I’ve had it…

I can’t seem to catch up… so I’m just going to make a quick post about the latest country we passed through and then backtrack from there…

We are currently in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, but a couple of days ago we were chilling in Beautiful & Magnificent Budapest, Hungry.

This beautiful capital city of Hungry totally blew our minds and exceeded our expectations.

Perhaps near Christmas is the perfect time to visit Budapest as the whole city seems lit up by the most beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. If so, we count ourselves lucky.

The beginning of winter also seems to be the perfect time to visit the iconic spas, such as the  Szechenyi Thermal Spa and walk around the many Christmas markets.

Fortunately winter seems to be moderate in Budapest hovering around 5 centigrade and -9 centigrade at it’s coldest.

This will be a quick overview of what we did in Budapest and then later (with another post) I will try to fill in the details. I am just so tired of being so behind with my blogs about the places we visited and traveled through that I’m going to just go ahead and post something and then revisit each city/country later.

I don’t think I am a fabulous writer, but I find that writing does help me relive each experience in a new way. I suppose this might be why “blogging” is so popular. It adds a new dimension to travel and they way we “experience” our lives…

So back to Budapest…

One important place to start is to find the perfect accommodation for your style of travel and/or holiday to each and every city/locale you are planning to visit.

The second is to plan your trip so that you can visit/experience the top 3-5 things you want to do while you are there. If you are going to at a place longer than 3-4 days then of course you can make a longer list.

In our case we found our perfect “home away from home” in the Fraser Residence, Budapest.

Stefan & I have made travel our NEW way of life, so our requirements might be a bit different from others, but we’ll share with you our requirements for when/where. And yes, WHEN and WHERE are major factors.

Another major factor is BUDGET…

But for us budget is flexible. Because when we feel we are getting a good value (more perks/facilities) we are more than happy to up our budget…does that make sense?

When we first started our trip in summer of this year (June 2017) we wanted to camp as much as possible for two main reasons.

  1. We wanted to experience “nature” as much as possible.
  2. We thought it would be the cheaper option.

Our first reasoning was valid…but found out to our surprise…that camping during the peak of summer doesn’t mean cheaper.

We found out that a basic BnB was actually cheaper than staying at some of the popular and perfectly located campsites.

Yes, pitching our tent, blowing up our air mattresses, unfolding our chairs, unpacking our sleeping bags and cooking on our cute portable BBQ in a popular campsite (with good facilities) was MORE expensive than a basic Bed and Breakfast or an average 2-3 star hotel room.

So when the summer turned to autumn, and then winter, we were ready to stay indoors.

[Note: When?– Winter Season | Where?– Bustling Capital City of Budapest, Hungry]

This is our “City Wishlist” for a perfect location in a major city.

  1. Within 10-15km drive of the sights we are hoping to see.
  2. Good reviews!
  3. Kitchen (we are personal fitness trainers so we try to eat/cook healthy as much as much as possible)
  4. Washing machine (traveling on a motorbike and being fairly active means we need to wash our clothes often and making a trip to a laundromat is something we want to avoid as much as possible)
  5. Near a grocery store/mall
  6. Good internet
  7. Clean facilities (bedding, bathroom etc)

Fraser Residence Budapest ticked off everything on our list. We’ve stayed at much simpler places before, but when staying 3-4 days in a metropolitan city just “a good view” doesn’t cut it.

What are your “must haves” when booking a hotel or a place to stay?

Please remember that we aren’t “on vacation” and that some of our requirements might not be necessary for you as you might NOT want to cook for yourself or take care of laundry.

But if our “City Location Wishlist” seems similar to yours, check out the video we made and you can see for yourself if Fraser Residence in Budapest is what you are looking for.

Our Review for Stay in Fraser Residence, Budapest:

Comfortable and Warm Fully Serviced (24/7) Apartment in downtown Budapest

Our 1 bedroom apartment had:

Fully equipped kitchen & dining utensils

Washing machine/dryer

Spacious living room

Ample cupboard and drawer space

Work desk

Reliable internet

2 balconies

Separate bathtub and shower area

High quality toiletries (L’Occcitane) and the list could go on…

The staff and management are very helpful and attentive and we were welcomed with a delicious fruit platter and cold drinks in the fridge. Small extras like these made our stay memorable.

The top 2 things we wanted to see/do in Budapest was visit their world famous Thermal Spas and have a Beer Spa.

Here are a couple pictures of us in the Szechenyi Thermal Pools

and the Thermal Beer Spa…

 

We also when sight seeing and checked all their historical monuments, castles, and palaces. But I think our spa experience was something different and a first time for us.