I'm trying to get my family over to Switzerland in the next year or year and a half. This includes my 3 brothers and their wives and children, my parents and my family. My parents have taken each of us on vacation over there with Untours, at one time or another and it is our dream to all go together as one big family before my father gets too much older. There are 15 of us total, and we would like to stay near Kandersteg within a short walk to the rail station.
In order to make it affordable for everyone, I'm trying to find a chalet big enough for all of us and exchange my beach front condo in Florida with the owner. Does anyone know of someone who might have a large enough place for us and may have an interest in a vacation home exchange? Or perhaps two chalets right next to each other?
We have a beautiful beach front vacation condo in Indian Shores, Florida (near Clearwater Beach) that can sleep 6 persons. Here is web address to information about it:
http://findvacationrentals.com/listing.asp?id=870
And we are local owners, so we can provide plenty of information about the area.
Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places we have been to visit. We hope to be back soon. Any help you can give me would be appreciated.

There will be a total of 15 family members. 11 of which are adults, and 4 are well behaved, well monitored children ages 4, 6, 8, and 10 at this time.
We are looking to spend at least 2 weeks in your area in the summer months, June or July, of 2004.
Any help you can provide will be appreciated.

http://findvacationrentals.com/listing.asp?id=870

We just spent a week in Grindelwald and were talking to the owners of the apartment we rented and they go to Florida every year. Maybe you will be able to find an exchange.

For Kandersteg, I would contact Pam and Bill Adams who own an apartment building. We rented from them in October 2000. They may have some advice or contacts. Here is their web site:
http://www.adamsalpineeden.com/

Other than that I would recommend you contact the Kandersteg tourist office:
http://www.kandersteg.ch/

If you get a chance, tell us which towns you visited with Untours and how you liked the towns.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Have you listed with any of the home exchange listing agencies? I know from our own experience that many folks in Europe want to exchange for Florida properties. Most of the agencies charge a yearly fee, but you can browse the listings for free at some of the websites.

Amy in MA
Amy's House Exchange

Yes, I belong to www.holiswap.com and have looked through that as well as others. The biggest problem I am going to have is needing a large home to rent to accommodate my whole family. Most of the places I've come across are small. I've emailed some owners as well as the tourist board for Kandersteg. Apparently, they will send out a notification to their members with my request. So, I guess it's just a wait and see thing. I know that there are a couple of vacation rental sites that we have in the states that offer a "want ad" section, such as, vrbo.com and cyberrentals.com Where you can post a want ad for what you are looking for, but these are U.S. based. I was hoping there was a European web site that offered the same. In my searches, I've yet to find one. I'm certain there is probably a place that we could find that is side by side, or a chalet with multiple floors that we could have the whole of. It's just a matter of finding a place large enough, in the right town, and where they want to come to Florida.
Now that's not TOO much to ask, is it?
Keep the suggestions coming, as they are helping. And thanks.

http://findvacationrentals.com/listing.asp?id=870

I have a page with a list of "rent from owner" sites like VRBO - some of them are European based.
http://www.slowtrav.com/faq/web_databases.htm

Pauline from Slow Travelers