Recommendations for European travel destinations May 2025

Two cities new to us that we've enjoyed in the last couple of years are Gdańsk and Porto.

We also had our first taste of the Cotswolds and Lake Country in England, and would love to return to those areas.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

I'd say there's a lot more to the NL than Amsterdam. Ww found Belgium and the Netherlands to be friendly, safe, clean, and efficient (almost like Switzerland) but not nearly as expensive. We can't wait to return and explore further.
I do think you're a bit late for finding reasonably priced accommodations for May, especially for four people, so make a decision asap.
You're so fortunate to have a family trip and to be making forever memories. Enjoy! Safe travels.

May would be a great time for Iceland. If that interests you, you would need to get stuff booked asap as places there book out far in advance, but it is still doable. You would even have time for a ring road trip with 12 days. We have been many times, so if you decide to go and need any suggestions, just ask.

Montenegro

• Perast, https://youtu.be/q2nckBnc7_M?si=CohK_4nsI6l7chEB
• Stari Bar, https://youtu.be/OBU56OT78fw?si=tzF65lSmOXSEpWKZ
• Ulcinj, https://youtu.be/SBY7G9HHw5s?si=wjPy2V0P1mhua7Cs
• Tara River Canyon, (Motel Tara MB) https://youtu.be/9aGMZB8hB5Y?si=NFKsf6YtGAX2uVCa
• Ostrog Monastery, (Hotel & Restaurant Sokoline) https://youtu.be/ixrJu6qv46M?si=WML9Hs2hOQCsKZwE AND https://youtu.be/miNV1FVK7qI?si=iZC_lViMUEk6JGI
• Budva: https://youtu.be/GF7hyxB8Xq4?si=re2lmDTm5pRNpioH
• Kotor, https://youtu.be/G7QgBl7XNKU?si=pK1etsEr8UcAlofr

Since you're pretty much wide open on destination, I suggest starting with your flights. Determine the best transatlantic flights, which may or may not involve the same airport. What's best for you is very subjective. Direct flight? Cheap? Comfortable? Uses your mileage? Skyscanner.com has a feature where you can search from your preferred airport to "anywhere." This is a good way to find lower fares. Lots of folks use GoogleFlights, as well. Once you're over the ocean, connections by sea, land and air are relatively inexpensive (vs buying a connecting ticket), but not always.

I like the suggestion of Iceland. If you're able to stretch to 12 days, you could do a short stopover there and fly on to your final destination on the same ticket on Icelandair. Unless you're getting a crazy deal on flights, I wouldn't book them without ensuring that you can get reasonable accommodation.

We liked 4 nights in Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 nights in Stockholm, Sweden.

A very favorite area that we would recommend is Southern France flying to Nice, France and exploring the French Riviera - Villefranche sur Mer, Eze, Monaco, Menton, Antibes, and Cannes. These towns are easily accessible by regional train and buses and the scenery is spectacular!

In Italy you may enjoy flying into Venice for 3 or 4 nights, then going to Lake Maggiore or Lake Como in Northern Italy and flying home from Milan.

Happy planning!

trying to do what the locals do and soaking up as much of the culture and history as possible

Locals and culture are best to experience at national or local celebrations.

Basic idea:
Start in Hamburg with co-celebrating port anniversary on May 9-11 and end in Norway's Bergen incl. Norwegian Constitution Day on May 17 - so be there the full day. In between Copenhagen is an obvious destination. Do not miss to book a visit of Hamburg's famous Miniatur Wunderland. Of course you make a day trip from Hamburg to Lübeck as well to visit World Heritage old town and the Museum of the fascinating 500 year ruling Hanseatic League to finish in Bergen visiting the World Heritage Tyske Bryggen which was part of the Hanseatic League. A final visit to Flåm with ziplining, kayaking and / or a short cruise though World Heritage Naeroyfjord rounds up a fascinating journey. Or add up Oslo of you like.

Some more ideas around such a trip if you are interested.

My partner and I really enjoyed Ireland (including Northern Ireland) in May. We spent 3 weeks there in 2024. We normally prefer late Sept-Oct travel but May in Ireland was gorgeous.

Tracey,
I'm with Silas Marner. Ireland would be great, especially for your length of time (7-12 days). We went with our college aged kids and everyone loved it. We spent 4 days in Dublin, then drove south, then west, then north, then inland, and back to Dublin.
Our itinerary was (roughly) after Dublin...Glendalough, Waterford, Youghal, Cork, Blarney Castle, Killarney, Dingle(and the peninsula), the Cliffs of Mohr, the Burren, the Rock of Cashel, Tralee, the Galarus Oratory, Galway, the National Stud, County Cavan, Newgrange.....distances were short, so we often saw more than one or two things in a day as we drove along.
We still didn't see everything we wanted, and we didn't even get to Northern ireland. And I haven't mentioned our time in Dublin!

You might want to investigate Ireland. Sometimes Aer Lingus has some good prices on flights also.
Go n-eiri leat!

Hi Tracey! I also agree that Ireland would be a great choice considering your length of time, time of year and age of "kids". I'd start or end in Dublin, where you can take day trips to Newgrange, Knowth and/or Howth. Also include Galway (a university town that your young adults will love as it's teaming with young adults.) You could visit Aran Islands and bike around, hike the cliffs of Moher, visit Ashford Castle and do the Hawk Walk with Ireland's School of Falconry (on the grounds of Ashford Castle.) Would be a great way to spend a week + as a family. And, it meets all your travel interest criteria! Happy travels whereever you decide to go.

Delta is adding 4 weekly seasonal Detroit direct flights to Dublin next May. This year Detroit also had seasonal Icelandair flights (4 per week) to Dublin option with a quick transfer in Reykjavík. I'm not sure if DTW would work for you. I agree with KimberleySEA about Ashford Castle - it was a great experience flying Wookie!

As an artist at heart I've never seen so many shades and nuances of green.

"...as well as more of Germany." Fantastic !

My suggestion is on spending the entire time max. 12 full days presumably in Germany. If you want to do that, then I recommend all this time in North Germany as well as in the eastern cities and towns. A lot of cultural history there and you most definitely will not be dodging crowds as these places are totally off the international , incl. US tourist, radar,

I recommend too Hamburg, the cultural center of North Germany plus a most convenient junction point for going north into Schleswig-Holstein, eastwards into Mecklenburg, ie here Schwerin, much easier than reaching it from Berlin, or westward towards the North Sea.

Tons of places to see, your main problem is deciding on which place.

I recommend Hamburg, Lübeck, Meissen, Erfurt, Jena, Naumburg an der Saale, Greifswald, Stralsund, Leipzig, Rheinsberg, Heide, Potsdam, Werder an der Havel, Husum, Eutin/Holstein, Schleswig, Lüneburg, Babelsberg, Halle, and so on.