Icelandic Air and a stopover in Reykjavic might be something to consider. Very different vibe to Dublin.
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Agree with the suggestion of Stockholm. Thereās plenty to do there, and enough for day trips to the archipelago. Berlin is a much bigger city and perhaps more exciting. A lot of art, young people and energy. If you have a week, you could probably spend a few days in Belgium and a few more in Berlin. I saw a headline about a new night train that will go between Brussels and Berlin, starting this spring.
My daughter and husband were in Italy last July and the weather was truly too hot and it did affect their enjoyment on some days. I might try to stay up north for a July visit.
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Iāll second that. Short/cheap flights, different vibe, lots of history and food. Highlands if you wanna get away a bit further.
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I donāt mean to sound like a wet blanket here or criticize, but Iād say avoid Italy in July. Iāve known people whoāve gone to there in July and they hated it. It was hot and VERY crowded. Iād save Italy for a different trip at a different time of year. That said, you could go to Italy in July and go to off the beaten path places.
I have a friend who has traveled all over Scandinavia. She just raves about Norway. I know some other people whoāve been to Norway and theyāve had nothing but great things to say about it. Iāve also heard people say Helsinki, Finland is an interesting city and worth a visit. Same with Tallinn, Estonia and Riga, Latvia. These places do get tourists from cruise ships, but they arenāt as crowded as places on the Mediterranean and summer is usually the best time to visit Scandinavia and the Baltics. Oh and I forgot to mention Stockholm. My stepfather still raves about Stockholm and he was there 40 years ago!
You could go to Scotland and the Lake District of Englandā¦
Another idea would be to explore more of Irelandā¦
I think someone above mentioned Belgium, that would be a great place to visit and it doesnāt get the crowds that other European countries do. Iāve heard that Luxembourg can be a fun and different place to visit as wellā¦
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I am leaning toward Norway, Denmark, Sweden or Iceland with stopover thanks to this forum. Family had been to Estonia :).
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We leave for Norway in 2 days! Weāre spending a few nights in Oslo on either side of a trip up to Alta in the Arctic Circle to see (hopefully) the northern lights. Iāll post back with an Oslo trip report (though a winter trip is likely quite different from a summer one)
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Sounds fun! Iāve heard Estonia is very interesting. Thatās fun that you guys have been. H had a friend whose parents took the whole family on a Baltic cruise and they loved Estonia and Latvia. They really didnāt know what to expect but they said Tallinn, Estonia, Riga, Latvia and Helsinki, Finland were the best parts of their cruise. I worked with a guy who was of Lithuanian descent. He had a very unusual last name that ended with itisā¦he always said he was named after a unique illness!
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DH is from Estonia :), so we spent 2 weeks with kids there some time ago. After looking at tickets, I think we narrowing it down to visiting the older daughter middle of June in Ireland, and then go with the younger only to either Scotland (flying to Edinburg from Dublin) or Denmark (Copenhagen) on Ryanair and then coming back to Dublin to go back to the US (multi-city from the US is very pricey). Traveling in July is much more expensive. DD wants Denmark and I am leaning toward Scotland :). Any idea which is easier/safer to travel for two ladies?
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Personally I loved Scotland - especially if you can get up to some of the islands. I only went to the Isle of Skye and would love to go back to some of the smaller or more remote isles. And Edinburgh is also wonderful though probably crowded that time of year.
Thatās cool that your husband is from Estonia!
Scotland would be a bit cheaper then Denmark, though July is an expensive time to travel in pretty much all of Europe. Scandinavia is a wonderful place to travel, but itās so expensive. Iād go for Scotland, just because itās close to Ireland and would be an easy trip.
Both Edinburgh and Copenhagen should be fine for two women. I liked all the places you are going to or are considering-Dublin, Edinburgh, Copenhagen. I especially like Edinburgh. What does your daughter want to see in Denmark?
Norway (really liked Bergen), Sweden, Iceland all wonderful too so maybe keep them in mind for a future trip.
Have fun!
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My advice is to be careful checking luggage. My son lost his last summer on a Eurowings flight and got it back 6 weeks later after he was in the states. Went to Berlin airport to find it twice to no avail. Finally got in touch with the hr department of the baggage handler website (where you apply for jobs) and they located it and got it back to the US. Then took 2 weeks to get to him even though he lives 15 minutes from the airport. It was a nightmare - he also had a months worth of clothes. Things might have improved since then but last summer luggage handling in Europe was a disaster.
Definitely put AirTag in. He didnāt even know where to start when his luggage didnāt appear because it couldāve been in London, wherever the plane connected, or in Berlin and no one could tell him.
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I would pick Denmark just because public transport is so much better and you said you didnāt want to drive. So much of the scenery in Scotland is only really doable by car, once you get away from Edinburgh/Glasgow. But in Denmark you could do quite a lot, even going up to Gothenburg or Stockholm by train if you want.
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I love Scotland, but agree if you donāt want to drive (and certainly not on the wrong side of the road, or little roads where you have to back up to the nearest turnout because the road is only one car wide), there are better choices.
There are day tours and multi day tours from Edinburgh. A car is ideal(thatās what we did when we were in Scotland) but husband was driving. There are trains as well to other cities.
My sister and I would have had to rely on tours from the city when we visited Iceland a few years ago. We would have been too nervous to drive ourselves. One of my sons ended up coming along though and we ended up renting a car , and he did the driving!
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I found driving in Iceland (and I did a lot of it) very easy. I wouldnāt drive in Scotland though.
Iceland driving would have probably been okay once we get out of the city. But, my sister and I are both somewhat nervous drivers in new situations, so it was just not something we were going to do (although my sister did get behind the wheel on a rural road for a few minutes -so she can say she did drive in Iceland). We were prepared to book day trips if my son hadnāt decided to come along and be our driver/chauffeur! We were not going to miss Iceland because of our lack of driving skills!
I thought the public transportation was much better in Scotland vs Iceland. We spent two weeks in Edinburgh for our honeymoon and did all kinds of day trips all over via small bus tours. When we returned we rented a car and drove all over. We thought the driving in Scotland was much easier than Ireland.
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I wouldnāt classify organized bus tours as public transportation, though I agree they are a possible option to see other parts of Scotland. But I though OP was now comparing Denmark vs Scotland?
Iāve taken public buses in both Edinburgh and Copenhagen .
Lots of the major attractions in Edinburgh are in the city center and you donāt really need a car to walk around the city. We stayed in a bed and breakfast outside the city many years ago and took buses into the city and to the Edinburgh Zoo. We didnāt pick up our rental car until we were ready to leave the city. Scotland also has a rail system, Scotrail, that services other cities from Edinburgh.
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