You might not realise that Budapest is actually formed from two cities: Buda and Pest, which, together with Óbuda, united in 1873. The city is also famous for its thermal water and spas.

But while the city is beautiful, what I loved most was the bars and vibes of the Jewish quarter. It has great food (amazing restaurants!) and a fantastic design and fashion scene.

I think one long weekend is enough to explore the main highlights of Stockholm. Here are my suggestions:

1. Thursday: early dinner, city walk, Fotografiska museum. If you arrive on Thursday afternoon, take an express train from the airport to the central station. It is only 20 min (but quite expensive, approx. USD30), then go to an early dinner (locals eat dinner very early, starting at 5:30pm) and then walk around the city and see the sunset from one of the many bridges. Later, (if you still have the energy) go to the photography museum (Fotografiska) which is open until 1am and is simply great (at least the exhibitions were when I was there. I loved the Jesper Waldersten exhibition. His photos are philosophical artworks more than mere photos and they really make you think. There was another famous celebrity photo exhibition of Alison Jackson “The truth is dead” where you can see pictures of the Queen of England cleaning a sink, having breakfast with her dogs, or all the royal family going to the hairdressers… It looked so real… crazy). This photography museum is located on Södermalm island which is famous for its cool bars and restaurants..

2. Friday: Gamla Stan, Nobel Prize Museum, smorgasbord for lunch, Vasa Museum, Technical Museum, traditional Swedish dinner. Walk around this very atmospheric island, checking small alleys lined with nice houses and shops. You’ll find the narrowest lane in Sweden there – Västerlanggatan which was once a pathway following the 13th century city wall, since demolished. Then visit the Nobel Prize Museum – Nobelmuseet – and take the free public tour –which is very interesting! Maybe you will be inspired to make a ground-breaking innovation and win the Nobel Prize! If you are a writer, it’s even more attractive as you don’t need to share your prize with anyone. 🙂 A nice place for lunch is in the Veranda in the Grand Hotel with an amazing view and great smörgåsbord (you should try it at least one in Sweden). After lunch, either explore Central Stockholm and do some shopping (there are some really great design shops around 🙂 or go to the famous Vasa Museum – which houses an original 300-year-old ship which sank after 30 minutes on its maiden voyage (it was too narrow and top-heavy). The ship is really beautiful with amazing wooden decorations! It is also huge: 68m long and 11.5m high. It sank in Stockholm harbour in August 1628 and was salvaged 333 years later in 1961). Alternatively, you can visit the Technical Museum (approx. 20 min nice walk from Vasa next to the water) which hosts an impressive futuristic exhibition on augmented intelligence. There you can try to paint with your eyes or move a ball with your thoughts! I am sure that after such an intensive programme you are ready for a big dinner. You should definitely try Swedish meatballs. One of the places where you can try it in a traditional atmosphere is Prinsen restaurant in Central Stockholm.

3. Saturday/Sunday: boat tour to Utö or Skansen (or Nordiska Museet). Next day you can do a boat tour to Utö to get a taste of the Stockholm Archipelago. (I did not do this as it was too cold in April) or visit an open air museum – Skansen, or go to Nordiska Museet (a huge museum on Swedish culture, art and daily life next to the Vasa Museum).

Some more travel tips:

Enjoy Stockholm 🙂 Hopefully the weather will be great for you!

Here are my happiness lessons learnt from Sweden:

Shopping:

What to do next time:

There are many great places to visit and your time is precious – Doha, Qatar is certainly a gem that should be on anyone’s bucket list.

I really enjoyed my 2 days in Doha and I would definitely consider it again if my flight connection allows it.

See you there.

