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Ask HN: What are some cheap idyllic places with lots of nature?
I am getting tired of city life and want to try spending some time in rural area with mountains, lakes, forests, etc. What are some places you can recommend? It could be anywhere, doesn't need to be in the U.S.
The only other requirement is fast internet.
- sciguy77 11y agoI have a relative who lived in Montana for several years. I'm told its a world-class hiking state and is much cheaper than Colorado. I went once to go fly fishing and it was gorgeous. Only the winters are supposed to be terrible, so you'll want to time your stay well. If you're more inclined towards Europe then I'd recommend Hungary, a very cost-effective place to live. Good luck!
- atmosx 11y agoIthaca, you know Ulysses island. I am not sure about thr fast Internet. I assume you could get some lousy ADSL. The sea and nature are marvelous though. The people are very good too. There at least another 50 places in Greece that fit the description, but Ithaca is my favorite. You can check out Nomads list, for cities that are better fit for tech nomads.
- mscharrer 11y agoI know quite a few idyllic places with lots of nature. None of them have fast internet.
- jib 11y agoLots of places in Sweden with great internet, great nature and ok prices. If super cheap is your focus, maybe not, but it is quite affordable outside cities. The North for mountains, the west or north for forests and lakes.
- DaemonKrog 11y agoWestern Pennsylvania has pretty much everything you're asking for. I live near Pittsburgh, but I'm honestly less than an hour drive away from all of this. The only caveat (to living directly in the mountains) is that in any place where you're engulfed in nature, your Internet connection is going to be slower. It's too costly for the ISP to install or upgrade infrastructure to an area with less than say 400 homes per square mile. Past a certain number, it's just not a viable investment. Satellite ISPs have been getting better though and DSL technology has shown at least a theoretical 800Mbps (in labs). Maybe someday it'll be possible to get great broadband in the mountains.
- dangrossman 11y agoI just vacationed in Park Rapids, Minnesota. A couple thousand people live there, with much fewer than 400 homes per square mile. Mostly just farms, lakes and undeveloped land. The local ISP, "Paul Bunyan Communications", offers gigabit fiber. My lakeside cabin in the woods for the week had better internet than I have at home outside Philadelphia, and for less money. Turns out most of the fiber-to-the-door deployed in the US is in the middle of the country, where population densities are low. These assumptions about rural availability and cost don't hold as often as some would think http://www.broadbandmap.gov/technology http://www.broadbandmap.gov/technology
- chm 11y agoAre you a US citizen? At $0.76 per CAD the whole of Canada is pretty much the definition of "cheap".
- Everlag 11y agoIf you're considering Canada on the exchange rate, try out Banff or Jasper in Alberta; they're national parks and wonderfully maintained. Enough beautiful hikes to keep me entertained for the last decade. I've found going over a mountain and back quite a boom for productivity if only because I don't want to walk afterwards. The internet is fairly not terrible.
- yazaddaruvala 11y agoBanff and Jasper are beautiful but not "cheap". You really should go regardless. Meanwhile, Vancouver Island fits your description.
- jpwgarrison 11y agoI was going to suggest Tofino, where I am sitting. But the internet speed is not great.
- tamersalama 11y agoBanff, Canmore, Lake Loiuse, Jasper. Just spent the day at Lake Louise (from Calgary). The most beautiful place on earth. Hiked to lake Agnes (7000ft elevation) with family. We were soaked but enjoyed it immensely. There are reasonably priced accommodation with the current CAD/USD rate. Winter is another story but has its charm (& winter sports).
- Everlag 11y agoPerhaps off topic, but I have to ask: did you make it to the teahouse on Lake Agnes? It's absolutely fantastic to take the hike then relax at the top with a nice cup of tea!
- icebraining 11y agoLots of foreign tourists have been coming here to Portugal - we have plenty of cheap rural homes in the middle of forests, large and small rivers with good walkable trails and bathing areas, and during these summer vacations, I had a nice 30mbps connection in a village so small it didn't even any shops. A small example: http://www.vortexmag.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dornes1.jpg http://www.vortexmag.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dornes1....
