Well, it seems like you have enough time in each place, but you picked only capital cities. Also some of these cities are far apart from each other. Another option would be to pick 3 countries or so, but visit several places in each so you get some smaller cities/towns in there as well and get a better feeling for the countries you’re visiting.

Do you have any suggestions about which smaller towns to visit near these larger cities?

I’d consider starting at Dublin, then going to London, which has good train service to Paris. Sometimes there are very good airfares from the US (I presume you are flying from the US) to Dublin.

Many posters pan Dublin, but say the southwestern coast is beautiful, so you might consider a stay in a small town on the coast.

Paris to Barcelona, and Barcelona to Rome (unless you stop in Florence) are fairly long trips and might warrant flying rather than taking trains.

When are you going? Have you already bought plane tickets, or are you not at that stage yet?

I am planning on Summer 2011. I have bought nothing yet. I like to do a lot of research beforehand and see how much money I will need. I know its very early but I was planning on Sunday June 16, 2011 to Saturday July 16, 2011.

You’ve got the right idea to fly into one city and home from another, but I might change the order around some to both save a little on airfare and maybe make things a little easier traveling within Europe. Flying into Dublin and home from Prague is a pretty good plan logistically, but consider flying into Dublin and home from Barcelona because those two cities are consistently cheap to fly into/out of . I’d do something like this:

Dublin, fly to London, Eurostar to Paris, morning flight or overnight train to Barcelona, flight to Rome, flight or overnight train to Munich, train to Prague.

Dublin, fly to London, Eurostar to Paris, train to Munich, train to Prague, fly to Rome, fly to Barcelona.

Both of the above itineraries work better than what you have imo. Definitely fly into Dublin to start off with. You have plenty of time plugged into each city, which is great! Some suggestions. From Paris try Versailles or Rouen as day trips or one night stay at Rouen. From Barcelona you could try Tarragona, or Montserrat for a day trip. I would take a day from Munich and one from Prague and add in Cesky Krumlov which would give you small town feel. From Munich try also to get to Neuschwanstein (always spell it wrong) castle.

Thanks for the extra infor…I tentatively have 4 days in each city because I was thinking that would be a place to base myself in the area. I was thinking the first 2 days would be in the main city, the 3rd day as a day trip to a smaller village and the 4th day back in the main city on my itinerary. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which smaller villages or attractions I should try to visit on a day trip on this route? Here are some ideas right now…

Dublin – ?
London – ?
Paris – Versailles, Rouen, Beuvron-en-Auge, or Gerberoy
Barcelona – Tarragona or Montserrat
Rome – ?
Munich – ?
Prague – ?

For Paris, there is plenty to see without a day trip. But if you want one, Versailles is very popular, but also very crowded, as in two hours in line for a restroom. I personally liked Giverny, where Monet’s garden has been maintained; its less crowded, and seeing where he painted is rewarding, if art is among your interests.

We spent two week in Rome with no daytrips. There is more than enough to see in town.

Munich has a lot to see in town, too. I would say the most popular daytrip is to http://www.neuschwan… and the castles. Alternatives might be to Mittenwald. an unspoiled village in the mountains, very scenic, or even Salzburg (perhaps too much to see there for a daytrip).

From Prague, you can visit Cesky Krumlov, but i would spend 2 full nights here. Closer to Prague, you can visit the interesting Kutna Hora which is a small city with an ossuary, a church made with thousands of bones! The town is quite quaint to spend a nice relaxed day in.