We will be taking our 13 year old daughter and 11 year old son to London, Paris, and Rome in a few weeks. Any suggestions for travel clothes for them? Are shorts OK? Do teens in these cities dress like teens in the U.S.? Help!

Kids dress the same everywhere, except in Europe boys wear their jeans tighter! The only caveat is to realize that in Italy, knees and shoulders should be covered in many churches.

Obviously, your kids have their own style preferences, but for a recent 12 day trip my guys each took about 4 pair cargo shorts, one pair gym shorts that could double as a swimsuit or pj's, a couple of t-shirts and about 4 polo shirts. They also each took one pair of long pants for churches - one took nice khakis and the other took dress pants and regretted it.

I would use the same method for teens that I do myself. Go thru your/their regular summer clothes and put together 5-6 outfits that they like to wear, look nice enough, and will pack OK (khakis are better than jeans for being more light weight, etc.). The list suggested above sounds spot on. Add sneakers, sandals, underwear, etc. Are the kids interested in packing for themselves? Have them choose what they think would be right and put them aside in one place, then you can review it together, think what's missing or too much, and see how it fits in their suitcase or bag.

Another tip I've seen posted by a Mom is using oversized ziplocks, she put outfits together including undies and socks, so the kids just pulled out a packet and had a day's clean clothes ready to go, but I think this was for younger kids.

Regarding London a few weeks ago: Nearly every kid I saw (European, American, Asian) in the 11-14 age bracket was wearing the skater/surfer clothes you see here (Roxy, Hurley, Billabong, on and on ).

One of my boys actually packs in zip lock bags on his own. On day 2 of the trip, his system is gone forever, but at least he starts out organized...

I forgot to mention one thing. The boys (and I) were really glad we had packed something for the cold/rain. One took a sweatshirt, another took a light windbreaker with hood, and I took a hoodie. It got a bit chilly in London at night, and sometimes the bus or airplane was cold as well.

Since you're going three places, consider challenging your kids to fit everything into a carry on.

You're going to have so much fun! Our last trip was also to London, Paris, and Rome. The boys can't wait to go back.

Thanks so much. These are all really helpful ideas. Any suggestions of casual clothing stores where I can take my daughter (age 13) shopping? She can't wait to get some clothes from Europe.

In London, go to Oxford Street. There are sooooo many shops there,s he will surely find lots of things she likes. Moreover, it is usually crammed with English teens.

C&A is quite popular with teens and very affordable in London. The Top Shop and accessorize are also well-liked.

C & A closed its UK operation in 2000. Accessorize is good, but aimed more at 20-30 somethings than teens I think. Top Shop of course is ever popular with teens and early 20s. Other decent, youngish chains are River Island and Warehouse and Etams now seem to be managing to throw off their previous slightly dated image and appealing more to younger buyers. For cheap (very!) and cheerful, have a browse round New Look.

Around the Latin Quarter in Paris I saw lots of cheap-ish clothing shops with sales racks out onto the sidewalks. Your daughter will be able to spot her "own kind" in your wanderings!

At the younger age, and at any age teens wear "teen" clothes. Some will wear the typical jeans, t-shirts from somewhere American and eternally classic such as The Gap, others wear collections either adult or child from international designers.

People (any age) are allowed to wear what they want in Europe, the EU Constitution hasn't yet formalised an international dress code.

In Paris, your daughter will enjoy shopping at Zara, Pimkie, Etap, and C&A - at least that's where my daughter always headed when she was that age.

In London your daughter might appreciate H&M their "collections" (the quotation marks as they are not a proper fashion house per se) often contain elements found in the collections of Celine and Chloé - nice cuts, but very mass produced, however, they are very very affordable (can't really get that much cheaper in London) and nice for those who can't or don't want to buy designer pieces.

H&M is in the US these days. It does offer a good value.

(Most 13 year olds are not looking for designer pieces.)

13 year olds do wear designer pieces, if one is unfortunate enough to go to upmarkets clubs on a Saturday night, there are lots of younger teenage girls done up in designer pieces.

Accessorize was a big hit with my 13 YO. Also Boxfresh, Monsoon, Mosaic, Oasis. I'll second the motion for Zara.

Sorry about the advice about C&A. I shopped for young friends in Salzburg, Vienna, and London this summer. Guess the C&A must have been in Vienna.
Monsoon is a fun trendy chain in London, and although more pricey than the aforementioned spots is fun for nicer dresses, even had a few affordable party/ jr. prom type dresses. I don't know if your school has any 8th or 9th grade dances, but my young friends were thrilled with the the Monsoon options.
Have a great trip.

From a more practical standpoint, don't know what you are planning for laundry but if you take nylon pants/shorts for the kids, you can wash them out overnight. Mine (boys)had the zip off leg type but since it was cold, never zipped off the pants. As you know denim takes forever to dry, so any lighter cotten or fast dry material is better if you plan to wash out clothes yourself. I took Woolite & many nights rinsed out their pants. You daughter could take the nylon sweatpants for at least traveling days & will be more comfortable than in jeans. My 2 cents worth.

That's sort of interesting that C&A doesn't have a store in the UK, but does in Paris. I haven't shopped for young teens, but none of these stores have anything that I've seen that is very different than what they can buy in the US in cheap chain discount stores. C&A, in particular. If someone lives in a small town and has never seen an H&M or Zara, maybe that would be different. H&M does have different styles in different cities.