What not to do the next time:

Other than that, I would not change a thing. It was very intensive time for me there – no relaxing days and too many activities – but I did everything I wanted and I absolutely loved it. 🙂

Four days in Bangkok:

First impression: Bangkok is hot and humid, big and crowded. As said, it is the most visited city in the world! After some time it grew on me for this big city feel, cool design shops and cafes/restaurants, relaxing massages, and energetic vibes. I would not want to live there or come back, staying four days is more than enough. It’s good to use as a hub when traveling or for a 1-2 day stay on the way somewhere else for a good meal, some shopping and relaxing Thai massages.

Shopping in Bangkok:

Massages:

Accommodation:

Food in Bangkok:

I prefer to eat in the restaurants and not on the markets as it’s priced almost the same but you get to sit down, have a good drink, wash your hands, etc.

Give it a miss:

My four-day program in Bangkok:

Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand

I think one does not need more than 3 days in Chiang Mai:

Day 1: sustainable elephant experience.

Day 2: a good all day cooking class.

Day 3: temples, city and museums.

You might need a bit more time if you (like me) are coming during the Festival of Light – this is an amazing experience. Actually, all of the festival activities take place in the evening so three days would be enough in any case.

General tips regarding Chiang Mai:

My overall tip: I am not a person who is going somewhere without any plan and then decides spontaneously what to do when I’m there. Why? Because I don’t want to lose time on organizing the things and stressing about it while I am on vacation. A little thing – yes, but accommodation and key/whole day activities are better to pre-book in advance in my opinion. That way you can enjoy your experiences and relax while you’re there. I went against my own principle this time and I ended up spending 3 hours to book the elephant park tour and 2 hours to book my cooking course (I needed to call 10 different places as everything was booked out). All of these are definitely must do activities in Chiang Mai. Though it might not be a problem normally, but during the festival of lights it was very difficult and therefore I recommend booking in advance!

Elephant experience: I found Baanchang Elephant Park. I called them and they told me that they have an “elephant friend day” program where only three people were registered (that turned out to be a Chinese family). There were 17 people that same day at Elephant Care day (in the same park), as you have 1 hour more with the elephants and don‘t spend this hour at the Elephant poo paper factory (yes, you read correctly). I actually found the poo paper factory quite interesting and you get to create your own paper products – I ended up spending too much time there. The silver lining in booking at the last moment is that you can choose the park and activity that is less crowded (as you know how many people attend).

Day 1 – arrival, visiting some temples and enjoying the pre-opening of the Festival of Lights:

First day (afternoon, after spending 3 hours booking elephant experience for the next day) I went to the temple Wat Chedi Lueng – an amazing temple, especially at sunset. There I met a Chinese girl who told me that the Festival of Light would begin that evening of the 21 November 2018 (I thought it would start the next day) – we ended up going there together. It had not really begun yet and it turned out to be more of a pre-opening. With its nice temples, lanterns, river with krathongs and still only a few people around (the next two days there would be crazy crowded), it turned out to be quite a nice experience. The opening ceremony at Thapae Gate was boring so we went to eat some fish at a very simple but very good restaurant, “Lert Ros”. Even though it had a long queue and was full of smoke inside, “Lert Ros” was an excellent Lonely Planet tip. After dinner, we walked to Nawarat Bridge and saw the first krathongs (flowers with candles) in the river. They are put on the water to fend off bad luck and although the tradition is only to do this during the two days of the festival, the Thai people worship rivers in general – rivers are seen as blood veins of their goddess. Later we went to a night market, called the Night Baazar, with live music. It was very cool and I ended up spending the next evening there too. This was a cool day!

