Sources for booking budget stays for extended time

This is a broad request as answers and resources will vary by country or even by city. Do you have any idea of places you want to visit?

Some countries are much less expensive than others, and some regions in countries are very inexpensive. For example, Scandinavia and Switzerland are terribly pricey while Central and Eastern Europe are relative bargains. London is costly but smaller towns in the U.K., not too bad. In Italy, Puglia is a bargain where Venice is not. So it would be useful to narrow down to some degree the places that interest you.

I think an overlooked resource for lodging is the city/targeted area tourist info website. Typically one can search for B&Bs or pensions and they may not all be listed on the big websites like Booking.com. Once you know a town you'd like to stay in, then search "B&B in xxxxx" and see what turns up.

It will help if you tell us what countries you may be interested in, because in some cases there may be country-specific websites that will help you.

Allow me to give you my patented Schengen Zone warning: Most of the countries in western Europe (excluding Ireland and the United Kingdom), plus some in central Europe, are part of the Schengen Zone. If you are an American or Canadian, you cannot spend more than 90 days within any rolling 180-day period in that entire area. Leaving the Schengen Zone does not reset your counter to "0". Both your arrival day and your departure count. So be very careful about your plans. Overstaying the 90-day limit can result in a substantial fine (over 1000 euros) and being banned from the Schengen Zone for a number of years.

For us Europeans, two or three weeks in one location isn’t an extended stay, it’s a normal holiday!

Some places such as coastal southern Spain and Portugal may offer a discount in the winter months if you take a place for 4+ weeks, when rents will be a quarter of the high season July/August rate. These are popular with pensioners who have plenty of time on their hands.

Airbnb, VRBO, Trip Advisor rentals and Booking.com cater for a variety of budgets.

Staying in Berlin at the Pension on this past trip in May and last summer's trip amounted to 21 nights, ie, 14 consecutive nights in 2017 and 7 nights in 2018. A discount isn't offered at that Pension, at least not that I am aware of. Of course, I never asked either but there are 2 star hotels (I saw one of these hotels in Frankfurt in 2007) or Pensionen in Germany where a discount is available if it involves an extended stay. Look for the announcement on "mehrtägigen Aufenthalt"

Hostels are not the only option if you travel in the summer and want to cut costs as deep as possible. I know I can far more spartan in cutting costs, such as staying only in dorm rooms in hostels, staying university dorms (available in the summer) and so. In a hostel stay in a private room...you pay for that luxury. In Vienna that was more expensive than staying in a Pension at Munich Hbf. The advantage with hostels other than price is the laundry facilities and in the private independent hostels kitchen facilities are available.

If you own your own home you may want to consider home exchange. We stay in Europe and other regions around the world for extended periods of 5+ weeks every year. We stay in someone's home while they stay in ours! Works out great and it's free except for the $150ish yearly fee for the website we use. Bargain.
We often swap cars so transport is not a problem!

Anita, great point! But not only home exchange. You can house/pet sit for free lodging! We use www.TrustedHousesitters.com all the time. Yes, you have to pay to join but people who sit for us live almost free with no mortgage or utilities in return for caring for the house and pets.

Laurel...that's such a great website! We have looked into it but have heard that so many people do it now that it's actually difficult to get a housesitting "job". How many inquiries do you guys get? Is there "competition" for housesitting at your place? Just curious as to your experience as someone who has people stay in your home to care for it.

Anita, When we lived in Rome I would get 50 applications in less than 24 hours. It was kind of tough to deal with. Here in Oregon I still get couple of dozen each time. I think the key to breaking into house sitting is taking a few short term jobs, last minute jobs, or odd location jobs. Don’t expect 2 months in Paris right away. Be willing to take a week in rural Nebraska. 🙂