Best of Europe with Teen Boys
 

I'm planning a two week trip to Europe (our first)in late June 2008 for my husband, myself and our 3 boys 21, 18, and 12. We want to see historical cities, villages, some countryside, castles, the Alps, and throw in something fun/active for our little guy. Anyone have suggestions for a great family trip with teenagers? I'm reading Rick Steve's travel guides and this forum, but it all sounds great.

Where are you planning to go?
A few things which interested my boy :
in Lausanne, the Olympic Museum
in Bern, the bear pit
In Bavaria, going up the Zugspitze and visiting Louis II castles
In Munich, the Deutsches Museum (he could have spent days there. He insisted on going to Dachau, which we did.
In Hamburg and Lübeck, taking a boat ride around the harbor. Going to the place on the Elbe (I have forgotten the name) where boats coming in or out of Hamburg are saluted
In Bonn, going up to Drachenfels

In Spain, the volcano area near Olot (we rented bicycles)and the waterpark in Salou.
Venice (he was overwhelmed)
Vienna (horse show) etc....

We tried to mix grown-up and children activities so he would not get an overdose of museums and always had something to look forward to.

Rick Steves has a 14 day "Best of Family Europe" tour. It might be a good way to get your feet wet. My first trip to Europe was a Best of Europe with six teenagers. They had a blast.

coug_gal,

Steve's "Best of Europe" mentions selected places in only 12 countries. Suggest that you get Lonely Planet's "Europe on a Shoestring" if you want a balanced view of Europe.

Hi, coug gal,

I kept my kids happy by factoring in at least one theme park into every visit, til the youngest was about 15. you can google "european theme parks" and se what you come up with.

The best ones [ie the ones we liked most] were

parc asterix, north of paris, near disney [it's all in the name, really]

le puy de fou, near Cholet in the western Loire region of France [see the christians fed to the loins and real jousting]

futuroscope, near Poitiers, further south in western France. - more sciency, but still fun.

The holiday park, in south-west germany, near Mannheim - a true theme park with rides, including a rolloer coaster they say is the world's most exciting.

also, you may find activities aimed at kids specifically in the alps- they have to find something to do with all those ski-guides in the summer.

alternatively what about an activity holiday - cycling in Holland might be good fun for a family trip.

Finally, we 're always had a good time with our kids in Italy. We had a great week on lake garda in august when our kids were about 16 & 13. As well as gardaland [another theme park] and the aquapark, there were loads of boat trips, a trip up the cable car to the top of the mountain, verona, venice, and windsurfing for those who wanted it.

you could make a very good trip by combining a week here with a few days in Venice to start with, then lake garda, ending in Rome to see the colosseum! fun for all!

happy plannnig,

regards, ann

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all your suggestions. I haven't decided where we're going. That's my problem, I can't decide. I'm debating between a Rick Steve's Best of Europe tour or doing it on our own, but I don't know which countries. Tops on our list is Germany (Munich/Bavaria), the Alps, Rome and Venice, and Greece, but I assume that's way too much for 2 weeks unless we're on a guided tour. I'm thinking June isn't a great time to visit Italy and Greece because of the weather and crowds so I'm leaning towards Germany/Austria/Switzerland. What do you think? The boys are voting for Italy and Greece.

Pvoyageuse, how old was your boy when he traveled to these places?

Also, can someone please tell me what DH stands for? Thanks so much for your help!

DH stands for "dear" husband. It could also stand for any other "D" word if they aren't being very "dear" at the time.

Rick Steves has a Germany, Austria, Switzerland tour that probably most of what you would like. Furthermore, on the tour you will learn skills so that you can do future trips on your own.

http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours08/...rl/code/GAS08/

Coug gal
He was 10 the first time we went to Venice and 15 the second time.
Between 12 and 17 at all the other places except Bavaria when he was 21.

coug gal - I wouldn't worry too much about your youngest son. We have taken our kids to Europe 4 times when he was 9, 2x when 10 and one more when he was 11. (daughter was 12, 13, 14 & 15). They really do enjoy a lot more of things then you expect. Particularly if they have never been before, everything will seem new and unique - even simple people watching can be fun.

