New traveler looking for options!

Here is a bio on myself:
- I am a 22 male graduating from college in early December. I have always wanted to travel to Europe and the best time for me to do this is in February. I am going to either be traveling alone or with a girl friend of mine, either way I am going. I am interested in seeing the sights, so to speak, but I am more interested in becoming immersed in the culture. I am very eager to see beautiful sites and to see as much as possible. Having a great experience is more important than the price of the trip, but I want to keep it reasonable.

This is very last minute and I need some help planning my trip. I would have liked to plan this out about a year in advance, but the economy has given me more incentive to travel ASAP. I will be traveling in February, so with that in mind, what are some great places to visit?

I would live to see Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium, but with two weeks I feel like I could accomplish much more.

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

I think that with one week in Ireland, and one week in the Netherlands and Belgium, you have pretty much a full initerary. If you visit Dublin (3), Belfast (2) and Cork (2), Amsterdam (3), Brugge (2) and Brussels (2), you will have a full shedule, and I am not even mentioning the time you need to travel between these places. Most of the trips can be done in a couple of hours by train, but you also need to get from Ireland to either the Netherlands or Belgium.

And ... bring sweaters and a raincoat!

November and December are usually just cold in Northern Europe but this year there has been a fair bit of snow about already. There are some predictions of an Arctic winter. Check the weather as to what protection you bring against it. Travel could be difficult if there is heavy snow, notably in Ireland. Rain if above zero.

Travel however does go on. I assume you have done London as there are lots of inside places to see (as well as outside) and the Underground which means you can ignore the worst of the weather to an extent.

There are a number of cheap airlines in Europe, notably Ryanair which is Irish and flies all over Europe.

Quoting Herr Bert

I think that with one week in Ireland, and one week in the Netherlands and Belgium, you have pretty much a full initerary. If you visit Dublin (3), Belfast (2) and Cork (2), Amsterdam (3), Brugge (2) and Brussels (2), you will have a full shedule, and I am not even mentioning the time you need to travel between these places. Most of the trips can be done in a couple of hours by train, but you also need to get from Ireland to either the Netherlands or Belgium.

And ... bring sweaters and a raincoat!

Thank you for your reply.

How is the nightlife in Dublin, Belfast and Cork? I will be traveling with someone my age and we will want to be able to go out at night and enjoy ourselves. I don't want to compromise seeing the beautiful Irish countryside however.

Beautiful Irish countryside in winter? Yikes, you must be mad! Even in summer Ireland would be much nicer if it wasn't for the weather there. It will be very cold and wet. IMO the only thing that makes Ireland worth travelling to in winter are the Irish and (even though I don't drink) their pubs.

Im from Ireland and the nightlife is brilliant no matter where you are in Ireland, some of my best nights out have been in pubs in the middle of nowhere as well as in the pubs and clubs of Cork city which is where i live!! but just to warn you that alcohol is really expensive here!! I would definitely recommend travelling from Cork to Kerry and/or Galway because these are the counties where the scenery is the most beautiful and the nightlife is also pretty good in these places! Kerry is only an hours drive from Cork and a lot can be seen in one or two days. Galway is about another 3 hours from Kerry but would definitely recommend!!! I wouldnt really recommend Dublin as I feel there are much better places to really get the Irish culture and it is a very impersonal city compared to others in Ireland!! with regards to the weather no time is ever a good time to visit Ireland !! you will more than likely experience a lot of rain on your visit but this would be expected at any time of the year...Ireland does have really varied weather so there is also a liklihood that it could be sunny... you never know!!

hope this helps
Gráinne