The Qeynos area is fine for XP/loot. I think Freeport/EC is a bit overrated -- it's great when it's not too crowded (which it sometimes is), and it can be mediocre if you don't beg buffs from the EC tunnel, which I personally don't like to do.
What Qeynos area has are some of the best low level XP quests, that also will give you more than enough coin to buy spells for many levels, namely:
Gnoll Bounty /
Moonstones (Gnoll Fangs)
Rabid Wolves (Diseased Wolf Pelts)
Rabid Grizzlies (Putrid Bear Hides)
Bandit Sashes
The gnoll fangs drop off of gnolls in and around Blackburrow, and they stack, so you carry a bunch of them and turn them in for massive XP and reasonable coin.
The rabid wolves and bears spawn in Qeynos Hills, Western Karana and Northern Karana. The bandits that drop bandit sashes can be found West, North and East Karana. You can work on all three of these quests at once by leveling in WK from level 8-15 or so. All are decent XP and cash -- the diseased pelts always drop off of their respective mobs, and are good for 2p/4p worth of rewards. The bandit sashes are common drops off bandits and you get a bronze weapon (which sells for around 2p on average; the bandits can also drop bronze weapons). Unlike the gnoll fangs these quests are a bit more inventory-intensive since they each take up a full space in your inventory.
The brown bears and grizzlies also have a chance of dropping High Quality Bear Skins which sell for 30p on the player market, though you may have to hold on to them for a while since there won't be a lot of buyers in Western Antonica.