My husband plans to retire in March 2019 (yeah!!) and we have always talked about doing 2 tours, back to back. I was wondering if anyone has combined the Best of Scandinavia and Best of Ireland tours? What time of the year did you go as I was thinking weather could be an issue. Any drawbacks? We have spent some time looking at what might be some possible combinations so if anyone has two other tours that they combined, let me know!
We also started adding days to the towns that we would arrive for the start/end of the tours, and suddenly we had about 45 days! That is a little daunting, but I guess, why not?!
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Cindy
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8141 posts
Scandinavia is best seen June through August. Then the rainy season hits.
It is also a good time.for Ireland.
Posted by
11156 posts
Summer is best for Scandinavia so tour Ireland before or after.
Posted by
Pleasant Hill, Ca
234 posts
We were going to do this in August/September this year but both tours seemed to start on Sunday. We wanted time off between but 1 day too short and 8 made the trip LONG. (I kind of like 3-7 days depending on the tours. We stayed in Paris 3 days the Belgium before flying to Edinburgh. The Scotland tour is short so it helped. ). However, later in the season Scandinavia tours starting on Tuesday were added. We are doing that, then going to Italy.
Maybe Ireland next year.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
13934 posts
If you can work out the issues with the in between days, I’m a fan of combining 2 different cultures.
I’ve previously done back to backs with different countries such as Best of England plus Paris and Heart of France. This May/June I did Southern England and Best of Scotland and frankly it was too much of a good thing. At the end I could not make myself go in to another castle/abbey/ruin. This surprised me!
You could certainly fill in your in between days with London or Paris or Amsterdam!
Congratulations on retirement! It is not overrated, lol.
BTW, after retirement and tending to elderly parents, my first big trip was 2 months long! I did 3 back to backs plus some independent time. It was fabulous! ( indep days in London/21 Best of Europe/Best of Paris/indep time in Paris/Village Italy)
Posted by
OP
San Diego, CA, USA
130 posts
Those are all good points. We have always thought that doing back-to-back tours was smart as it is only one set of airline tickets. Since we are already there, why not add another tour! I appreciate the thought about too much of the same thing; will definitely keep that in might.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
I don't see any nonstop flights from Bergen to Dublin (you'll usually connect at Oslo), nor from Belfast to Stockholm (most go through London), but SAS does have one from Dublin to Stockholm; www.skyscanner.com. Of course, you'll want your trans-Atlantic flights to be an open-jaw plan.
Posted by
63 posts
If you're interested, there is a scrapbook posted on the RS website by travelers who combined the Scandinavian and Ireland tours. I think it was in 2017 or 2016.
Posted by
OP
San Diego, CA, USA
130 posts
Thanks danareed802!! I will check that out.
Posted by
Houston
3518 posts
I did both tours in late June. Not the same year, but consecutive years. Ireland was great. Very little rain, not too extreme in the temperatures, didn't seem there were that many tourists at the tour stops. Scandinavia was a bit different as the tour started on the hottest day ever experienced in Stockholm and it stayed very warm for the entire tour. We actually went to the ice bar in Stockholm just to cool off! But overall both tours were great and I see no reason why they would not combine as long as you have the time available.