Budapest – Health Resort Spas

Budapest is an amazing city with so many attractions that it is hard to know where to start. The health resort spas seem as good a place as any.

Budapest Spas

Budapest sits on a tectonic plate fault line in Eastern Europe. While earthquakes seem inevitable, one advantage to the location is the proliferation of mineral water spas in the city. Here are a few highlights.

The Gellert Spa Hotel is located in the center of Budapest on the eastern shore of the Danube River. From the front, the hotel looks like a classic renaissance building you would find in Paris or Vienna. The entrance to the hotel opens onto an indoor pool that looks like something out of ancient Rome. The square pool is surrounded by baroque columns and covered by a glass roof two stories above the water. Palms, plants and relaxing Hungarians are everywhere. It is staggeringly impressive.

For roughly ten dollars, you can have the full Gellert experience. There is on mixed sex indoor pool and two sections reserved for just men and women. In these reserved sections, one can get massage services, but keep in mind these are vigorous Turkish style massages. Put another way, you will be getting slapped around a bit instead of nearly falling asleep.

At the rear of the Gellert, there is an outdoor area that rivals any Las Vegas hotel. Unlike Vegas hotels with themes, this pool area is truly historic. The area comes with marble steps, ceramic tile mosaics and lush landscape. One tends to feel a bit like you are taking a bath in the Vatican.

Other Spas

Frankly, there are spas all over the place in Budapest. Although I didn’t personally visit it, I was told very good things about the Kiraly Baths. Kiraly was apparently built during Turkish rule and the spa experience is entirely Turkish.

If you get the chance to visit Budapest, make sure you drop by one of the spas. Prices are relatively cheap and the experience is definitely worth it.

Packing Tips for Summer Travel

One of the potential summer vacation headaches is packing. If it's a family vacation, trying to coordinate everyone's luggage can be challenging, and it's often hard to find things you need on the road and once you get to your destination.

To help make packing a little easier, here are some tips that may help.

1. Categorize Items
Some sources recommend divvying up everyone's luggage into categories. Each person can have his or her category, and within those categories there can be sub-categories. Then there can be a category for shared items. For example, your teen's list might include toiletries, entertainment (such as an iPod), casual clothes, dress clothes, night clothes, shoes. Dad's list might look a little different, and might include dress clothes, casual clothes, night clothes, maps and/or GPS, books, and toiletries. For combined items, choose one big duffle bag or suitcase in which you can put your common things.

2. Lists for Frequent Travelers
If you travel often, having a stand-by list can make a big difference. Consider making a list of items you will always take with you, no matter what the nature of the vacation is.

Also for frequent travelers it helps to have specific travel items set aside for travel only. Consider a toiletry case with travel-sized items that includes everything, so you can just grab that case and know you're covered. The same would go for first aid and other medical supplies.

3. Roll, Don't Fold
An interesting thing happens when you tightly roll clothes instead of folding them. If you smooth the garments while you roll them tightly, they are not nearly as prone to wrinkling. You may also find that you can fit a lot more clothing into your luggage this way.

4. Little Things
It's so easy to forget the little things. Here are some suggestions for little items that are easily forgotten, but which can make or break a vacation.

-Camera
-Antibiotic ointment
-Band-Aids
-All prescription medications (also, make sure you have enough to carry you through your vacation, and find out if/where you can refill at your destination)
-Sunglasses
-Insect repellent
-After-bite treatment (such as Cortisone ointment)
-Feminine products

5. What Is Available at Your Destination?
Before you start packing, find out and consider what will be provided at your destination. There may be soap, toothpaste, and towels, for instance. There may also be shampoo and conditioner. It can save a lot of space if you don't pack what you don't need!

Airline Tickets

Keep in mind that airline tickets are purchased by practically everyone at some point in their life. You’ll want to think about this when it comes to your next family reunion, wedding, or when you begin to plan your dream vacation. You’ll want to make sure that you think about your airline tickets and what the best options are for you and your family arrangements. You’ll want to consider that there are many different ways for you to find cheap tickets, but you’ll also want to consider that the final choice of tickets is up to you.

Keep in mind that it all depends on where you live and where it is that you wish to go to. You’ll find that the large cities are vacation hot spots that will allow you to find more specials or discounts. Also, keep in mind that the size of the airport makes a huge different. You will pay more for a small airport. This is because they are not brining in as many people as some of the bigger airports can. You’ll find that if you are going from a small city to a big city, it will cost less to depart as it will be to come back. The airport makes a difference.

It is very important that you consult your travel agent, so that they can find you the best deals. You’ll also want to think about your departure times, because they can also help you to save yourself some money. You’ll find that it is important that you plan and plan. This is because you’ll be able to save a lot for the trip, however, if you live in a small city and there aren’t a lot of flights that go in and out, you may want to consider going the day of and seeing if you can get an discounts for last minute flights, however, this is not recommended, because you may not even get a flight.