A lunch in Paris sounds charming and could be a highlight of the trip. Thanks, Aramis! Also to annhig, our family ties in Cornwall are the Scilly Isles and Penzance.

If you want to visit the Scilly Isles that will complicate things just a bit.

If you want to visit the Scilly Isles that will complicate things just a bit.>>

sadly yes, JJ. it used to be relatively easy to get to the Scillies from PZ on the helicopter but that service finished about 2 years ago. Now the only choices are to fly on Skybus fromExeter, Newquay or Land's End, or to get the boat from PZ.

This could be worked into your itinerary, mln56, were you to fly into Newquay and then fly out to the Scillies, getting the boat back to PZ, or indeed vice versa. or perhaps Exeter would work better with your other destinations; Flybe have direct flights to and from Dublin into Exeter:

<<A lunch in Paris sounds charming and could be a highlight of the trip.>>

I also see that you can fly from Orly into Exeter with Flybe which might fit with a quick stop-over in Paris.

if I can help anymore, particularly with the Scillies and PZ [one of my favourite places in Cornwall] just ask!

[i can't post the link to the flybe route map for some reason, I'll try again in a minute]

nope, it won't post, but I'm sure you can find it for yourself.

Direct to/from Munich (the main airport) to/from the UK:

Cardiff, Bristol. Birmingham, Manchester, London, Edinburgh

Many thanks, annhig. Just to get to the country itself would be enough. I knew it would be a bit of a stretch to get to the Isles, but hey, a girl can dream!

Many thanks, annhig. Just to get to the country itself would be enough. I knew it would be a bit of a stretch to get to the Isles, but hey, a girl can dream!>>

well, I think it can be done, so long as you are prepared to give up some other parts of your trip.

Fly into Dublin - 3 nights.

Fly to Dublin to Exeter on Flybe, and then Skybus to the isles of Scilly. - 4 nights.

Boat to PZ - 3 nights. rent car

Drive/taxi to Newquay - Fly to Munich via Gatwick. [Flybe to LGW, Easyjet to Munich]. 3 nights.

I appreciate all the helpful comments. Germany is now off the table. Will just have to come back another time. So, just Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall for sure. London is not a huge draw to me..not sure why, but will probably do a couple of days and still want that lunch in Paris. Flying into Dublin seems the best deal out of Chicago. Would rather not rent car so that we can both enjoy the scenery. Any advice on train tickets or other modes of transportation just to go from one country to the other. I realize some of that has been posted already.

how long for Cornwall then Min? and are we still looking at getting you to the Scillies?

14-16 days total. Would like to get to Scilly's'. Does it make sense to fly into Dublin, then go to Edinburgh, London, Cornwall and then fly home from London?

in short min, no.

if you are going to fly home from London, it would make more sense to put that sector at the end of the trip, and the scillies/cornwall in the middle.

Depending on flight timings and whether you want to sail to the Scillies on at least one leg of the journey, you have several options:

1. fly on Flybe from Edinburgh to Newquay, hire car, tour Cornwall, take boat from PZ to the Scillies, fly from the Scillies to Exeter, train/plane to London.

2. fly on Flybe from Edinburgh to Exeter or Newquay, pick up Skybus to Scillies, boat back to PZ, then train to London [IMO the best option, because you get the benefit of the train journey between PZ and Exeter which is one the the world's best]

3. flybe from Edinburgh to Exeter, pick up car, drive to Cornwall, get boat from PZ to Scillies, then fly back to Newquay and thence on Flybe to LGW.

4. - well you get the idea.

here's the Skybus link:

https://www.islesofscilly-travel.co.uk/skybus/

and here's Flybe:

http://www.flybe.com

I would suggest at least 4 nights for the Scillies, [though a week would be preferable], and ditto for Cornwall. if you stayed in PZ you could easily fill 3 days. It's really not worth doing otherwise.

Great options, annhig! Thanks!

no probs, min. BTW I've just flown from Newquay to LGW and back over the last weekend and it really is a very good service.

Not that anyone is holding their breath, but I had to make it official somewhere. We are flying to Dublin on May 13 and taking a 10 day tour of Devon, Wales, Cornwall and London. Then we will fly to Munich and then home on the 28th. Yes, it's short but it gets in just about all we wanted. Next time is more scenic vistas in Ireland and Scotland and we will be more comfortable planning it on our own, perhaps. I know there are all kinds of issues, complaints and what not with a tour group (ours is CIE) but it is what it is. The planning is done, we don't have to drive or worry about lodging. Very excited.

sounds great, min, though I'd be interested to see how you are cramming Devon, Wales, Cornwall and London into 10 days.

care to post a detailed itinerary?