Are you flying in and out of Paris? Open-jaw would have been more flexible but if you're committed and can't change then I would probably do Paris, Barcelona then the UK and back to Paris for your return flight.

Look for inter-city flights on low-cost carriers such as flybe, easyjet and Ryanair but keep in mind they have strict luggage weight limits and other restrictions.

I know 20 days seems like a long time but I don't think it's enough time for either Dublin or Stockholm in addition to UK, Paris and Barcelona. With your interest in the UK, I would spend 8-10 days there and 5 or 6 each in Paris and Barcelona. You could add Dublin, really depends on your style of travel and budget because each transfer costs money and time.

I don't think you'll be lonely in Paris if you're willing to strike up conversations in cafés and museums, etc.

The sensible thing to do would be to fly into Barcelona, work your way north, and fly out of the UK or Sweden. You have planned a lot for 20 days, though, so I'd narrow your focus down to about three places. Paris won't be any lonelier than any other city, and five days there seems just about perfect.

OK -w/ your interests/dream you could very easily spend the entire 20 days in England and barely scratch the surface. Touring Cornwall/Devon is not just a quick jaunt. And depending on what other part(s) of the UK interest you, 3 weeks is nothing.

Since you are flying into Paris that is a given. If it was me I'd plan on Paris (a minimum of 5 days because the first day will jet lagged and busy w/ arrival/logistics), London, a week for seeing a teensy bit of England . . . and perhaps ONE other destination. Any of the three (Dublin/Barcelona/Stockholm) can be reached quickly/easily by air.

But honestly, Paris, London, and 7-10 days in other parts of England would be a very full 20 days.

March to the end of April, is probably still a little chilly in the North of Europe, I tend to avoid holidays until May, but you may find you get lucky. Dublin (the Emerald isle ) and Cornwall can be pretty wet.

If you use wiki you can see the weather history for each city area to give you a better idea.

Young people friendly and woman friendly. Only Barcelona falls into an area where machismo is an issue and Barcelona is the least of many parts of Spain. This does not mean that any of these areas are fully safe, after all most of them are cities and you have to have your city smarts about you.

In this area it is worth surfing this site to look at individual cities and pick pocket scams. Once warned fully armed!

In terms of lonliness I'd look at 1) doing a few courses, magazines like Time-Out (on the web) could let you pre-book relatively cheap things to do in the evening. 2) language exchange (you meet on the web) but talk the language in a bar 3) stay in hostels rather than hotels 4) see if your church (or equiv) has a local sister in any of the cities.

I think Stokholm is ok but have a look at Helsinki as well. The Finns are a unique people with a weird language and a world view that is interesting, while the city itself is very pretty.

Thank you for your quick repplies!!
Silly me, forgot to mention that I fly to Paris and return home via Barcelona. So, the question remains on what to do in the between.

I would do Paris, take Eurostar to London( book well in advance for best price, can be cheap, and its city center to city center no airport hassle) then would fly to Barcelona to finish. ( look at Easyjet and Vueling, I have used both and both are good, just read weight luggage limit carefully)

I have done Paris and London solo, and both are great, but I give the nod to Paris for solo women, it just seems more "ok" there to eat out alone etc.. you are never meant to feel strange about it. But london is fine too. Five-six days for each would be my minimum, especially since both have many great daytrip options, Bath,or Windsor, Versailles or Chartes for examples..
From London I would then fly to Barcelona( and have to agree with poster who suggested it would have been better to start south and work north weather wise, but its not a huge deal) .

For 20 days three places would be my limit, I have done a bit more and its tiring, more expensive, and most of all, if you don't want to be lonely it helps to stay in one place for more then two days or so, you get to at least "know" the desk clerk if in a hotel, the cafe waiter you see each day for breakfast, others in same hotel, and if staying in a hostel( which is an idea I urge you to consider) you can befriend others there easily and even share a daytrip or two.

Gotta say, Barcelona was not my favorite city as a woman, but I wasn't alone, so perhaps if you stay in a nice hostel there you may enjoy it more then we did.. we did however love Spain, just Barcelona was not my personal fave.

Dublin would be fun, but its cold and wet then, I would save it for another trip . Scandanavian is too cold , too far north, and too expensive for me.

You have a huge amount of territory for a limited amount of time. You need to subtract at least 3 or 4 days for travel - so you have at least 6 cities, in 5 countries, in 16 days - so less than 3 days each for some of the most wonderful cities in the world.

I would really consider consolidating the trip. Stockholm is an outlier, it's quite early in the year based on weather - and is incredibly expensive (prices are double to triple those in the US).

I would limit yourself to 4 cities so you have time to actually see a little of each - and perhaps even a little of the countryside in between.

I have been to all except Cornwall and Barcelona as a woman alone - and you can be perfectly safe anywhere (as long as you're really careful about pickpockets in Barcelona). In terms of nightlife I think you will find the most in Barcelona (and Prague and Berlin - where you aren't going).

hI; Another thought. The key is what cities will you be meeting your friends.

As mentioned, there are some very inexpensive flights between cities.

Great advice. Thanks again.
I have friends in London (not that it matters during daytime cause they will be working, but still nice though) and supposedly if I travel to Stockholm I would stay in an acquaintance´s home (so cross out accommodation expenses). Still I agree that it is probably not the best time to travel to Scandinavia, given the distance and the weather. However, if you guys think that it is a must-see, then I´ll reconsider.

I don´t think I´ll be missing 2-3 days travelling, since (except for Barcelona maybe) the distances are rather short.
I have seen online train fares PAR-LDN for 43 euros. Is that ok?

Also, if I had to choose between Edinburgh and Dublin, which one would you visit? Are there nearby spots from London that are worth a short trip? (Someone mentioned Bath, which I had considered...)

Again, thank you sooo much!

"I don´t think I´ll be missing 2-3 days travelling, since (except for Barcelona maybe) the distances are rather short."

Yes you will. Every time you fly or take a train from one city to another, you lose a minimum of half a day and often a full day. Say you have an hour's flight from London to Dublin . . . You have to check out, then the hour it takes to get to the airport, the 90 minutes to 2 hours advance check in (the discount carriers are VERY strict about checking in on time), the flight, then another maybe hour to get to your next hotel and then check in. In practical terms that 1 hour flight will eat up about 6 hours before you can get out to see anything. Longer flights or train journeys will take even longer. So when you multiply all those destinations you will easily lose 2 or 3 days of sightseeing.

"Also, if I had to choose between Edinburgh and Dublin, which one would you visit?"

Absolutely no question - 100% Edinburgh.

"Are there nearby spots from London that are worth a short trip?"

TONS! That is why when you mentioned visiting the UK has always been a dream . . . IMO that is where you should concentrate your time. Oxford, Canterbury, Salisbury, Winchester, York, the Cotswolds, Kent, Bath, Windsor, Cambridge - not to mention Cornwall and the SW. But it sounds like you haven't read up much about most of these destinations. I'd check out a couple of good guide books to get some ideas.

Please take travel time in to account it does add up, as noted, minimum 1/2 day every time you move.