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Disclosure: Some of the images in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to yourself. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and how much we have liked them. Hi guys, I've put together a list of some of the must have items for a smooth holiday with a baby. All of these items have been tried and tested by us and our little man Kai (10 months old). When travelling with a baby it's so important to have items that aren't too bulky, are easy to transport and just make life easier!! That way you can have a bit of extra time so have that Aperol Spritz or Pornstar Martini while on your vacation 😉🥂 #1 Travel Cot For us a travel cot was really important. We originally bought a Baby Elegance one but it was just too big and bulky. No way could we drag that around Italy with us. So we changed for the BabyLo Lightweight travel Cot. It's super lightweight and folds up nice and handy. It also comes with a mattress and sheet that neatly folds up into the same bag. Kai really likes it and will happily play in it during the day too so it would be really handy to pop baby into for a few minutes while on your holidays. BabyLo Lightweight Travel Cot #2 Lightweight Stroller I spent so long researching all of the strollers out there to find the perfect one. I was looking for a stroller that was lightweight, folded up nice and compact, but still had sturdy wheels that could handle the cobblestones of Italy. I also didn't want to spend an absolute fortune. We ended up going with the Cosatto Whoosh 3 and are delighted with it. We've had it for a month now and Kai (7 months) absolutely loves it! We had only gotten it for holidays but now use it all the time instead of the bigger travel system that we have. It lays completely flat for when baby is sleeping, has a large hood that can block out the sun, has a removable activity bar, coffee cup holder, rain cover and folds up super small!! It was just over £200, which is a really good price for the quality of it! Definitely a must buy from me! Cosatto Whoosh 3 #3 Stroller Organiser These are really handy to attach to your stroller if heading out for a couple hours. It can hold a couple nappies, wipes, some snacks and a sippy cup. This saves you lugging around the big changing bag all of the time. We picked up the below one from www.kaleidy.com for only €9.99 and have found it really handy!! 4# Buggy Rockit This item is a bit on the pricey side, but we found it worked so well for us on our holidays and I would 100% buy it again. It clips onto the handle of the stroller and rocks the buggy when turned on. We used it when Kai fell asleep in the buggy, and we wanted to stop at a restaurant/coffee shop. We found it would get us maybe an extra hour or so of nap time, which while on holidays can be priceless! Think about being able to have that extra glass of vino or being able to watch that show in the hotel bar in the evenings!! #5 Baby Swimming Floatie Such a handy item so you can pop baby in the pool and let them kick their little legs about and splash in the water while still feeling safe and secure! We picked up this one on amazon because it has a SPF 50+ sunshade over it. Super handy if you have a little troublemaker who likes to pull their hat off over and over. It comes in sizes small (3-6 months), medium (6-12 months) and large (2-24 months). Laycol Baby Swimming Float #6 Paddling Pool A paddling pool is super handy if you have a baby or toddler with you. You can set it up right beside your sun lounger and they will happily play away with a little bit of water and some toys. This is a great way to keep the kiddies entertained when you don't want to have them in the sea/pool all of the time. We picked this one up on Amazon as it has a little roof on it so it will also provide some shade for them. We actually use it at home too full of plastic balls and its great fun! Bestway Toddler Paddling Pool with Sunshade #7 Sunglasses Sunglasses are really important when on summer holidays with a baby. There will be times when you can't 100% keep baby in the shade so sunglasses will help to protect their eyes. We found these ones really good as they have an elasticated band that goes around their head that keeps them in place. UV Protection Polarized sunglasses #8 0.5 Tog Sleeping Bag When on holidays it can sometimes be very hot at night and can be stressful trying to keep baby warm but not too hot. We always use sleeping bags throughout the year and find the 0.5 tog ones perfect for holidays. They can be worn with a short-sleeved or long-sleeved vest, depending on the temperature. #9 Sound Machine Our baby can't sleep without white noise playing so we always bring a sound machine with us. This little owl will play white noise all night long and can be charged via USB. It is the perfect size to use in your hotel room or out on the move for buggy naps. USB Powered White Noise and Sound Machine #10 Nightlight White light can be too stimulating for a baby and reduces the amount of melatonin their body makes. This nightlight has a nice yellow tone and can be easily turned on and off by tapping the top. It's perfect for night feeds or for finding your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night without stubbing a toe and waking the baby with your yelps of pain ;) So, there you have my top 10 items for travelling with a baby. Let me know in the comments if you have any of these products or if you have any other items you would recommend for a stress-free holiday with your young ones ❤❤❤

