3 Weeks in Europe: Ireland or Mainland Europe?

Three weeks is a bit long for Ireland, you can pretty well do it in ten days, or even a week if you move right along.

Bruges is maybe worth half a day on the way to Brussels. Two days will get the highlights of Munich, including Dachau. With the days saved, you might be able to fit in Budapest if you're going by car. But, watch out for the hefty drop-off fee. Amsterdam seems a bit off the track unless it's the start or end point.

Maybe you should drop A'dam, pick up a car in Brussels and make a big circle. If you're done in time, make A'dam a short loop, or use the trains to get there and back -- not a bad idea (the train business) anyway, since you sure don't need a car in A'dam and it costs a stinking $60-75 a day to park there (unless you park on the outside of town and ride the tram in, but that's kind of where we started, isn't it?)

It's really funny how differently people see things. I'd do Brussels in a half day and move on to Bruges for 1 1/2 - 2 days.I absolutely loved it. Are you planning on flying open jaws? If so, why not fly into Amsterdam and out of Munich? Since you only mention the car for Ireland, are you planning on rail passes? That would probably be much less expensive and an easier way to go if you are flying open jaws. I would suggest flying into Amsterdam, see Harlem, stop in Bruges, Brussels, then to the Rhine, over to Prague then to Vienna, Salzburg and Munich. You can do an overnight from Munich to Rothenburg. It's a long trip from the Rhine to Rothenburg and then you'd have to backtrack considerably to see Prague. The other option would be the same as above but from rhine to Rothenburg, then Munich, Salzburg, vienna and then fly out of Prague. Flights in and out of Prague tend to be a little higher than Munich but if your boss is paying, that may be an easier route.

What a wonderful opportunity, Katie. I think either plan you mentioned would be great. I have to respectfully disagree with Ed that 3 weeks is too long and you can see it in 10 days. No way! I've taken two 10-day trips to Ireland and have not begun to see everything I would like to see. You won't be able to see it all in three weeks either, though you would get to see a lot.

I think your mainland Europe itinerary has lots of great places, most of which I have not visited, so I can't comment too much on it. All I will say is that is a lot of stops in three weeks, so you will spend a lot of time traveling from place to place. You may want to skip a stop or two to make it more relaxing and to have the opportunity to settle in a couple of places for 3 or 4 days.

Regardless of which trip you pick (and I don't think you can go wrong with either one), have a great time!

Katie
I agree with Carroll, 3 weeks is definitely not too long for Ireland. We have been there 2 times, 10 days and 15 days, and will make at least 2 more trips in order to see several counties that we haven't visited including all of Northern Ireland. The historical tourist attractions are numerous, the roads are narrow and slow going, and we found that 3 main stops per day is about max. The people of Ireland are so friendly and laid back, and it is an ideal place for a restful vacation. I have yet to hear of anybody admitting on these forums that they spent too much time in Ireland! Dan

"His company will pay for the lodging and travel expenses to a country or countries he has never been to before."

Where do we send our resumes?

Your itinerary sounds like tons of fun to me!

Ireland for three weeks sounds like too much, in my opinion. I absolutely loved the country, and would go back, but three weeks is a long time. I was there for 12 days and saw MOST of what I wanted. With another week I could have done County Donegal, Giant's Causeway and Londonderry. But three weeks sounds to be too much.

I like your trip, but I would seriously consider adding Budapest onto the end. Especially if you are history buffs (like I am). There is so much to see and do there, plus it is less expensive than Western Europe. We were there for three days, and could easily have filled a fourth.

For something totally off the wall, have you considered flying back through Reykjavik, Iceland? Iceland Air has some great deals on two or three day packages from most major European cities.

Wow, what an opportunity! I can't compare between Ireland and the mainland Europe cities you name. I've been to all the cities, most more than once so I'll comment accordingly.

I disagree with Teena that it is a long way from the Rhine (Bacharach) to Rothenburg. We drove it in one day easily including a 2-3 hour stop in Wurzburg. I agree with her suggestion to change the order a bit (... Munich-Salzburg-Vienna-Prague) so you can fly out of Prague.

You'll average about 2 nights per city and travel every 2nd or 3rd day. Please be certain that is what you want to do.

Happy travels!

PS: May I join this generous company?

Did you consider Spain and Portugal? Love the places on your itinerary but there is a lot of history starting with Alhambra in Grenada, Moors in Europe and the like.
Some gorgeous country, mountains and fishing villages as well... Just a thought...George

Katie,

Since you mentioned that both of you are interested in history, I suggest that in Vienna and Brussels you see the military history museums; in Vienna it's the Heeresgeschlichtlichesmuseum (it's within walking distance from the South Train Station, i.e., the Sudbahnhof); in Brussels it's the Royal Army Museum, and be sure to make it a day trip to see Waterloo (south of Brussels)---allow about 5 hrs by car for getting around and for a good viewing of the sites there. The town itself has a number of museums seen either from the French or the British view.

I am sure that all these museums in Brussels, Waterloo, and Vienna are going to be absolutely fascinating to both of you. Happy Travels!

Thanks for your help everyone, we really appreciate it! We have decided to do ME over Ireland for this trip. We will be traveling by train rather than renting a car. Though I know this will make a few parts of the trip difficult.

We took some of your suggestions and changed the order of our itinerary so that it made more sense.

We have extended the trip a bit and re-worked some things to add on Budapest since everyone seems to love it.

Right now, though it could change, we are doing

Amsterdam (2 nights) - Bruges (2 nights) - Brussels (1 night) - Bacharach (3 nights) - Rothenburg (2 nights)- Prague (3 nights)- Budapest (3 nights) - Vienna (2 nights) - Salzburg (2 nights) - Munich (2 nights)

We were debating flying out of Budapest, Prague, or Munich. However, we have heard that Munich has a great airport and flights are sometimes cheaper out of Munich....

Hi,

You heard correctly...Munich may just have the best airport in Germany. And, if you are indeed going to Budapest, the Military Museum there is very prominent, if you still want to see more history.

Katie,

I also would have suggested mainland Europe. Your revised Itinerary looks reasonably good, however I'm not sure there's adequate allowance for travel times between cities. You may find that it's necessary to drop at least one destination in order to allow a more "comfortable" travel schedule.

I second the comments by Fred - the airport in Munich is fantastic.

Good luck and happy travels!