21 day solo trip

Sounds like fun, but it is a lot!

A few years ago I did a London-Ireland-Scotland trip and I took the train/ferry from London to Ireland and it worked out fine, BUT I took three days doing it: left London first night in Bath, then a night in south Wales, then the ferry over to Ireland. I thought it was a fun way to go but did take extra days, but that was my intention, and I had time to explore, Bath, Cardiff, and a small town in Wales.

On my trip I was intentionally trying to avoid spending much time in London, but it turned out to be some of the funnest most interesting parts of my trip, I'd reduce Ireland by a day and add it to London.

I did an Innsbruck ski trip a few years ago, flew into Munich, I think Innsbruck was about an hour south on a bus. Seems like 3 days Munich, 3 days Alps would work well.

Depends on what you want do at each stop. Considering traveling time, only 2 nights in London seems a bit short. We can't comment on "Germany" and "Alps" without more information. Where in Germany and the Alps? What do you want to see?

Germany I am still up in the air, there are several places I am thinking. But probably Munich. As for Switzerland, I am planning on Gimmelwald.

I would like to have a day trip out of Paris to explore.

In general I would love to see the "main" sights, but also would highly enjoy seeing the smaller cities as well.

So many decisions :)

Skip Greece this trip. Add nights in London and Paris and let us know where you wanted to go in Germany and the Alps.

Fly between Ireland and London. Take the train (Eurostar) from London to Paris.

This is a very rush-rush-rush trip. Remember as Rick said....assume you'll go back.

Ireland--London---Paris and either Munich or Gimmelwald. And that's it.

I would skip the day trip from Paris. There is too much to see in Paris to do this. 3 days is doable to see the sites in Paris (as long as you aren't interested in seeing TONS of museums!). Why 5 days in Ireland? If you want to just see Dublin you only need a few days. I would rather spend those extra days in London. You could either drop Munich and go from Paris to the Rhine area and then to Switzerland. Or you could spend more time in Munich and do day trips from there to get your alps fix that way.

I would fly from Ireland to London. THe last time I was in that area we took a ferry and bus deal and it took forever! Eurostar from London to Paris would be quick and easy though.

It's not too much, it's too little. Why fly all that way and leave yourself no time to see anything but countryside out of a plane, car, train or bus window?

For London and Paris, plan 5 nights each. I wouldn't stray too far on either side of those two, maybe do ten days in Ireland OR ten days in Germany to round out the trip.

So I am thinking Greece might be a little too much to do on this trip and I should just explore Ireland, London, Paris, the Alps (and maybe Germany or Rome).

I think that should be feasible for a little over 3 weeks, right??

I do appreciate your input, There is so much to research and learn! Yet sooo exciting!

Jami

Jami,

I have to agree with Frank. I'd also skip Greece this trip especially with only 21 days to work with. As this is your first trip to Europe, definitely add a few days to both London and Paris (and perhaps Munich if you plan on day trips). IMO, you'll have a far more enjoyable trip with a more relaxed Itinerary rather than rushing about. As someone else mentioned, keep Rick's advice in mind - "assume you will return".

It would help to know which locations in Ireland you plan to visit? Are you planning on spending 5 days just in Dublin or taking a few day trips as well? Remember that you'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes, so your trip will actually be 20 days (also, don't underestimate jet lag). You'll have to allow for travel times also, especially between Paris - Gimmelwald and Gimmelwald - Munich.

I'm assuming you've read Europe Through The Back Door so you'll be up to speed on rail skills, etc.

Under the circumstances, I'd probably arrange things along these lines:

Day 1 - Fly to Dublin

Day 2-4 - Ireland

Day 5 (morning) - fly to London (check RyanAir or EasyJet and be sure to PACK LIGHT as the budgets are brutal with baggage limits).

Day 5-8 - London

Day 9 (morning) - EuroStar to Paris (from London St. Pancras)

Day 9-12 - Paris and day trips (Versailles?)

Day 13 (morning) - TGV / Train to Interlaken and Gimmelwald (this will take ~5-6 hours and several changes)

Day 13 (afternoon)-16 - Gimmelwald, Schilthorn, Murren, etc.

Day 17 (morning) - Train to Munich (this will also probably involve changes, but I haven't checked)

Day 17 (afternoon)-Day 20 - Munich & day trips (Castles, etc. - I used Radius Tours for that trip and it was great).

Day 21 - fly home from Munich (use the S-8 to get to the airport - very easy)

There are lots of possibilities, but this Itinerary would be reasonably "relaxed".

Good luck with your planning and happy travels!

Jami,

One addition to my previous post.

There's a Train departing Paris Est at 08:24, arriving Interlaken Ost at 13:57 (one change in Basel). Note that reservations are compulsory (I'd probably just buy your tickets for the outgoing journey when you arrive in Paris at an SNCF Boutique or at the station.

If you need information on how to get to Gimmelwald from Interlaken, post another note.

Were you planning on buying a Paris Museum Pass?

Cheers!

I think that sounds good. Instead of another short airline flight to Athens, just continue south from the Alps into Italy, see northern Italy, and then fly home from Milan, Florence, or even Rome, depending on how slow or fast you want to head south.

I also took a ferry from Belfast over to Scotland and then rode the train across Scotland and down to London, that was a nice trip but again would probably add at least a couple days to your trip, so a flight from Dublin to London is probably the way to go. Even though it adds the airport checkin hassles.

Thank you all!! I am learning so much between this site (which I looked at for the first time today) and reading books and researching online!! But somehow hearing personal opinions is a nice reassurance on things.

As for the museum pass -- I honestly haven't gotten into the details w/in the cities. I was just planning the "overall" then will get more into the details.

I am going to eliminate Greece. Now I am just making a final decision on where I will spend the remainder of my trip. Italy or Germany. Once I make that I plan on buying my tickets so I can't change my mind a million more times!!!

So my revision trip would be

sep 18th leave FL
19th arrive in Ireland
Ireland (plan on seeing both coasts) -- 5 nights
fly to London
London -- 4 nights
Europass to Paris
Paris -- 4 nights
Train to Switzerland
Switzerland -- 4 nights
That leaves me w/ 5 more nights..... Germany? Italy?

Last revision sounds much more manageable. and if you have 5 days unaccounted for then pick either germany or italy.
make sure your ticket is open jaw so you can get a return flight from where you end up (germany? italy? switzerland?)
also - feel free to pm me if you want. i have gone solo too and usually travel for 20 - 25 days. happy travels!