- peteretep 11y agoThailand, if you can handle the heat. Some great national parks, amazing hills in the north, huge amounts of greenery, and of course, the beaches. Coming up to the cool season too, and it's all wonderfully cheap.
- saryant 11y agoConcur. I spent some time working from Koh Lanta earlier this year. Beautiful island with good infrastructure but it's not been overrun by giant resorts. There's a nice coworking space on Long Beach called Kohub.
- harwoodleon 11y agoSwansea, Wales, UK I moved back (in from there originally) and we have - the UK's first area of outstanding natural beauty - mountains, loads of mountains - world class beaches - low cost of living - a TechHub with easy access to TechHub Shoredich in London - pretty good internet, with 300mb consumer connections being rolled out - great surfing And soon to be built, a £1.5bn tidal lagoon and £0.5bn to be spent on regenerating the city centre. Desk space in Techhub is currently £150p/m Average monthly rent is £500 p/m for a studio/1den in a pretty new shoreside development SA1 We have a few London based businesses looking to relocate because of the low cost of living and great lifesytle. Two Google engineers were here last week and were massive impressed, needless to say they are coming back here on holiday.
- codezero 11y agoWales is beautiful. I spent quite a bit of time in Aberystwyth, and look forward to returning one day.
- danschuller 11y agoI have quite fond memories of Swansea, I use to walk down to the beach on mornings in the summer and read there for a few hours before starting my day. I think everyone would win if it became a tech-hub. The city center is a bit ugly (probably due to rapid post-war reconstruction after being bombed, combined with the general horrors of UK 1960s architecture) :D but cost of living is definitely cheap. Because of general UK drinking culture and Swansea being a University town the town center is pretty raucous most nights and especially at the weekend. At least that was the case when I was there about 10 years ago! There's a lot of beautiful scenery - like the Gower http://www.visitswanseabay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Rhossili-bay_gower-peninsula.jpg http://www.visitswanseabay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Rh... And away from the city center it's much quiter and rural. People are super friendly and warm in my experience, definitely more so than average for the UK!
- cskakun 11y agoI live in Cancun, Mexico right now. There are some areas where it's nice and not so expensive. Other places are around here because of tourism. However, Chiapas has mountains and rivers and is the cheapest state in Mexico from what I've heard.
- vicarious82 11y agoDilijan, Armenia http://www.renco.it/media/immagini/477_z_img_4753_rid.jpg http://www.renco.it/media/immagini/477_z_img_4753_rid.jpg
- leakybucket 11y agoPerhaps Ithaca, New York? It's a smallish college town (Cornell, Ithaca College), but with lots of great scenery nearby, including forest, lakes, and gorges.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- walkingolof 11y agoThe High coast of Sweden, I'm biased since I live here, but the place have for 42 years never ceased to amaze me with its nature and people. The name comes from the fact that the land rises about 10 mm out of the sea each year, this is because of the pressure of the ice during the last ice age http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions--Cities/Northern-Sweden/The-High-Coast/ http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions--Cities/Northern-S... https://vimeo.com/79557856 https://vimeo.com/79557856 PS. The internet connection is very good, I have currently 100/100 fiber connection and live in a very small village DS. PSS. I live here, but I work (remote) for a Boston based software company DSS.
- dennybritz 11y agoThis looks beautiful. What are the living costs like there?
- walkingolof 11y agoLiving in the area is very cheap compared to continental Europe and the US. You can get very nice sea side house for 200-300k Euros, if you chose not to live by the sea, prices drops of a cliff, you can get a house for 10k Euros, a nice 200 square meter house
- markyc 11y agoyou mean 100k ofcourse :)
- towb 11y agoMaybe not. The gov. seems to handle the countryside extremly bad here in Sweden. Depopulation might lead to those prices, cheaper than the building materials in some areas. People are forced, in a way, to leave for the cities.
