Gordon77x

Hi guys,

Could you please give me some advice on my itinerary?
My parents will be coming to Europe from Malaysia in August for 22 days to visit me (Dublin)
I wish to show them every part of Europe, but that is not possible in only 22 days so i am planning to bring them to countries that could represent each part (Western Europe, Eastern and Central Europe).

These are the countries that i had planned to bring them to visit.
1. London (3 days)
2. Dublin (3 days)
3. Italy (8 days) - Rome, Venice, Florence
4.pending.

I'm wondering if i should put Prague or Istanbul or France as the 4th country.
I am also planning to travel by train from London to Italy then fly from Italy to Dublin as they will arrive and leave Europe from London.

How does the plan sound to you guys?

Thank you for your help.

bilboburgler

Hi Gordon, welcome to Fodors. I suggest you layout a night time to night time itinerary to get an idea about how many moves you are planning and how much time it takes up, I make it 6 moves which basically kills 6 of the 22 days. I'd also think about August which is the main holiday season in Europe and the hottest period, so whatever you book will be expensive and crowded. Now if you decide that's all ok then carry on, my proposal for a central european city would be say Budapest rather than Prague (which will be heaving) or maybe a minor city in Germany like Dresden or Liepzig (just north of Prague but a bit less of a draw) or even Berlin.

If you decide to take into account the weather and the crowds then I might look at

Dublin (you have to do Dublin as you are there)
Amsterdam/Haarlam, still and English friendly city which will be a little easier than London
Berlin (as above) as most of the Germans will be on the Med
Italy is tricky as the place is sooo busy but maybe base yourself in Verona or Vicenza (both pretty cities) and day trip by train to Venice, Bologna, Milan, Parma etc

Tony2phones

You are Living in Dublin but are only showing them 3 days worth of Ireland? One if you take the two Dublin days out.

annhig

Hi gordon,

yes, welcome.

I have to agree with bilboburger that you are probably underestimating the time and difficulty that travel between places will take out of you, and more importantly your parents.

as they are coming from Malaysia, they probably have some ideas about the "iconic" places in europe that they want to see - i would guess London, Paris, Venice, Rome. and unless they are very unusual parents, they will also want to see where you are living and working, so that when they are back home in Malaysia they can visualise you going about your daily life.

so if i'm right about their ideas of europe, [why not ask them?] I would do this:

Day 1 - arrive Dublin - an obvious place to start. see city and tour a bit, then on
Day 5 - fly to London. stay 4 nights.
Day 9 - Train to Paris. Stay 4 nights
Day 13 - Fly to Venice. Stay 3 nights
Day 16 - Train to Rome. Stay 7 nights [though you might rejig this to give you a few days by a lake or the coast - you could hire a car in venice and drive to Lake Garda, stay a few days, then drive to Orvieto, return car to hire company, and train to Rome for end of trip]
Day 22 - fly home.

Being your parents, they will probably enjoy anything that you do with them, but I suspect that these are the "biggies" that they would really want to see.

Gordon77x

Hi bilboburgler, Tony2phones and annhig,

Thank you very much for your advice and suggestion
I realized that we had underestimated the over-crowdness during summer so I will put at least a day to travel from a country to another to prevent the hassles.

While my parents’ first and last stop will be in London, I find it more suitable to arrange the visit to Dublin and London for the last few days of their Europe tour.

Taking into account your suggestion, we revised our rough plan as follow:
London (1st night)
Paris (2 -4th night)
Lyon (5-7th night)
Italy (8–5th night)
Dublin & surrounding (16th-18th)
London (19th-22nd)

As we prioritize more on foods and cloth shopping, I am wondering if such plan will be appropriate. I read that Lyon is the food capital of France while Bologna for Italy and that London, Rome and Paris will be a better place for shopping during summer. Please correct me if I am wrong.

And again, I am very thankful for all your help.

jamikins

Can they fly into Paris? The extra cost of the hotel room and eurostar tickets, plus the wasted time and cost getting into London (you wont see much of London in 1/2 day) would probably make up the difference in cost. Or fly into London and home from Dublin rather than backtracking and wasting that time and money?

Tony2phones

That's grand ur ashamed of the country you live in and don't want your parents to mix with the culchies, so cut it down to 2 day's. You have started to fit into Dublin well.

annhig

Hi Gordon,

given that you need to get them to Dublin and back to London at the end of the trip, honestly I would miss out Lyon this time. Distribute the extra nights between London, Paris and Italy.

Gordon77x

Hi jamikins,
Initially i was planning to do some trip like that instead of a return journey but the offer ticket we bought couldn't allow us to do so. Though we later work out to realize that such plan will be more budget and energy wise, it is too late to change the ticket as it will cost more at the moment.

Hi Tony2phones,
Please do not get me wrong. I enjoy staying in Ireland and when i planned the few nights in Dublin, i was planning to have a day trip to Cliff of moher or to Giant Causeway and a day tour in Dublin city and another half day to relax.

Hi annhig,
Thank you for the suggestion. I will revise accordingly. Could i say that the train journey if of the same price of airline fare, will be more convenient than flight between those cities, taken into account of the distance from the airport to the cities?

Thank you for your suggestion.

Tony2phones

Giants causeway and Cliffs of Moher are the longest tours out from Dublin. Full days with 80% of the time spent getting there and back. I am sorry but neither of these make practical sense. Take them to see the Wicklow mountains and Glendalough and on the Dart down to Graystones or Bray maybe up to Howth market if its a Sunday. Bus down to Kilkenny or Cashel/Cahir if you only have a couple of days in Ireland don't spend 20 hours just travelling for the sake of Tourist spots. both of which are weather/tide dependant to some degree.

annhig

Thank you for the suggestion. I will revise accordingly. Could i say that the train journey if of the same price of airline fare, will be more convenient than flight between those cities, taken into account of the distance from the airport to the cities? >>

sorry, gordon, which cities?

it all depends on where you are going - if it's London to Paris, then the train is the obvious way to go; if it's Paris to venice, then you'd probably want to fly. Within Italy, the train is probably the solution unless you're going from top to bottom! why not post your exact itinerary and then we can make [useful] comments!