Need some advice on my itinerary...

[tgoodwin3150]

First time traveler to europe and Im wondering if my itin is realistic.. Im the kinda guy who is looking to visit the major cities see what they have and then try to get off the beaten path to more rural areas... Im also more into the history thing than the art museums...please let me know if you have any suggestions for my trip.. THANKS


Ireland- 4 days
Looking to spend about a 1 day in Dublin and maybe hit up Dingle.. or Galaway?

England-5 days
Probably spending almost all my time in London except for maybe 1 daytrip out to like...stonehenge..i dunno.

France-5 days
Most time in Paris but would like a day trip to Normandy..

Amsterdam- 3 days
Lets face it I'l be there for what Amsterdam is known for...... the Anne Frank house... no Im just kidding.. it's drugs...

Germany- 4 days
Not really sure about this one I really wanted to go to Berlin b/c I love more of the history stuff but people have told me that Munich is a cooler city to visit....is this true??

Czech Rep-4 days
Just looking to chill in Prague

Italy-6 days
Rome mostly with a daytrip to Pompei... any other suggestions

Spain 5 days
Not sure where I wanna go in Spain.. I heard Madrid.. Barcelona and Valencia are all cool...

[tumblezweedz]

In Germany, are you more interested in the fairly recent history (ie cold war and all?) or old old history? Trier and Cologne have some fantastic Roman Empire stuff if that's of interest to you. And plenty of off-the-beaten path, country, nature etc stuff to boot.

Pompeii's awesome. If you go to the Archaelogical Museum in Naples first, you can see more of the artifacts that they salvaged from the site - it's very cool, but it's closed on Tuesdays, which is good to know in advance! If you can figure out a way to get to Vesuvius, that gives a great perspective on the whole eruption.

In Spain, for something you won't see anywhere else, check out the south - Granada or Cordoba in particular - for the Moorish influence. Stunning stuff.

[mbo108]

Also, if you go to Naples, you can take a ferry over to Capri, an awesome island with blue grottos and stunning views and ridiculously expensive shops for high end shopping. But I think Capri is worth the trip.

When i was in Dublin I did a day trip up to Belfast with a couple of stops in between. I booked it with Shamrocker tours, it was pretty sweet.

5 days in london sounds like a lot to me, next time I get to England I'm taking the train west out to Wales, its supposed to be a great little country. But thats just me.

[Chocolaty Claire]

yea 5 days in London is far too much

May I recommend possibly

London
to
Bath ( historical town and spa)
to
Cardiff (castle & nightlife)
to
Southampton to catch the ferry
to
Normandy
to
Paris
to
Amsterdam

Just works out Geography wise much better

[MeTurk]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tgoodwin3150 @ Aug 9 2006, 09:50 AM) [snapback]134332[/snapback]</div>

Amsterdam- 3 days
Lets face it I'l be there for what Amsterdam is known for...... the Anne Frank house... no Im just kidding.. it's drugs...
[/b]

If your in Galway we can meet up and go on the lash.

[tgoodwin3150]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MeTurk @ Aug 17 2006, 04:33 AM) [snapback]135314[/snapback]</div>

If your in Galway we can meet up and go on the lash.
[/b]

I have no clue what that means but sounds fun.. I'm in..

Thanks for all the great advice. Im really looking for advice on what to do while in Ireland. Im gonna give myself 4 full days and things Im interested in is seeing Dublin..Galway..Dingle Penninsula... and Cork... What is worth while??

In England I think I'll take the advice and do London for 3 days and head to Bath and then take the ferry in south hampton to normandy.... Has anyone been to Berlin?? I'd love to find out some cool things to do while I'm there too..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tumblezweedz @ Aug 9 2006, 12:15 PM) [snapback]134348[/snapback]</div>

In Germany, are you more interested in the fairly recent history (ie cold war and all?) or old old history? Trier and Cologne have some fantastic Roman Empire stuff if that's of interest to you. And plenty of off-the-beaten path, country, nature etc stuff to boot.

Pompeii's awesome. If you go to the Archaelogical Museum in Naples first, you can see more of the artifacts that they salvaged from the site - it's very cool, but it's closed on Tuesdays, which is good to know in advance! If you can figure out a way to get to Vesuvius, that gives a great perspective on the whole eruption.

In Spain, for something you won't see anywhere else, check out the south - Granada or Cordoba in particular - for the Moorish influence. Stunning stuff.


[/b]

Im really into both... In Germany Im probably looking more for the WWII stuff... thanks for the info..

[beitzel]

Berlin has cheap historic tours by foot and bike, pay tours of specific sites and great pub crawls. I have literally covered the top half of germany on a bike and personally I would stick to Berlin or Munich. Cologne is nice too - But Berlin was the standout.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tgoodwin3150 @ Aug 9 2006, 09:50 AM) [snapback]134332[/snapback]</div>

First time traveler to europe and Im wondering if my itin is realistic.. Im the kinda guy who is looking to visit the major cities see what they have and then try to get off the beaten path to more rural areas... Im also more into the history thing than the art museums...please let me know if you have any suggestions for my trip.. THANKS
Ireland- 4 days
Looking to spend about a 1 day in Dublin and maybe hit up Dingle.. or Galaway?

England-5 days
Probably spending almost all my time in London except for maybe 1 daytrip out to like...stonehenge..i dunno.

France-5 days
Most time in Paris but would like a day trip to Normandy..

Amsterdam- 3 days
Lets face it I'l be there for what Amsterdam is known for...... the Anne Frank house... no Im just kidding.. it's drugs...

Germany- 4 days
Not really sure about this one I really wanted to go to Berlin b/c I love more of the history stuff but people have told me that Munich is a cooler city to visit....is this true??

Czech Rep-4 days
Just looking to chill in Prague

Italy-6 days
Rome mostly with a daytrip to Pompei... any other suggestions

Spain 5 days
Not sure where I wanna go in Spain.. I heard Madrid.. Barcelona and Valencia are all cool...
[/b]

[tumblezweedz]

For WWII history, Belgium is pretty interesting - you could base yourself in Koln (Cologne) for a bit and foray out into the Ardennes border region and check out places like Diekirch and Bastogne, which apparently have super WWII museums. And Belgians are really friendly laid back people, in my experience.

[petalbear]

I would spend more time in Spain. Madrid would take 2 days, Barcelona another 2 but it really depends on what you want to see. I loved Granada, spent 3 days there. Then again you could just do the cities and leave the Andalucia region out (Moorish influence).

[Brookers13]

i would definitely give spain more time...i spent about a month there and there was still more i could have seen.

i wasnt a fan of madrid, tho a lot of people are, but barcelona is a must and it desereves a good 3-4 days to itself...it all depends what you want to see in spain

and as mentioned before, granada is gorgeous...lots of culture mixing going on there..fabulous

[foofiter]

I am in Berlin now. Brilliant.

Go see MeTurk in Galway. I meet up with him not long ago and you can find our photos in the past meetups section. It is WAY cheaper then Dublin (where the prices are doublin every year!).

Try to stay at the Flying Pig in Amsterdam. Booking that hostel in advance is a MUST.

Rome is great for history as well. Architecture too.

Prague is cheap. Spent a week there. Check out the Cross Club. It is decorated entirely by gears and car engine parts. Definately worth an hour of your time.

Enjoy!

Foo