I actually went to Budapest for my hen party back in January 2015. At the time we were looking for cheap flights and drinks and somewhere I hadn’t been before. Wow I did not expect Budapest to be as lovely as it was. We had an absolute ball, from cocktails to ruin bars, a sneaky stripper 🙈 and thermal baths. I just knew I absolutely had to go back and maybe spend a few sober days there 😂 So, as Mr. Sheddon (aka Ross) is a huge Formula 1 fan and there’s a race track just outside Budapest, I thought hey, why not combine the two! Fast forward to July 2019 and we were off to the Capital of Hungary for 5 nights! Read the details below to see where we stayed and what we did so you can start to plan your trip to Budapest! First things first, where did we stay? I almost always prefer to stay in apartments when I go abroad, especially if it’s for more than a couple days. I find you get much more bang for your buck and can sometimes find some really quirky places. We stayed in two different apartments during our week in the city. First we stayed in ‘Play Apartments’. I found this apartment fantastic, really clean, excellent location and had everything we needed. A bit noisy at night time as it was in the middle of the city but we didn’t mind. This was €67 per night *Pictures taken from booking.com website. Link: http://www.booking.com/Share-KGObTe I actually wish we had stayed in that apartment for the full duration of our trip but I saw this next apartment ‘Lavender Circus Apartments’ on the Budapest episode of ‘Travel Man’ and had to book it. The apartment was nice but it was definitely a bit of a disappointment. The location was still good but I didn’t like the layout of the apartment at all. It was a loft style with the bed up some steps, which isn’t ideal if you need to pee in the middle of the night 🙈 This was €100 per night. This stairs was not fun at the end of our night on the town ;) *Picture taken from booking.com website. Link: http://www.booking.com/Share-GcDIQJ Day 1 St Stephen's Basilica, Central Market Hall, New York Café, Mazel Tov Restaurant We got an early morning flight from Dublin to Budapest airport via Ryanair. The flights were super cheap and you can always find really good deals with them. Flight time was only 2h 50 mins so by the time we ordered a coffee and had a short nap we were landing! There are a few different ways to get from Budapest airport to the city centre, and it’s super easy: Bus 100E from terminal 2 - this is the cheapest option, takes approx. 50 mins and is less than €3 pp. the buses leave every 20 mins. Taxi - Fötaxi is a reliable company and you can find stands a both terminal. This will take you approx 30 minutes and will cost you between €20-€25 depending on traffic. Shuttle Bus - Can be booked via the GetYourGuide website and costs €10.50 pp. This will take approx 50 minutes depending on how many drop offs there are. We chose to go by taxi, which was super handy! The currency in Budapest is Hungarian Florence or ‘HUFs’. I find when travelling to a different country the easiest thing to do is take your money out of an ATM when you get to the airport or use a currency exchange. I would highly recommend signing up for a REVOLUT card. They have great currency exchange rates and no ATM charges for the first €500. You can also keep an eye on exchange rates in advance of your holiday and buy the currency to keep on your REVOLUT account for when you need it. We took money out of the ATM at the airport to pay for the taxi. Day one was all about finding our feet, getting used to the heat (31 degrees celcius🙈) and just enjoying ourselves. We dropped our bags off at the apartment and went straight for a drink at the Liberty Bridge. The bar was called ‘Up and Down’, we only had a drink there so can’t comment on food, but the view was definitely lovely 😍. The Liberty Bridge is a gorgeous landmark connecting Buda and Pest over the Danube river. At each end is a public square, Gellert Ter, which is on the Buda side, and Fovam Ter, which has the Great Market Hall (see below :)). It was also the first bridge in Budapest to be rebuilt after they were all heavily damaged during WW2. After that we found our way to St. Stephen's Basilica. This is a Roman Catholic Basilica named after the first King of Hungary and is one of the largest religious buildings in Hungary. We didn't go inside but you can explore the inside and either take the stairs or the elevator to the top for views of the city for only €3 per adult and €2.50 per student. After all of our walking around in 30 degree heat we were starving!! So we headed to the Central Market Hall for a browse and a bite to eat. A really nice place to escape from the heat and buy a few souvenirs. Some interesting food choices too like donkey sausage :O. We got some hot dogs and beers and bought a few trinkets to take home. Good prices for souvenirs here compared to the more touristy shops! After this we went back to the apartment to get officially checked in and then went to New York Cafe for cocktails and cake. This place is known as the most beautiful Cafe in the world and it really is stunning! No booking was required, we waited for about 15 minutes for a table as we were only having drinks and desert. To be honest I don't think I would have a full meal here as it is a bit pricey but definitely worth checking out for a drink. They had a string quartet playing the Game