Day 2: Elephant Park and Festival of Lights in the evening

On the 22 November 2018, I was picked up at the hotel at 8:30am to go to Baanchang Elephant Park. It was priced 2200 baht (approx. USD 70) for the full day, which I found more than reasonable considering I was almost 1 to 1 with elephants. You can find deals as low as 1500 baht but don‘t book with the hostel as they recommended the mass tourism options – cheap but not good (very bad people to elephant ratio)! We stopped in the poo paper factory, and then went to the park. I got to feed the elephants with bananas. I walked with them, held one on a leash, and washed them afterwards – you need to go into a dirty water, which is not the most hygienic (of course you don’t have to do it) but it was fun, anyway. We also saw five mom-elephants and their babies and as cute as they were, I preferred to be in the nature with the two elephants and not to see babies in cages. But it was a really cool experience overall! I was happy with my choice of park and I would definitely recommend it. With just one Chinese family joining me (who was afraid of the elephants), I had 2 elephants almost to myself.
I arrived back at the hostel at 4pm where I took a shower, changed clothing and went to the city. That night the Festival of Lights was open and there were a looooot of people there. But it was a great experience! Especially to see people sending lanterns into the air: this tradition actually belongs to another festival Yee Peng but this year these two festivals collided (on the last full moon of Thai lunar year). True to the tradition and with the help of two local boys, I sent a lantern into the air. It was fun. Afterwards, I went to the river, packed with people sending their beautiful krathons downriver. I finished the day at the Night market Bazaar where I had great Gyozas (12 pieces) and wine! This was enjoyed with two American girls sitting next to me.

Day 3: Visiting the temples of Chiang Mai and the Festival of Lights in the evening
I woke up late and tried to book a cooking course in the morning and I didn’t leave the hotel until noon. I had my coffee at Rist8etto. Great coffee but they have nothing to eat except waffles. Then I went to the old town, as I needed to pay for the cooking class, where I had gotten the last spot. Afterwards, I went to see if I could get a table at a place called “Hideout” (which is famous for their breakfast), but it was full so I went to a “Cat café” which was ok. The remainder of the afternoon I explored temples and museums (was ok but not so interesting.) That evening I ate a roasted pork leg (2 portions with stir-fried vegetables called “morning glory”) at yet another night market next to the old city entry at a famous Cowboy Hat Lady stand. It was very good food. Later that day, I went to see the parade (not so exciting and never ending). When I reached the river, I bought a very nice Krathong and put it on the water. This was a nice experience. I ended that day eating fruits at Nimman corner, not so far from my hotel.

Day 4: Cooking course
After nice waffles for breakfast at my hotel, I was picked up and taken to the cooking class. It turned out to be much better than expected. The people there were nice, the food was tasty and I actually learnt something. I made green curry, Thai pad noodles, stir fried with vegetables and bananas in coconut milk. Yummy!
Before the cooking course, they took us to a local market and showed us the products. This was where I tasted my first Durian! It’s a smelly fruit with a creamy texture and a sweet taste. It’s not bad but I don’t want to repeat the experience.

I was back at my hotel at 4pm and went for a walk in the neighbourhood. The area is nice with cool shops (though I did not buy anything), nice bars and restaurants. More of an expat area.
I did all must-dos in Chiang Mai. It might make sense to go to Pai (everybody says it much more relaxed and cool than Chiang Mai) and to do some hiking there. But I am not sure I want to come back to the area – a bit too touristy for me.

THAI ISLANDS:
  – Tip: don’t buy a ticket to the boat before going to the pier (especially when it’s not in absolute high season) – go to the pier and buy it there. You can then choose the boat and the price. I could have gotten a speedboat from Phuket to Koh Lanta that takes an hour and 20 minutes; instead I ended up with a boat that took 2 hours to Koh Phi Phi, after 1-hour wait, another hour to Koh Lanta – really bad and for a 1000 baht (30 USD). The Speedboat costs 2000baht… I could have gotten the same ticket (to Koh Phi Phi and then Koh Lanta for 600 baht instead of 1000!) So just check the schedule, go early enough (30-40 min before) and buy everything there.

KOH LANTA:

Very nice and much less touristy Thai island where I learned to dive.

Next places to go diving (tips from a diving instructor):

This was an amazing and very diverse trip with a lot of nice temples, great food, excellent massages, beautiful beaches, learning diving and cooking. Despite the ‘touristy feel’ and the massive crowds, I might come back to Thailand one day…