First Trip to Europe Itinerary
 

Hello,

My Girlfriend and i have planned a three week trip to Western Europe and could use a little help with the itinerary. Initially we were focusing mainly on spending the majority of our trip in Scotland and Ireland but have now decided to try and squeese in a few more places if at all possible, as of right now we are flying into London to start our trip and Flying home from Ireland three weeks later. Do you think it would be feasable to make it to Paris, Brussels,Bruges and Amsterdam as well? If so how many days should we spend in each city and what would be the most efficient way to get to these cities in this time frame.

Thanks for the Help,

Brad

Does your three weeks (21 days) include travel days?

Given that you want probably 7 days for Ireland,
3 or 4 days for London,
at least 4 days for Paris,
With 1/2 day of travel between each, you have approximately 7 days left.

You could do Amsterdam, another town in the Netherlands, Bruges and Ghent, or you could see a bit more of England (bath area and Cotswold) and a bit of Scotland.
You would not have time for both.

This would make a great trip.

Arrive Amsterdam,
Amsterdam, a few tours and and train from place to place, Bruges, Ghent, etc.
Train to Paris
Paris
Train to London,
London
Fly to Ireland, either Shannon or Dublin & rent a car. Tour around and end up at the other airport and fly home from there.

No- you can;t fit in all of those other places if you want to see Scotland and Ireland as well. IMHO you need at least one week each to see Scotland and Ireland. If you ignore england you could do Paris instead with possibly a couple of days in Bruges or Amsterdam.'

If you want to see London and any parts of England then really the other countries are not going to fit.

The list above is giving you only a day or so in many of these places - IMHO you would just be spending way too much time getting from one place to another versus actually doing/seeing much wherever you are.

I heartily feel that you should just concentrate on the British Isles if you still want to see Scotland and Ireland.

If you do NOT still want to see Scotland and Ireland, then that is another matter.

Do you think it would be feasable to make it to Paris, Brussels,Bruges and Amsterdam>

Well yes three weeks - spend half in Scotland and Ireland then fly to take a boat from northern England to Amsterdam - 4 days Amsterdam
2 days Bruges
2 hours Brussels - a town that does not excite many here
6 days Paris.

No problem - take the train between all of these - for lots of good info on European trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted train tickets that can save a bundle over just walking up and buying; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

If doing this fly into Amsterdam and from Paris take the Eurostar train to London and onto the ferries to Ireland or train to Edinburgh - fly home from Ireland or of course reverse all this.

Of course you can fit in these places depending on how fast you like to travel and what your interests are. I disagree that Paris needs AT LEAST four days and more than London "could be" 3 days.

It really would help if you'd be a little more open about what you like seeing and doing. Otherwise all of us are forced to rely on our OWN experiences in these places and what appealed to US. hence the need to spend at least a week in Ireland, as just one example.

You could see all those places but you wouldn't be really experiencing the cities. I've been to Europe three times now, with a fourth trip coming in August. 2/3 of my trips have been in just one city, with my last trip being a 10 day multi-city gig. I didn't have enough time in London (I had 2 days, which reduced to 1 day and 2 nights after missing an early am flight) to see everything I wanted to, I spent three in Edinburgh and felt like that was enough but I didn't leave the city. I spent two in Dublin and was SO SAD to leave - fell in love with the city, but I did not make it to the Cliffs of Moher or outside Dublin city. I spent three in Amsterdam and went on a pub crawl in the Red Light district - took away my plans for the following am due to recovery. All of those were places I know I will make my way back to, so it was nice to get a glimpse at the culture and the history and then to continue moving but I would have liked just a little longer overall to meet my travel style and expectations. Paris is HUGE and there's a lot to see. Waiting in line for the Eiffel Tower alone can take several hours of just standing there. I spent a solid 7 hours in the Louvre and went to Musee d'Orsay twice.

It really depends on what you want to get out of your trip. Are you looking to really five into Irish/Scottish history and culture and experience that? Or are you looking to get a taste of everything in your first trip?

