Need Some Suggestions on Europe Travel Ideas

You'll love Scotland. It's all of an incredible beauty, especially the West coast and the Highlands. It's ages ago I toured there, and still have fond memories of it. Have the contrasting cities of Edinburgh - rich, elegant and stylish - and Glasgow - poor, commercial and raw - for start and finish.

I also think that Scotland is similar to Ireland in many aspects. Even their folk music has some similarities.

I've enjoyed touring smaller towns in France and Italy but I doubt they will meet your requirements as stated because of language differences. I think you could equally love the experience but you'll need to adjust your expectations. After three trips it's good that you are looking to expand.

Off the top of my head, Wales and Scotland, as well as some parts of England. Chatting with the locals is a very limiting factor if you don't speak a language other than English. There are very few non-English speaking countries in Europe where you can enter a random bar/pub in the countryside and expect to be able to hold a proper conversation in English. If you are more flexible in your expectations, many European countries would fit the bill. The rural areas of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Croatia, Slovenia etc. hold many wonderful natural sights and experiences and sticking to the cities is not necessary at all.

Dejan beat me to it. If you want to converse with locals in small towns and villages, you will have to limit your travels to either English speaking countries (and UK has lots of destinations that would suit your wishes, not just Scotland but also England and Wales), or to places where more locals may speak English (Netherlands, Scandinavia, Iceland). However, note my use of the word "may." You'll read that "everyone" in certain countries speaks English, but that is not only not true, but it gets less true as you get out of cities. Sure, most people in Stockholm or Amsterdam speak English, but fewer will in villages. You won't have any trouble getting around or basic communication, but not everyone will speak enough English for more meaningful conversation.

However, a caution. Only Ireland is Ireland. If you go to another place, even one "similar" like Scotland, expecting to duplicate your Ireland experience, you may be disappointed. Each place must be approached on its own terms. My sister got a sharp lesson in this. She loved Prague, and then went to several other places that were touted as "the next Prague." She's learned the hard way - only Prague is Prague, and by expecting to find it elsewhere, she was not happy in Budapest, Krakow, etc. She was unhappy in these places due to her advance expectations that they would be like Prague - they weren't.

It always surprises me to read posts from people that keep going back to a place or country when they haven't been to other countries in Europe.
Ireland is great, we loved it, but there is soooo much more to Europe than Ireland. If you loved Ireland, you would go crazy about Scotland. Wales and England are great as well. The countryside of all the British Isles is magical.

Don't ignore the rest of Europe. It is amazing how many people speak English in the other countries. Even in Spain, were English is not spoken as much, there is always someone nearby that speaks some English. Don't be afraid to explore France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany and more.

If you love the countryside and have seen the British Isles, the French countryside is great. Normandy, Provence, the Loire Valley are all great.

Brittany France in the summer. Brittany is the Celtic part of France so their music has a lot of similarities to Ireland. All summer (May to September) there are "pardons" around the peninsula. The pardons are religious in nature but essentially public festivals with music, dancing, and traditional costumes. The towns are very old and very quaint, generally stone houses and stone churches with half-timbered upstairs. There is a heavy seafaring tradition, so you will see lots of tiny ports, lots of fishing and sailboats and lots of good seafood. They traditionally drink cider but the beer is good as well. The people are different from other French - fiercely independent, down to earth and very proud of their heritage. The northern coast is rugged and the southern coast has beautiful bays. Brittany is also the home to thousands of prehistoric monoliths, cairns, dolmen, etc.

I found the people to be easy to talk to and very helpful - but no people on Earth are exactly like the Irish.

I haven't seen the Gallego area of Spain, but that's also Celtic and would also be good in the summer months.

Have you considered Portugal? Or Malta (it's full of small villages and is easy to navigate)? Or even rustic parts of Romania (Maramures or Transylvania)? Something different could be enjoyable as well. I would say "think outside the box". The rural parts of just about any European country can technically meet your needs, so pick one that you have an interest in.

I understand going to see the same opera, since I have my favorites there. As for Ballet, I love Swan Lake and the Nutcracker and have them a few times. For movies, I have some favorites that I have DVDs and might watch them again after some years.

Having lived overseas for 9 years in the Middle East and Europe, I took advantage of the travel opportunities, but as much as I love Rome, I have only been there twice. Yes, the Sistine Chapel, etc. is wonderful, but most people want to see what the World has to offer.

A person that has only been to one country in Europe, ignoring others has a very narrow travel experience. While they still enjoy going beck to the same country, how do they know that they might like another country even more, unless they visit other countries.

It does seem that the poster wanted to expand their travel horizons. Having been to most of the countries in Europe, it is hard for me to pick another one to the exclusion of others. As much as I love Rome, there are many other places that I love as well.