Interesting responses. The language barrier seems to be the main talking point, and I knw I would only be happy if I could communicate enough to get by day to day.

Its difficult to advise if you don't know someone personally. I have friends who live in France and love it, others who couldn't wait to sell up and move. Greece is nice and the people are much more friendly than the spanish but it seems to be wet and cold in the winter and deadly quiet (although its the same in spain today ) Geneva is great but expensive, friends went to view property in Tuscany 2 weeks ago and realised they couldn't live there in winter as everything was quiet and closed, although some people like isolation its practical to think about getting older. Reelative bought in inland spain and husband had a massive heart attack, she doesn't drive! there isn't any local transport.

Its best to set out your own priorities. Important to me was to be within about 30 mins of an airport, close to good road communications, hospitals etc. I wouldn't want to be too far from a shop (about 5 mins drive). I wouldn't want to live in an area where there are lots of holidaymakers and short term rentals ( nothing wrong with them but its different if you are living there all the time). Wherever you choose I think its better to rent for at least a couple of months before buying anything.

thanks Jacky
re renting for several months first- probably even better if it is outwith holiday season.

Fiona HT Mod wrote:

so was it easy enough to pick up the language Sue- especially as everyone round about you did not speak English? ( Spanish strikes me as seeming to be an easier language to learn than others- but of course I haven't tried it myself )

Fiona, I'd like to learn Greek as well, but it is not an easy language to pick up. Its even difficult to read Greek. However, Spanish is another story. If you look at certain words in Spanish it is quite easy to ascertain what they mean, so if you can 'read' Spanish then learning to 'speak' it should come quite naturally.

I've been teaching myself over the past few years and now I can hold some basic conversations when in Spain with the locals in their own lingo.

Give it a go....you never know, you may surprise yourself

at the moment I do not holiday in Spain but, as said, it would be somewhere I would consider if I ever got to the stage of buying for my own use. If I did I would certainly be giving Spanish a go!

I too am in Lanzarote (Playa Blanca)... and trying very hard to learn Spanish. When I arrived, I just knew "Please", "Thankyou", "Hello", "Goodbye", and the most important of all... "I'd like a large glass of dry white wine please!"

But just getting stuck in and mingling really helps. Sue is absolutely right... I'd love to have a proper chit-chat in Spanish... But all I seem to manage at the moment is Spanglish. Mind you, just making the effort is half the battle - as I'm sure all would agree.

A very valid point from Sanji! It's quite apparent here that some of our Countrymen have formed their own little groups... and that's a real shame! Once I've built more confidence in Spanish - I'll be moving on to German too. Life's too short to deprive yourself of all these potential new friends and business associates.

Hi all.
We would like to retire to Spain, if our estimed government will stop pushing my retirement age back!
I agree with all the comments about learning the language, you need to 'get in there' and try it. I barely scraped through French and German at school and deeply regret not trying hard enough to speak them at the time (36 years ago) but I found that they helped a lot when visiting other countries.
I try my best to learn at least a few words of the language of a country that I am intending to visit and am now able to hold a simple conversation in French and German, I can get by in Dutch and Spanish and can survive in Turkish. I am afraid that I have been defeated by Greek and, other that being able to say, "A bottle of beer, please" in Mandarin, Chinese is a non-starter. However, I have learned that local people have been consistently helpful - once you make the effort.
Ignore the embarrassing mistakes. If you haven't made mistakes, you haven't tried.

We had been holidaying in Bulgaria for 7 years and decided to buy a holiday home, the 2 years it took to build it we had decided we loved Bulgaria that much that we decided to move with our 2 year old son so opted out of the holiday apartment to look for a home. Unfortunately after 2 months of looking still never found anything suitable, one day we stumbled upon some large apartments at a very good price so we bought 4. Two of them were straight away made into one very large apartment for our home. We didn't know what to do with the others so hence the tourist apartments.
My son is now nearly 7 years old and speaks fluent Bulgarian, and I am still learning the language. I can get by and can order a meal, drink or have a small conversation etc but it is taking a long time.
I love going back to England to visit my family but would not go back to live there, I am very happy here in Bulgaria.

