Best way to tour Europe?

I plan on touring Europe within the next year and a half and want to see as much as possible in about a week and a half. Places I would love to explore are Ireland, London, Paris, Venice, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, and Spain. I know I probably wouldnt be able to do all or even half in the amount of time I have, but whats the best way to see most? Is a Cruise worth considering? If I dont do a cruise what are my options as far as hotels in various places? If I go through popular sites like travelocity they tend to get you a flight and hotel in one place, this would be the oposite of what I want, I want to keep moving and seeing new stuff…which would mean different hotels. I am looking at all options so I would love to hear from experienced travelers on ideas or tips that would help. Also if there is a way to go with an existing group to take advantage of discounts. is this possible?
discount hotel sites ireland.

Den Dresdner:If you want to make it easy and see the most in the least time, take one of those package bus tours. If you want to do it on your own, get a EuRailPass and just bop around for a month. If you really want to see Europe, join the military.

Just a friend.:There are two ways of travel. One is to get where you want to go and stay, soak in the local customs and flavor. Make friends, get to know what it’s really like. The other is to be a postcard traveler, move from site to site after just a day or two. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, it depends on what you would like to do and see. Doing a cruise is being a postcard traveler on caffeine. You are really taking a cruise, since you will spend most of your time on ship, with a some sightseeing thrown in. First off you can’t see that many places in a week and a half, just not enough time. I would do about half that list. You could spend two weeks in Spain all by itself, a week in Rome and only see half of what you want. My suggestion would be to fly to London, take the train to Paris and again to Rome, then fly home. If you don’t mind only staying a couple of days in one city, you could add Amsterdam. There really is so much to see in these cities, two or three days doesn’t do them justice. Hotels are dependent on how much you want to spend. However you need to research those well, location, location, location is always the better bet on that. Honestly this is a topic that needs more space than just this. Travel light, you will be happy you did. I did two weeks with only carry on and it was easy.

Jay:In ten days the best thing to do is fly to say Italy and Milan, spend a day there, then go on by train to Verona, then Venice, Bologna, Florence, Sienna, Pisa, Rome and Pompeii. That should take about a week and half and even then you’ll be rushing around. All these places are reachable on the railway which in italy is pretty decent and not too expensive. Trying to do too much in a short period of time will mean you’ll spend too much time travelling and not enough time sight-seeing or hanging out. At least this way you’ll do one nation reasonably well and then in the future you can return and visit other parts of Europe.

Italy has plenty of hotels.

If you are not a native of the EU you’ll need a Schengen visa, apply here:

http://www.schengenvisa.cc/

zafir:First of all get a good guidebook to Europe – I like Lonely Planet, but Fodor’s and DK Eyewitness also have good reputations. From these books you can work out exactly what you want to see in Europe; transport options (train is good between countries); and a list of hotels in each city and town ranging from budget to luxury. So you’ll have an idea of where to stay and the approximate costs.

Then you have to work out which airports you’re flying into and going home from. As you have only around 10 days you really need to limit yourself to two, or at most, three cities. Perhaps London, Paris, and Rome.

Once you’ve narrowed down the destinations, check the guidebook for hotels. Hotels close to the city centre will be more expensive, but these will also be in safer, well-frequented, areas and close to the main sights. Now you can work out what it is you want to see in each city.

Cruises are great as everything you need is on board, and you only have to unpack once. But, the drawback is that there is very limited time available for shore trips, and tours organised by the ship can be quite expensive. You may not have the time to look at things you enjoy, or see all the sights that interest you.