Our son particularly liked Italy (although we haven't been to Germany and Austria yet). But getting good guides that will bring up interesting things for the younger one, gelato (Italy) and doing a bike ride or something like that can keep them in the game!

I missed saying "OUR SON was 9, 10 2X......"

When our son was a middle-schooler his favorite part of Europe was Switzerland. We stayed about four days in Grindelwald. He had a rock-climbing lesson and we spent several days taking bikes up mountains (via gondola or postal bus) and biking down. Still one of his favorite memories of Europe. (Now in his mid-twenties he's "getting" France.)

Thanks again for all the kind suggestions. Barbara, if I do the Rick Steve's tour I'm thinking we would want the regular one, not the family tour since our two oldest will be 18 and 21. Did you do the family tour or the regular one and which would you suggest?

I have four nephews whom I took to Europe. The older two were 10 and 12. the younger pair were 11 and 14.
We went to England on the first trip and Scotland on the second.
They got to choose when it was their turn. This was pre-internet so I gave them guidebooks. They all had chosen one thing before we even started looking. Then they chocse some other places of interest and we sat down with a map and plotted our itinerary. I filled in some things I wanted to see and we flew, set off in a rental car and stayed at B&B's as we went.

We had a box of groceries in the trunk so we could stop if someone got hungry and have some juice and cookies or make a lunch of pb&j sandwiches,etc.

We stopped in local tourist offices and if we saw something interesting we had not known about before (a "ghost house", a medeival tournament, highland games, etc.) we would head off in an unexpected direction.

The boys surprised me at things they got into. Two cathedrals that were on my wish list turned out to interest the boys and they were no just being polite to humor me. They even pointed out some things the guide book missed that I was glad to look at more closely.

To make a long story short, it sounds as if you could do a great trip on your own should you desire. Just get all of the boys involved in the planning.

Whatever, you choose, have fun!
T

Hello, I am just wondering how your planning is going. We are going for seven weeks July to Aug 2008 with a four week Eurail pass. We have a 12 and 15 year old. I would be interested in seeing what your kids have put on their must-see list. All the best, Karen from Canada

The medieval torture museum (forget the name) in Rothenburg is great for kids that age. My 11-year-old daughter loved it (although that was a long time ago - she's 27 now!).
The alpine slides - there's one near Fussen - are also great for that age.

Let me help you to narrow your choices. In 2 weeks you should pick a max of 5 destinations. The next destination should be a max of 4 hours from the last. For a first trip I would do this:

Arrive Munich---to Salzburg

To Bavaria castle country

To Venice

To Lake Como

To Luzern

Back to Munich

That is a full plate for 2 weeks and assumes car/van travel. Do not try any longer itineraires---keep it in a tight loop.

I like Bob's plan.

Don't miss Bolzano: visit Utzi, the bronze age man found in the alps. He has his own room in a very nice small museum.

Have you gotten these kids involved in the planning? That, to me, is key.

They're all obviously internet-savvy, given their ages.

Let them "own" the trip.

I have taken my 14 yr old to Paris and London,my husband took our next son, when he also turned 14 to Paris, London and Hanover.
I am taking my 12 yr old daughter this July, 10 days in Paris and a two week family RS tour also.
I am comfortable with indepent travel, but I don't want to drive in Europe , and I wanted to fit in quite a few places , so the tour makes that possible with the least amount of stress to me. Finding the train station and moving every two days on my own seems too much like work to me.LOL
I love Paris and am very comfortable there and so am spending a week there pre tour and three days after.

In Paris my boys both loved seeing the Catacombs( google it ) . So of course my daughter also wants to see them . Ugh.
I have taken two bike tours in Paris and HIGHLY recommend them. Google Fat Tire Bike Tours, very fun, young lively guides, a fun overview of sites with a little history, and little humor and lots of fun.
The RS tours look like they will be fun, I know we are going luging in the Alps and staying at a farm house with a pool in Italy, experiences I wouldn't be able to provide in the short time I have available..

If you decide on going to only one or two destinations I would not take a tour , booking your own hotels and flights is too easy to do on your own, but, for a taste of everything in a short time a tour is not a terrible idea.

PS Go on RS website, read the tour feedbacks, and order the FREE tour DVD. It is fun to watch anyways, and may give you ideas of things to see.