of Thrones theme tune when we were there, which was brill! Finally we went to Mazel Tov for the main meal. I had heard about this place on no other than Instagram and it did not disappoint!! Located in the Jewish District, it serves Middle Eastern Food. I had the shawarma plate, sweet potato wedges and a few different cocktails. Oh and the deep fried pitta bread is an absolute must!! Make sure to book a table in advance as this place is very popular. Day 2 Fisherman’s Bastion, Buda Castle, Pontoon Bar, Szechenyi Thermal Baths, Boat Tour, Ruin Bars The Fisherman's castle and Buda Castle are located on the Buda side of Budapest at the 'Castle District' and are an absolute must see if you are visiting the city! This district can easily be reached by Tram, Metro, Bus, or walking. Just type it into google maps and let your phone guide you ;) There are a couple of options for then reaching the top of Castle Hill and : Walk up the hill - plenty of routes can be found on google or using google maps. Get the bus up the hill and walk through the entire district. Funicular railway - this takes approximately 2 minutes but you will have to queue if there during peak times/seasons. It costs €5 / 2000 HUF for adults return and €2.76 / 1100 HUF for children return. Official Budapest Castle Bus from 'Clark Adam Square'. This is a hop on hop off bus that takes you to the Fisherman's Bastion, Buda Tower and Old Town, Buda Castle and Castle Garden Bazaar. This was the option we took and found it brilliant! It costs €10 / 4000 HUF for adults and €5 / 2000 HUF for kids. It's open from 9:00-16:00 every day and departs every 20 minutes. You will find people selling these tickets at the bottom of castle hill. Next we walked back over the Chain Bridge, which I would highly recommend for the stunning views of the Danube. We found a really cool bar called Pontoon, where we could get some beers and cocktails and sit on the bank of the river underneath the bridge. How fab!! After our drink at Pontoon we headed for the Szechenyi Thermal baths. There are a number of Thermal Baths to visit in Budapest and Szechenyi Spa is the biggest and oldest at over 100 years old. It contains 18 geothermal pools, some indoor and some outdoor and is open 365 days of the year. I've been both in the summer and the winter and had a different but enjoyable experience at both. Visiting the baths in winter are exciting and reminded me of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland. There's something so nice about sitting in a warm outdoor swimming pool while the outside temperature is 0 degrees celcius! In the summer you can spend the day relaxing by the pool on the sun loungers and having food and drinks. Tickets can be bought directly on the website, when you arrive at the baths or on GetYourGuide. Tickets are €30 per person with a private cabin to get changed in and leave your stuff. They also hold pool parties throughout the summer, details can be found on the website for the baths - http://szechenyispabaths.com/ After the baths we got an evening boat tour on the Danube. We booked this on the Viator website, it was about €16 per person and included a welcome drink (watered down cocktail). Cocktail aside, I would highly recommend this tour as you get to say great views of the city including the Hungarian Parliament Building. Next we went back to the apartment for a quick change and headed out towards the Ruin Bars. Ruin bars are these strange, weird but wonderful bars in Budapest where you can get cheap drinks, take a multitude of instagram worthy pics and dance the night away. Located in the Jewish Quarter, these bars started around 2000's in the Jewish Ghetto as a place for people to get cheap drinks in an abandoned building. Since then the concept of ruin bars has exploded and they are not one of the most popular sites in Budapest. One of my favourites is Szimpla Kert, which is sorta dingy and full of random pieces of Junk but somehow it works. From old bikes, cars turned into seating areas to bath tubs with cushions that you can sit in and smoke a shisha, this place is like nowhere else you've been before! Food court beside Szimpla Kert. The BBQ box was amazing!!! Krampus Tiki Bar - would highly recommend for the crazy cocktails!! Shisha in a bathtub, where else would you do this lol! Things to Do & See Fisherman’s Bastion Buda Castle Boat trip on the Danube Szechenyi Thermal Baths St Stephens Basilica Chain bridge Liberty bridge Heroes square Shoes on the Danube Where to Eat/drink Mazel Tof Hotel New York Pontoon Bar Szimpla Kert Ruin Bar Krampus Tiki Bar Market Hall Market Up and Down at Liberty Bridge Here is a 2 day Sample Itinerary that I would recommend. I've changed it up a little bit from how we did it at the time to make it more efficient and also added in a few of the things that we didn't visit as I saw them on my first trip here :) Day 1 - St. Stephens Basilica Liberty Bridge Market Hall for lunch New York Cafe for Dessert & Cocktails See Shoes on the Danube Evening boat tour on the Danube Dinner at Mazel Tav Day 2 - Walk or take the tram/metro to the Szechenyi Chain Bridge Visit Fisherman's Bastion Lunch/Cocktails at Fisherman's Bastion Buda Castle Pontoon Bar for a drink Heroes Square Thermal Baths Eat at food court beside Szimpla Kert Ruin Bars (possibly book bar crawl/tour) Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a notification when our next blog post is live - days 3-5 of our Budapest trip - the Formula One!!