Plans to escape London, or entrenched in pet sitting arrangements?

By Ellie Meakin from HouseSitMatch.com

Christmas in London can be beautiful. The endless rows of twinkling lights, roasted chestnuts on every street corner and the continuous flow of fake snow being pumped out of Oxford Street. It can be hard to get into the festive spirit when you are still working every hour available, and have home and pet sitting arrangements to organise too.

If you’re like me this year, no matter how many mince pies I wolf down, I’m still feeling slightly “Bah Humbug”. I suppose sometimes we all need to escape from the crowds of shoppers, fightingover the last Frozen doll on the shelf, to help us get into the Christmas spirit. So if listening to the entire Christmas album on your morning commute isn’t working, have you considered planning a trip away? If Christmas markets are your thing then worth checking some that have been recommended.

Top 5 Christmas Markets in Europe

The Daily Telegraph has named the best Christmas markets in Europe to jet off to, helping make you feel all warm and festive this Christmas:

1. Austria: explore the authentic Austrian Christmas markets in Innsbruck. Full of Christmas cheer, with carols and trumpets at dusk, in a beautiful setting surrounded by snow tipped mountains.
2. France: Awaken your taste buds with the wonderful French cuisine filling yourself with Noel nostalgia in the French Christmas markets.
3. Germany: for the true Christmas market experience, travel to Germany to enjoy an plentyof Christmas activities and rows and rows of stalls selling beautiful handmade items to enjoy
4. Switzerland: Christmas markets are set in a beautiful winter’s scenery. Warm yourself up with Switzerland’s traditional winter meal raclette.
5. Sweden: enjoy Stockholm’s 500 year old markets, scan the stalls for unique and original Christmas gifts.

Of course the costs of weekend break away do add up, especially if you’re already stretching the Christmas budget buying one too many stocking fillers. Adding your pet and home care into this, it can become quite expensive.

However, a new brand HouseSitMatch, may be your answer to pet sittingcosts and keeping your home safe and secure this holiday. HouseSitMatch is offering free six month registration for home owners that will allow access to a list of potential house and pet sitters. And after the introductory period it is still a modest annual membership fee.

So what is House and Pet Sitting?

Having recently been introduced to house sitting myself, it is a great pet care alternative that really does save you money. We saved the costs of two weeks lodging for our two dogs in kennels.

A member of the network, Olivia from Islington, has found sitters for her rescued cat Ella…

“After a busy year I have been planning to go to Tenerife with the family and needed help to look after my cat – she is shy and a little nervous and suffers from Separation Anxiety. I found a solution in HouseSitMatch, by promoting my housesit through this secure site I was able to find someone to come to my home to care for her. In fact the lady who came was herself a cat owner from Paris and wanted to spend some time in London as a tourist one of her favourite cities.No money changed hands, but both of us benefitted“.

House and Pet sitting network sites, such as HouseSit Match, offer pet owners and sitters alike the opportunity to meet in a safe and secure space online. The police and reference checked sitters are clearly marked, allowing you as a home and pet owner to choose the best sitter, to care for your needs. House and Pet sitting offers free accommodation in exchange for house hold responsibilities such as pet care and general up keep of the home.

So fast track the festive spirit this Christmas, take one worry off your list. Use a housesitting service to make sure you keep your home safe and secure and your beloved pets are well looked after at home with a sitter that you have personally chosen.