I think a week in each Ireland and Scotland would give you an in-depth look at both places if you stay active. London needs two jam-packed days at a minimum, three would probably be better and is what I'm planning on doing when I go back. If travel time isn't included in your 21 days, you really aren't left with a lot of time if you are looking to have a more detailed, focused travel experience.

Whether you can add all of those other places to your Ireland and Scotland trip depends on you, how you like to travel and your priorities. (That's why you have gotten such different answers to your question!)

Things to consider:

You lose anywhere from half a day to most of a day each time you change locations. You have to consider the time from when you check out of your lodgings in one place until you get settled in the next place. This is transit time, not time to see/do experience what you came for. It takes three nights in a place just to get two full days.

The usual first-timer error is trying to fit in too much.

You will enjoy a place more the more familiar you become with it. So your first day in a big city may feel overwhelming, but after a couple of days you have a sense on areas you like, how the transportation system works, etc and can really enjoy the city.

What do you want to see/do/experience in each of these places. We would all have different priorities for an Ireland & Scotland trip. But what is important here is what YOU want from this trip.

Happy travels!

Get some guide books and start reading up.

By 'Scotland' do you mean JUST Edinburgh (2 or 3 days is enough) - or do you also want to see the countryside/castles/lochs/whisky distilleries/Skye/etc etc + Edinburgh (10 days minimum)

Ireland? JUST Dublin (a couple of days) - or the scenic west and southwest + Dublin (10-ish days)

London? Walk by Big Ben, visit the Tower and move on (2 days) - or More of the famous/iconic sites (5 - 7 days)

Paris? Merely look at the Eiffel Tower, take a boat ride and visit the Louvre (1.5 days) - or also take in Notre Dame, the Marais, D' Orsay, Versailles, etc etc 5 - 7 days.

So . . . what you can squeeze in to 3 weeks depends on what you hope to get out of the trip . . . AND on what % of the trip you are willing to devote to inter-city travel and packing/unpacking.

You do not need to spend 5-7 days in a place to make it a nice visit - 3-4 days for cities like Paris and London are tops for the average traveler who does not want to look in every nook and cranny.

IMO, there are a lot of ways to "experience" a city and not all of them take days; sometimes a few hours is enough for a person.

Sure, of course, you could get to all those places in a 3 week trip. You'd just not have much time in any of them. Everyone travels differently, maybe 3-4 nights in each of 6 different countries would be ideal for you. Just depends your budget, and interests.

>>IMO, there are a lot of ways to "experience" a city and not all of them take days; sometimes a few hours is enough for a person.<<

Which is precisely WHY is suggested they get some guidebooks and decide -- do they want a day or two in Dublin -- or do they want to explore some of rural Ireland. Do they want to see a few of the sites in Paris or spend some time there. Do they want to see Big Ben and the Eye and maybe one major site -- or do they want several days in London. Same-o for every one of their 'wish list' destinations.

And PQ is on the paint again -- Really does need to quit looking for thing to pick apart. I did not suggest they need days and days everywhere and look in every 'nook and cranny'. I suggested they read up and decide what <u>they</u> want out of this trip.

You say UK so do see Northern Ireland. I am so sad it has taken six trips to leave the Republic of Ireland and travel north. I am in love with the northern coast and Belfast.

<3-4 days for cities like Paris and London are tops for the average traveler>

I would love to know the source of that "statistic"!

source: the average traveler - I should have said IMO and IME! No you do not need to spend a week or so in each place IMO though that is the mantra often on Fodor's.

Look guys--If they had planned a road trip throughout Scotland and Ireland, then we all know it is impossible for them to fit in anything else.

We know NOTHING about how they intended to travel.

Until we hear back from Brad, this is another "how many angels can dance on a pin" argument.

I think people have given a lot of different opinions based on their own likes and style of travel. But we know nothing about the OPs - and they need to decide what they want to see/do in each place.

It's crazy to say they can do Paris in one day if they have a list of a dozen things that are their must sees. They need to build a trip from the bottom up based on what they want to see/do. Then people can make more useful recos.