- walkingolof 11y agoNo, housing prices are pretty low except the most desirable areas, sometimes they go so low that it makes sens to cut up and move the house to a urban area...
- a3n 11y agoPacific Northwest is nice. I like the Olympic Peninsula. I don't know the state of internet there; when I was last there, "Are you on email" was still a common question. Probably drops off as you get farther from the various towns. You could probably base yourself in Port Angeles, they have a ferry terminal to Canada and close access to the Olympic Mountains and the coastal rainforest. https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?q=Olympic%20Peninsula&obox=1&signedup=1# https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?q=Olympic%20Peninsula&obox=... Lots of good daytrips, weekend and week trips available from there.
- mapster 11y agoDurango, Co
- washt 11y agoAsheville, North Carolina, or -- "The Paris of the South."
- theSage 11y agoTrivandrum, India is a good place. It is a seaside city and has it's share of jungles and small hillocks. Besides monthly libing comes to about $30. It has a 'technopark' which is essentially offices cut into a jungle. I study here. For reference http://technopark.org/ http://technopark.org/
- zok3102 11y agoStoked to see Trivandrum on the list, but you are way off the mark (by~10-15x) re: cost of living, arent you? Technopark has decent infrastructure but attracts mostly BPO/IT Services. Kazhakkoottam/Sreekaryam are rapidly getting gentrified too :( (Source: Born in Tvm, studied there till undergrad, friends and family there)
- theSage 11y agoMy current rent is 1100 and food is 1120. ~$30 I think. Cost is ok I guess, coming from north India.
- bozoUser 11y agoNo love for India so far!!! if you can tolerate the spicy food here are two places I wud recommend - 1) Kerela (called gods own country) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala 2) Arunachal Pradesh - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunachal_Pradesh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arunachal_Pradesh
- NDizzle 11y agoOzarks. Northwest Arkansas. Eureka Springs if you are super blue. Fayetteville area for college life. Very cheap and infinite nature. Not as backwards as you'd expect. Source: I grew up in Carroll County Arkansas.
- jwatte 11y agoIf the cost of living is cheap enough, you can run your own fiber with the saved money (and share with the neighbors.)
- arsalanb 11y agoGo to McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh, India.
- arsalanb 11y agoGo to McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh, India.
- iharhajster 11y agoCroatia, both coast including islands (there is 1k of them, many uninhabitted) and in land. I recommend Velebit, Papuk, Brac and of course Dubrovnik archipelag.
- nolite 11y agoBali, Thailand, Greece
- stevewilhelm 11y agoBoulder Creek, California. Less than an hour to the heart of the Silicon Valley, but worlds away.
- presty 11y agoheh, cheap?
- fleitz 11y agoHave been in Cambodia the past 2 weeks and loving it. Very cheap even in touristy areas, dirt cheap otherwise
- geff82 11y agoTry the heart of Switzerland, you might even get a job that pays like crazy. If you prefer to pay less for rent, move to south Bavaria in Germany's beautiful south. Munich might provide enough work, if you are willing to drive an hour every day. Working from home gets more common here, so you might not have to do the trip 5 days a week.
- dadalus 11y agoIdaho has a few places that fit the bill. Sandpoint in the North and McCall in the south are both small towns with immediate lake and mountain access. Ketchum (Sun Valley) is another option, but has probably the highest cost of living in the state. Boise is situated in a valley, but the mountains are only an hour away.
