England, Ireland, Italy or Other?

[houseblend]

DH and I are thinking of going away for a week or two in late April or early May. We know we would like to go to Europe and concentrate on one country but are having some trouble picking one place. Ideally we would spend a five or so days in a large city, visiting the museums and historical and cultural attractions. Then we would spend a five or so days in the smaller towns soaking in the country. So far we're thinking:

England - I've been there briefly before; DH hasn't.
Ireland - neither of us have been there, it sounds beautiful but it is more pricey.
Italy - This would be our top pick, but honestly the language barrier worries me some and there's so much more to see and do so I worry planning will be more stressful. I haven't price out Italy yet either.

This could possibly be our last major vacation before having kids, so that is a factor as well.


Anyone have any recommendations or advice on which would be best?

[Niko&Troi]

My husband grew up in Germany so he's been all over Europe. When I lived there with him for a while, we went to England, Greece & France. I LOVED GREECE. We stayed on Crete for a week and took a day trip to Santorini. It was sooooooo nice and everyone was very friendly.
We went there the Oct after 9/11 and once they found out we were from the US and me from NY they were super cool. Brian knew basic Greek so that helped too. They literally got us drunk the first night there, it was so much fun :D

I know from Brian and my experiences that if you learn simple phrases like hello, thank you, please, etc they locals are so much more receptive to you and willing to help. They also are more open to speak English to you if you try to speak to them in their language. Every country over there teaches English in school as a second language.

If Greece isn't an option then go to the cheapest place. Anywhere you go you know you're going to love it, but why not save some $$ in the mean time. Let us know what you decide.

[emmjay]

Fun!

If Italy is your top pick, I would go there. I wouldn't worry about the language barrier at all - you can bring a phrase book and almost always find someone to speak English if you need it. Playing Charades usually works too! ;) Also since there is no way for you to see absolutely everything in Italy, maybe you can pick a region and concentrate on that instead of getting stressed out and trying to do too much. That way you can enjoy what you are able to see and make plans to go back in the future to see more. :)

I'm surprised Ireland is more expensive than the UK! That has not been my experience at all, but I haven't been there in a couple of years and I know the dollar has gotten worse. Anyway, Ireland is great for the "soaking in the countryside" type of vacation. The cities are nice too, but IMO the best parts of Ireland are the rural areas with little pubs and small towns. The scenery is also spectacular, and I think April/May is the best time to visit in terms of the weather.

[Smittenk]

Hmmm difficult because they are all amazing and all different!

England..great..london...always fun and then going to Devon or Cornwall...it's completely beautiful.

Ireland...I have only been to Dublin but I know the country is supposed to be absolutely wonderful!

Italy...this would be my top pick too! It is beautiful...the food is delicious...vino...and sun! I would personally do Florence and then head up to Cinque Terra...or down to Capri. I didn't find the language to be a problem. If you have a good pohrase book it will get you places well enough. Most younger people speak english as well. Don't let the language thing hinder you from going to Italy...it is amazing!

Whichever you pick have a great time!!

[tlew12778]

Depends where in Italy. I wouldn't really worry that much about the language barrier though. Just carry a phrase book and point when you are totally stuck. Most major cities deal with tourists so the people who work in that industry speak multiple languages (including in the shops).

The main drawback to Italy right now is the flight price. I am getting married April 21 and my family held off booking with the hopes that airfares would come down. They have not. R/T from NY is close to $800 right now.

That aside, you can find decent lodgings if you look. If you are open to B&Bs and agritourisms (farmhouses that work like B&Bs) then your lodgings can be quite affordable.

If I had a week, I would do Tuscany. You can fly into Florence (Pisa) or Rome (1.5 hrs away) then see Florence for 2-3 days, then do the smaller cities like San Gimignano, Montalcino, Montelpulciano, Sienna, Pisa, Lucca, Grossetto, Orvieto, etc. With two weeks you could fit in Rome (3-4-5 days) then head down to the Amalfi Coast for 2-3 days and see Pompeii while you are there.

Flights to the UK are MUCH cheaper. You can fly from the east coast for a little over $500 incl. tax. The drawback is the exchange rate. The euro zone is bad enough but the GBP is even worse.

[Sposa06]

What Tiffany said!

[emmjay]

I do have a good website for flights to Europe:

Airfare.com (http://www.airfare.com)

I just did a quick search for the end of April/early May:
NY - Rome $670 on Alitalia
NY - London $418 on Virgin
NY - Dublin $398 on Aer Lingus

That site always has the lowest fares between the US and Europe!

[SusieQ]

I do have a good website for flights to Europe:

Airfare.com (http://www.airfare.com)

I just did a quick search for the end of April/early May:
NY - Rome $670 on Alitalia
NY - London $418 on Virgin
NY - Dublin $398 on Aer Lingus

That site always has the lowest fares between the US and Europe!

Hi, I checked out that site to get an idea of how their prices compared to the other big online flight sites, the prices seem lower but they don't include taxes so once they calculate that in the prices actually turned out to be higher or the same as all the other sites. This was for the dates I'm going May1-12th from NYC. I was able to book a flight from NYC-Venice and then Rome back to NYC for $735 (including taxes) using expedia. So far they've had the best prices to Italy

[emmjay]

Thanks for pointing that out! I've never actually used them - just looked at fares.

ETA - I just priced a flight I'm making in April from NY - Portugal and the cheapest price for the flight I want to take was from the airline's website. I guess you just have to shop around!

[houseblend]

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions!

NikosMommy - Greece is definitely on my top 10 of places to visit. I'm not even sure why we weren't considering that right now. I'll have to look into that more. One of our best friends grew up there, so we definitely have a great resource for info on going there.


As far as prices, I mainly did a quick search on airfare and hotel prices, so I could be completely wrong about it.

Regarding the language - we did go to Switzerland for our honeymoon and somehow the language barrier didn't intimidate me there. I'm not sure why I have it in my head that it would be a problem in Italy! I would love to stay in the smaller villages there and take a cooking class. I'm definitely more encouraged to make that our top pick.

Now that I've been pushing DH for us to take a vacation in Europe, he is talking about wanting to go there for even longer. I've always dreamed of spending a year over there and taking in a number of countries, but it always just seemed like a pipe dream. He is talking about it seriously now, though. Not sure if it will really happen, but it is fun to think about anyway!

[tlew12778]

Tuscany is like a second UK. It is the most British of all the Italian regions. Most of the English elite have a vacation home there including the Blairs, and the Queen. You can most definitely find a cooking class there in English like this one:
http://www.italiancookerycourse.com/
or this one:
http://www.cookitaly.com/

[houseblend]

Thanks for the links! I will check them out!

[Rosebud]

I spent some time in Italy in '03 and encountered virtually no language barrier. Especially in the large cities, it seems that everyone speaks English. I had brushed up on my Italian before going and was excited to try it out... and had few opportunities to do so. As soon as the Italians heard my accent they switched into English. They were excited to practice their English with me! I hadn't expected that.

If it's your first time in Italy, you have to go to Rome. 4-5 days there is a perfect amount of time because there's SO much to see and do. From there you can go to any number of places... Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terra... I really don't think you'll have any problem with a language barrier at all. A few simple phrases will go a long way.

April & May is a great time to go to Europe. You'll be there before the summer crowds and prices and should be able to find some great deals. If you end up heading to Italy, I highly recommend Italyby.com and Venere.com for hotels. Also, the message boards at Fodors.com are a great resource for Europe. And of course, tripadvisor.com for hotel reviews.

Good luck!