France/England/Ireland

Skip England. What to do will depend on how to piece together an itinerary. For example, you could fly into Lyon or Nice, make your way to Paris, then fly to Dublin, rent a car, make your way to the west coast and fly home from Shannon. Alternatively, you could start in Paris, explore northwest France, take the ferry over to Cork and explore southwestern Ireland before flying out of Shannon. France offers a wide range of great things to do and see. In Ireland, I would focus on the West Coast.

Is St. Tropez worth a visit?

I've never been there.

Carson,
You have selected three great countries. Can you provide more info? Is this your first trip to Europe? How long are you planning for? Is this a pleasure trip?

A friend and I are going, it'll be my 3rd trip to Europe, his first. I've never been to these countries before. I've been to Germany, Austria, and Italy.

It depends on your interests. I have been to all three of the countries. Ireland is more laid back and really enjoyable. England - depends on where you go. I find London fascinating as a tourist. I had visited it on business before I retired and was not impressed, but been twice recently and cannot get enough of it. France is interesting and I assume you are comfortable in foreign speaking places from your past trips. Paris is a must if you go. Never been to St. Tropez, but stayed in Villefranche-sur-Mer and visited Nice and Monaco. Really enjoyed it, but expected better weather in early September.

You cannot go wrong, even if you use a dartboard to make your decision!

So a friend of mine through out this suggestion:(He wants us to go to Germany)
Fly into Munich, Fly to Dublin,End in London

Carson,

Which of the three countries to visit will probably depend to some extent on what sights you're most interested in seeing? I'd suggest getting Guidebooks for each place and having a look to see what interests you the most. How long will this trip be?

Whichever of the three locations you choose, you'll have to consider your transportation options. Travel to Ireland will likely involve one of the budget airlines, so pack light! If you started in England and then travelled to France via the EuroStar, baggage weight wouldn't be an issue.

A few thoughts on each of the countries:

France - Great Museums and other sights. Good transportation so it's easy to get around. Lots of interesting day trips.

England - again, great Museums (especially in London), historic sights, lots of musicals (if that interests you?). Also lots of day trips possible (Bath, York, etc.).

Ireland - lots of history and interesting sights to see in both Dublin and Belfast. Transportation is not as well developed as the other countries, so if you want to venture out to smaller towns, you'll have to plan your transportation carefully (combination of rail and bus).

You'll also have to consider the easiest combination of open-jaw flights you can get (I don't know where "High Point" is, so not sure what airlines you may be using).

It's difficult to recommend "must sees", as those are somewhat a matter of opinion. When you've chosen which countries to visit, I'm sure the group here will have some suggestions for you.

Good luck and happy travels!

It looks like we're going with ireland and england. We're going to go with a day trip to Paris if that's feasible? Im under 21 so I can't get a rental car, will that make travel very difficult?

From what we've heard and read and seen, public transportation in Ireland is somewhat limited, especially trains. Buses are doable depending on where you want to go. We met a couple on one of our trips and they did very well on buses, with a lot of walking. We were amazed. England is a lot easier to do by train and bus. When in doubt, always check Rick's books.

Carson, how long will your trip be? That would be the first determining factor in deciding if your friend's plan is feasible. Although my first thought is that plan involves quite a bit of hopping around. Keep in mind that flying from one place to another will chew up the better part of a day.

We planned on about 10 days, I thought it was alot of traveling too, especially considering it will take a day to travel to and there

Carson, with only a ten-day trip, visiting Munich, Ireland and London is not really the most practical idea. You'll be using the better part of two travel days for budget flights to each location (Munich to Dublin, Dublin to London) in addition to the day you'll lose on the flight to Europe! While the flight times are not that long, by the time you factor in check-in times, going through security, waiting, going through Passport control, etc., these are not going to be quick trips!

Given your friends desire to see Germany, I'd suggest using open-jaw flights: inbound to Munich (or Frankfurt if you can find less expensive flights - take the train to Munich - there's a rail station right at Frankfurt airport) and outbound from London (there are always lots of flights to/from London - I prefer using Gatwick airport). I'd definitely suggest leaving Ireland for the next trip when you will have the time to really see it properly.

You are correct about the Car rental - as you're only 21, it will be more difficult (and possibly expensive) to rent a car. The public transport in Europe is excellent, so there's no need for car rental (especially with such a short trip).

Good luck!

Carson- assuming you are in NC, if you fly out of Charlotte, you could fly into Gatwick, London. I'd suggest spend 5+ days there. Then maybe Ireland- though personally I'd suggest Scotland instead as you could use rail transportation. From London you can do wonderful day trips- even staying the whole time in London you would not be bored because of all the wonder trips you could do.

Carson,

Given that you've been to Europe numerous times and your friend hasn't (which shows in the impractical Munich-Dublin-London route he suggested), I would strongly encourage him to trust your judgment on this. I would skip Ireland this time around. Getting around outside of Dublin is a pain if you don't have a car. I would do Munich and London, with a possible quick stop in Paris in between.

Good luck.

I like the British Isles as a logical trip. Three weeks would give you a nicely paced circular trip from London accross Southern England to Ireland then back to Northern Wales with a swing through some of Scotland and back down to London.

France would make a nice three week trip all by itself.