- molteanu 11y agoYou can always buy a (very) cheap old house in a village in Transylvania / Romania, and maybe spend some time to restore it, if you're into that. I don't know about the internet connection far from the city, though. See, for example: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/827b9c84-69d5-11e1-8996-00144feabdc0.html http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/827b9c84-69d5-11e1-8996-00144... http://www.transylvania-guide.com/ http://www.transylvania-guide.com/
- andretti1977 11y agoTrentino in Italy: beautiful scenery, lakes, alpine mountains (unesco), forests. It is near some other beautiful countries like Austria and Slovenian (which is another beautiful place for nature and mountains and even cheaper than Trentino). And you are near to the city i live in (bergamo) which is small, with a medieval buildings and in the Orobie area which is full of mountains where you can do trekking or climbing! I suggested Trentino because even if it is in Italy, it doesn't suffer from common italy "problems" (burocracy, criminality, etc...)
- philprx 11y agoAlps, France. Chiang Mai, Thailand. Koh Phanghan, Thailand. Bergen, Norway. Lofoten islands, Norway. Pyrenees, France. Jura, France. Lago maggiore, Italy. North of North California, USA. Oregon, USA. All Pacific northwest, USA. Boulder, Colorado, USA. Blue ridge, Georgia (?), USA. Area between Czech and Slovakia. Parks West of Zagreb, Croatia. Mountains, coast and parks in Serbia.
- pknerd 11y agoPakistan's Northern areas: https://www.google.com.pk/search?q=pakistan+northern+areas+tour&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=637&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI4sndk6XQxwIVw7kUCh2hlQe8 https://www.google.com.pk/search?q=pakistan+northern+areas+t... This might help you to plan tour: http://pakistantourntravel.com/northern-pakistan-tour/ http://pakistantourntravel.com/northern-pakistan-tour/
- keerthiko 11y agoKrabi, Thailand. Avoid Phuket or Ao Nang, Krabi town is a bit off to the side but extremely peaceful and rural and tons of nature and unguided exploration to be had nearby. Also outer Taiwan, Jeju Island (S.Korea), Okinawa, Fukuoka (Japan). Parts of south India might be tempting, but the quality of internet can be very frustrating and can offset the quality of the nature. source: all places I've passed through or by as a nomad in the last 2 years.
- montecruiseto 11y agoSounds interesting! I was considering Taiwan recently. How is the infrastructure/livability/internet in those regions you mention? Any places you can be specific about?
- keerthiko 11y agoInternet was my prime consideration as well, and all of those places have excellent internet. 20+mbps 3G/4G mobile internet at reasonable prices on top of solid connections at most hostels and airbnbs you could stay at there. Rural Taiwan is especially nice because you're just a high speed rail ride away from Taipei, most likely. The others would probably involve a cheap and very short flight to the nearest metropolis, in case you miss the city life. Okinawa can feel a bit touristy, but you can get away from it if you do some groundwork. I spent a month out of an airbnb in Krabi town. Lived for about $200/mo, spending weekends doing touristy things and eating out most of the time. I got familiar with just about every shopkeep and restaurant owner in the hood. Random streams and gardens to hang around in and pass time and ponder the universe. I enjoyed it, and miss it sometimes, but the place helped me discover that personally I am a city-junkie and needed to get out of there.
- presty 11y agoUbud, Bali, Indonesia Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
- davidjnelson 11y agoParadise, CA is fantastic and meets your requirements.
- eloycoto 11y agoGalicia, north west spanish and camino de santiago it's awesome ;-)
- PopeOfNope 11y agoThere's Lake Placid or the 1000 islands. Once upon a time (1870's to WWI-ish), presidents and influential people used to come to the 1000 islands for the summer. If you like fall leaves, October here is like no other. Do not stay past halloween; it gets cold fast. You don't want to be here in the winter, unless you like snowmobiling. There's better skiing in places with less extreme weather (or so I'm told).
- jordanf 11y agoChattanooga, TN checks the boxes. Fiber internet, affordable, tons of outdoor activities. Outside magazine rated it best place to live in the US 2015 [0]. You can live just outside the city and be surrounded by nature, and the tech scene is growing. [0] http://www.outsideonline.com/2006426/americas-best-towns-2015 http://www.outsideonline.com/2006426/americas-best-towns-201...
- mdekkers 11y agoCyprus, in Europe