Planning a trip to Europe

--how many days do you have
--what's the budget?

My initial rec is to stick to Ireland...Dublin is okay for a couple of days, but you can spend a week or two going to Irish high points: the Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, enjoy some smaller villages (and pubs!) either by renting a car or using a combination of trains/buses/tours or hired cars.

Going over to London is a short, cheap flight, not very hard to do. So if you've never been to London & are dying to go, it's an easy enough add-on.

As I post repeatedly, people try to cram too many destinations into their "European" vacations. No one would come to the US and try to hit New York, Chicago, and Miami in a 10 day vacation....so don't turn a trip into a crazy effort to collect stamps on your passport or check off boxes on a sightseeing list.

Dublin itself is compact & not hard to see in 4-5 days, unless you're a hardcore museum goer or have a particularly deep interest in Irish history.

Stay in Ireland and tour the country . London tends to be the anti- Ireland , crowded, expensive, fast moving etc. Unless you have a long, long time I’d just do Ireland. Or maybe Ireland and the Scotland. There is so much to see in Ireland and it’s so laid back. Sometimes it is just as cheap to fly into Dublin and out of Shannon. I did a trip report that is stickied above with some fun stuff . Check out TripAdvisor for lists of things to do/ costs etc.

I’m not usually one for guided tours - bus or otherwise- except I would make an exception to this rule in Ireland because the guides tend to be the best storytellers in the world . So consider taking a day trip here and there or the black cab to North Ireland . I’m a big fan of County Wicklow - check it out online. Counties Galway and Clare are other can’t miss spots outside Dublin.

Stay in Ireland the whole time. I promise it will force you to plan return trips to England, Scotland and probably Ireland again.

There's a ton of good stuff to do in Ireland outside of Dublin so just do your homework.

I did a week in Dublin and London last year, and a week wasn't enough. London is hectic and there is so much going on.

OP it really depends on how often you visit Europe. If this is your first time and it's unlikely you'll get back for a long time, Dublin and London is a very doable trip. Flights between the two are like $60. I'd be careful adding anything else as far as going to the airport, although you could do something like fly into Dublin for 3-4 nights, go to London, then trainto edinborough, then fly to Dublin and fly home. That's not a horrible amount of traveling.

I would say to go to Dublin and spend at least half your time there outside of the city. Then go to London, and possibly do the same thing. Id certainly highly recommend getting out of the cities for a couple of days.

Good for you. See what you want to see. Travel as much, or as little, as you want within your limitations (money, how pace will impact your enjoyment, etc.)

Frequent travelers telling people who don't travel internationally much to spend all their time in one area is my pet peeve. There is definitely such a thing as trying to do too much, but on the other hand, the idea you can't get genuine enjoyment from visiting a city/area for three days is ridiculous.

If you get to make return trips, great, you know what you've seen and what you want to explore further.