Celiajan

What do you do there, understand the rental market is dire. Do you sell property by any chance?

For 2 months of the year I rent out the tourist apartments, the season here is very short at the moment. Yes my husband is a builder and does a lot of renovation, interior design projects etc.

Celiajan

Sanji. I could make a comment about Brits and Asians forming their own communities but can't face all the comments. I will just say, that I'm sure the Spanish government aren't as accommodating as good old Tony Blair's government.

Hi,
I live in Fuerteventura and I did try living in Rhodes first as we really do love both places. We arrived in Rhodes at the end of the tourist season and the logic behind it was, if we could survive the winter then we would be ok. We lasted 3 months, I have never been so cold, wet and miserable in my life. We made wonderful friends and had some glorious memories but we couldn't hack it. Everything was closed in the village apart from the bakery. We have to drive to Rhodes town every time we wanted anything. It got dark at 4pm and when the sun went down the temperature plummeted.
We packed up, moved here and I have never looked back.
I love the climate, I love the fact that I can go out for a coffee at 10pm on a Tuesday night if I want to. I am learning the language every day. We both work and as long as you have skills and don't mind what you do for a living you will succeed. I too have seen people come and go and the main reasons I can ascertain are that, they struggle with the language, they miss their families back home or they struggle to find work. You either love it here or you hate it! There is a lot of help here if you need it and people are friendly(mostly).
You will know where you want to live when you get there!

As many of you know, I have been living in Alsace for 15 years. I am happy here, and speak French (but not Alsacian) and have learned German.

First of all, any move is a risk. When you move to another country the risk can be overwhelming, and you should try to prepare for it in advance even if the move is of your choice. That includes language classes, reading about the everyday culture (yes even from books like Peter Mayne's much copied Provence books), and taking a really long hard and often distressing look at yourself .. what you need to have to make life bearable, and what you can do without. Any problems in relationships don't go away just because you change country!! They often get worse.

You need to consider health, employment and insurance issues. And then your children's needs as regards schooling, leisure activities and so on.

AND TALK ABOUT THEM, and KEEP TALKING. I have seen so many families in turmoil because they didn't prepare adequately, and didn't realise that they would be vulnerable in areas in which they felt so confident at home .... ordering a pint, filling in a form, car servicing ...

You should consider NOT burning your bridges at home. Keep your UK bank accounts, rent rather than buy immediately, and if you really find yourselves throughly miserable and NOTHING can help you over the bad times (and there will be many ... sorry been there, and got the t shirt!), then go back to the UK if you feel that's the only place for you, and carry on living without a feeling of failure, more that you tried something interesting, and having tried it fairly you've decided to come back to the UK.

You will discover a great deal about yourself - not all of it good - and having an open mind (they do things differently here ... not they do it wrong) will help you cope with all the facets of a new life.

You can expect to feel a bit blue once the honeymoon phase has worn off, and only once you've been living abroad for a good year or so, will you feel that you know a bit more about what's coming next in your new life of discovery, having been through the seasons once.

GOOD LUCK - and BE KIND TO YOURSELF.

I've been in Germany for 36yrs now, I really can't add anything to what Alsacienne says. Do try and learn the language and use it even if you are frightened of making mistakes. Don't expect things to be the same as the UK, everywhere is different which makes life abroad more interesting.

some brilliant tips - thanks

I live in Pafos Cyprus, have been here for six years after visiting the island for over twenty years, Greek is impossible I find to learn although I do try, I can understand now some conversations but speaking Greek gets me into real problems, as they think you can understand what the reply is, not so in my case, but at least I can say please thank you and good night!! but really they all speak English here, and a great place to live... Klali mera!!