to live the extraordinary. This is a collection of photos of some of the world’s greatest cities taken by people who were doing precisely that. Whether it’s the head of an ant as seen through the lens of a National Geographic photographer, or the epic skyscape […]

9flats news

9flats: perfect for family holidays

Family holidays. Many shiver at the very words. First there’s the time spent planning it. Then there’ll be the heated discussion on where to go. When at last a democratic decision is made (by mum), there’s the not so small topic of budget… Which is why we wanted to make life a little easier for […]

9flats news

Introducing… our small but beautiful ‘Pin it’ button

Have you fallen in love with Pinterest yet? We have! Here’s what it’s all about and why you should sign up and start following 9flats…

accommodation

Go green in Lapland

Our hosts never fail to surprise and delight us. We sent a little email to Joachim in Lapland, Sweden to ask if we could feature his amazing environmentally friendly log cabin in our ‘eco-living’ newsletter. Not only did he say yes, he also told us more great things about his place.

9flats host tips

11 tips to get that first booking on 9flats

So it seems that the world and his dog is offering apartments, mansions, pubs, igloos and huts for rent. For the vast majority, it is sadly a painful waiting game for that first booking. Here are 10 tips to avoid that pain: 1. Buy or borrow an SLR camera for shooting photos of your place […]

Renting your space legally

With home holiday rentals on the rise, governments are starting to wake up to this lucrative market. Until now, these rentals have existed in some kind of legislative grey zone but some local authorities are starting to implement new laws to govern them. While we’re not entitled to give you legal advice, we do want […]

So, what exactly do you think of us?

It’s a little bit scary when you send surveys out (what if no one replies? what if nobody loves us?). But we’re always glad we did. It’s easy to spend lots of time doing things we think would be good, whereas it can be much more helpful to find out what you actually want. With […]

travel tips

How is a vacation like watching TV?

Calling all couch potatoes. Paraphrasing Lord Eddard Stark,” Summer is coming.” If you were in agony over where to go and what to see this holiday season, why not take inspiration from the best shows on television right now. In order of travel-worthiness, here are our top 5! (We also have some tasty suggestions for where […]

opinion

What’s value for travellers?

What is good value on your travels? is it value for money? does it mean getting an extra bed for your child at no charge, a free breakfast, a duvet instead of a blanket, a pool with a view that you share with other travelers, far and away from the crush of humanity, or uptown? How about […]

travel tips

How to get healthy by eating local

In the whirl of our busy lives, it’s not always easy to look properly at what we’re eating. To show more love to your stomach while you’re away, look to the area you’re staying in. And where better to find fresh and tasty ingredients than at the local farmer’s market?