acebeer1

Hi all! My husband and I are in our late 20s from New York, and we are hoping to take a 2-3 week trip to Europe in April. My husband has never been to Europe at all and I've been to several countries in HS, and to Italy two years ago, This is the basic itinerary I have in mind:

Fly NY- Dublin. My husband is really interested in Ireland or Scotland. Not really sure what to do there so open to suggestion.
Fly Dublin- London. Spend a few days there sightseeing
London-Paris via train. Spend a few romantic days in Paris
Paris- Amsterdam via train? (Is it worth it to stop in Belgium?) how long should we plan to spend in Amsterdam, I've never been.
Lastly fly Amsterdam-Barcelona.

Barcelona-home.

Would love feedback, first of all - is April is a bad time to go to Europe? Will it be cold? I want to go to Barcelona since I think it would be warmer and nice change of pace, but should we spend more time in Southern Europe/ is there a better destination there?

Thanks so much!!

StCirq

This isn't really helpful unless you tell us how many days you plan for this trip. Sounds like a three-week trip to me, at least.

bilboburgler

Where is HS?

April I think you need to be in Spain, Portugal, Southern France, Italy and the Dalmatian coast to be sure of warmth. Ireland and Scotland can be great but its a bet.

mamcalice

Your trip is probably best done in three weeks. Quite a few stops for two weeks.

If you are going to Ireland or Scotland and ging in April, I would start in the south and work your way north - Ireland and Scotland are likely to be cold until mid-May. In fact, we were in Scotland in June several years ago and nearly froze. April isn't a bad time to go to London, Paris, Barcelona. I might be tempted to do the following.

Fly to Barcelona - 4 days
Fly to Paris - 5 days
Train to London - 5 days
Travel to Ireland or Scotland - 7 days
Fly home

This itinerary omits Amsterdam which you could do, along with Belgium, instead of either Barcelona or Ireland/Scotland. I wouldn't try to fit it all in.

acebeer1

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions! So our time frame is two weeks realistically, maybe 2.5 weeks.

HS stands for high school, I've been to France, Spain, Portugal and England when I was in high school. (I've been to Italy and Poland as well, later)

My husband has never been to Europe at all.

mamcalice- thanks your itinerary looks good! I've never been to either Amsterdam or Ireland, so I'm open to suggestion, but I would like to see something new. My husband is very curious in going to either Ireland or Scotland. If there are any cities that are better for that time of year/more romantic, I am open to suggestion!

jent103

mamcalice's plan looks good to me too. From London, one option would be to fly to western Ireland - I flew to Kerry airport from London Stansted five years ago and spent six days in the west and southwest, flying home from Shannon. If your husband is interested in the beautiful scenery, traditional music, that sort of thing, that might be a way to go. Weather in April for Ireland *or* Scotland will be hard to predict, but it sounds like a must for him, so I'd just leave it for the last thing to have the best chance of warmer weather. You might have better luck if you could go in, say, June, though of course you never know what the weather will be!

BigRuss

Need to pick one of Ireland or Scotland - what is the nature of the interest?

Edinburgh is great, Dublin is ok at best.

Scotland has better castles, native spirits (whisky > whiskey) and even the local variant of football (soccer) is better.

Ireland's economy is on par with Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece - the five are known as the PIIGS of the Eurozone. Scotland is better off thanks in large part to the British pound.

As for scenery - both have it. And both have pre-Interstate quality roads to navigate - those two countries think a major highway has two lanes in each direction whereas in much of the US, that could describe a frontage road.

artstuff

Since you're going on your trip in April, don't overlook a visit to Amsterdam. The tulips will be in bloom, and there's nothing like Holland in April/May.

Personally, I think you're trying to do too much travelling from city to city in 2-2 1/2 weeks. I would save Barcelona for another trip and concentrate on London/Paris/Amsterdam with maybe a stop in Brugge or Antwerp on your way to A'dam.

Robyn

BigRuss

I tend to agree with Robyn/artstuff - max out at three locations.

And if you're not sure what to do in Scotland or Ireland, tell hubby to get off his derriere and plan that part of the trip, subject to your approval. It's possible for him to do this - I've been the planner for us for years.

amer_can

Last year it sniowed in Madrid mid April and also Salamanca and Avila..It always is a crap shoot in Spring..can be super weather or not. If it is Spring rain in the British Isles count on it being a cold rain. Have the proper gear..And always have a pashima and fleece..They don't take up much if any room and you may be sure you will thank your luckystars you have them. You have alot on your plate with your itin. Better to pick one area and weather be dammed..Have a great time where ever you decide...Yes you will!!!

oldmacdonald

With 3 weeks in Europe for a first time visitor I would do this itinerary to get a nice over view of big and small towns, countryside, history, etc.

Fly to Brussels - 1 day
Train to Bruges, Belgium - 2 nights
Amsterdam - 3 nights
Rhine or Mosel River - 3 nights
Burgundy - 3 nights
Paris - 6
Fly home - 1 day

amer_can

Sorry, the snow in Madrid,Avila, Salamanca was this year in mid April not last year!!!

Tony2phones

Big Russ Scotland being better off as a result of the UK selling off all its Gold reserve, devaluing the £ to a point where it is only just back to 60% of its value 6 years ago Oh yes and thanks to Scottish Oil. I don't mind you having a pop at Ireland but get the facts right.

Stirling has the best Castle on my list of Castles, Wales has great Castles, Ireland has few Norman type Castles, most Irish castles are of the Tower House variety. And when it comes to Ireland there is Dublin and then the rest of Ireland so visiting Ireland and only seeing Dublin is just an exercise in having a stamp in your passport. Might as well have visited Scotland 30 years ago and only seen Glasgow.

Ireland and Scotland both need more than a couple of days so concentrate on mainland Europe and save the lands of the Celts until you have more time.

catpants

I didn't think I would be the first to say so, but: as you're intendimg to travel in April, you must consider going to Amsterdam at April 30th: it's Queens's Day!! You can just do a simple search in google (images) for an impression of this day. Basically we celebrate the birthday of our Queen (actually not of the current queen but her mother's), everyone dresses up in orange and literally half of the country goes to Amsterdam. I think that Queen's Day is the most fun you can ever have in the Netherlands, or at least it is my favorite day of the year definately good to know about it I think, whether you decide to go for it and enjoy this very special day or to avoid it. Just to be extra clear: you should NOT be travelling to/from Amsterdam that day as there will be no public transportation and hardly any cabs available. That is because the entire city will be filled with people dresses in orange and drinking beer.

janisj

To give you an idea about Queen's Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu0xraccF6k