Mom-teen travel - group tour or not?
 

I am planning a 3-week tour to the UK in June with my son (age 14). We are trying to decide whether to take a tour or not.<BR><BR>I have read the postings on this site, but would like feedback from others in similar situations.<BR><BR>We have had two great trips to Europe before, and did independent trips with a combination of trains and driving. But this time my husband can't travel with us and frankly, I'm somewhat timid about taking on all the transportation issues as the only adult.<BR><BR>I have researched the tours as recommended on this site, and have narrowed our choice down to a leisurely 2-week trip that hits most of the sites we are interested in. The tour uses very nice hotels in central locations. My plan is to follow up with a week in London on our own, and to make day trips to a few other sites.<BR><BR>Your comments are appreciated.

I have never traveled with any child,but from my experience with teens and traveling in U.K., if I may offer some suggestion.<BR><BR>I think it would be hard for a teenage boy to travel in a tour with people much older than himself(travel with a similar ages group would be quite different),and follow regid sechedule.<BR><BR>Traveling by train/bus in U.K.is qute easy and conveinent. There are usually hotels near train stations and town cnetres. If you could enlist your boy's input, for him to figure out the itineries, train/bus routes and timetables on websites (kids are good at it), perhaps he would enjoy the trip more.

As a mom of two teenagers, I agree with the first poster. London is quite doable on your own, and I think your son will enjoy it more when he can pick and choose at his own pace.<BR>We went to London last summer ( stayed in Knightsbridge) and did not find it at all daunting. <BR>Most hotels will be able to help with sightseeing arrangements and suggestions for restaurants, etc.<BR>To see many of the sights in London, you can hop on and off one of the guided double decker bus tours offered by companies like the BIG BUS. You can also take guided walks like the Jack the Ripper walk, or the Rock n' Roll walk, which my kids really loved. Too, there's the London Dungeon ( this is a stop on one of the BIG BUS tours), a Sherlock Holmes museum near a small Beatles emporium and shop, and Mme. Tussauds, which is fun for kids.<BR>My kids also enjoyed seeing the London production of MAMA MIA. You can get theatre tickets online for most London productions. I can't remember who we used, but I'm sure there must be other posts about it.<BR>London's a wonderful city, and you'll have a great time!

Weadles, I would agree with you if it was just London, but I think what LGW is saying is the first two weeks will be outside London in the country (to tour or not) and then they will spend the final week on their own in London. I think this is a good plan. Don't assume there won't be other teens on the tour. If it's at a normal school break time (June?) your son may find some friends on the trip. I'm not usually a fan of tours, but if it goes where you want to go &amp; the accomodations suit you, I think it may be more relaxing &amp; enjoyable for both of you. Just make sure the co. is reliable etc. The ideal situation would be to find another Mom &amp; son to join you (either with or without the tour), but if that's not possible, I'd take the tour and, as you say, spend the last week on your own in London.<BR>When I was a teen, my parents had planned to take me on my first trip to Europe as a graduation present. My Father couldn't go because of business, so my Mother &amp; I took a tour. A friend of hers decided to join us with her daughter. It was an &quot;if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium tour&quot; that wasn't great, but we had lots of laughs, fun &amp; great stories. There were a few other teens with parents (it was Easter vacation)as well. I have fond memories of the trip despite the less than ideal conditions.

Thanks for the responses. That's just the type of information I was looking for. I can handle all the travel in and around London (we have been there before), but the rest of our trip includes York, Edinburgh, Lake District and North Wales. It's the traveling from place-to-place that worries me.<BR><BR>We are trying to find another parent-teen to travel with, but haven't had success yet. Hopefully we will meet others on the trip.

LGW- Here's another idea. Not sure whether it's &quot;doable&quot; between now &amp; June. Why not try to get your son a pen pal in one of the places you plan to visit. If you do a text search here, I remember at least one string with websites &amp; info on how to accomplish this. That way, even if there are no kids on your tour, he will have someone to meet up with at one location. The schools let out late though in England. I think the kids don't get summer vacation until July.

I think I can understand your concerns, after all, you want this to be a vacation for yourself and not something you worry about or dread. <BR><BR>Actually, I went on a tour myself once that covered Ireland, Scotland and English countryside (some cities) and there was a woman on there with a teenage son. I don't think he had a terrible time, as in many ways, it wasn't too different than him being only with his mother (in fact, probably better than that because he didn't have to be responsible totally for his mother -- in this case, that was more the situation). He was a charming, well-mannered boy of about 16, very smart and curious, and he sort of became the darling of the tour group. Now this was a TWA Getaway tour which doesn't exist any more, but they had a wide variety of ages from 30-75; probably about 1/3 were retirement age or seniors.<BR><BR>It sounds like you've really researched your tours correctly and will choose wisely on that score. If it's a tour that gives you plenty of free time and you are on your own for most meals, it shouldn't be too different for him than traveling only with you. On the tours I did, I was one of the younger ones (about age 35), and so I took a few of the teens out a couple times (to a disco once, horseback-riding another) as a closer contemporary to them than their parents. <BR><BR>So, I think this can work out perfectly fine if you choose a tour group that doesn't mainly appeal to older retirees. Even if there aren't any other teens or young people on the tour, it should be okay. On the tours I was on (only two), it was a case of a single parent traveling with a teen child when teens were on the trip.

Hi LGW, Last spring I took my two teens (15 and 18) to England &quot;independently.&quot; I had been before, so knew what we needed to see, and am so glad we did it on our own. The kids learned the tube system quickly and found their way around the city quickly. Because we were not locked into a schedule, we could be flexible in our plans (Sadly, the Queen Mum died during the time we were there, but we were able to switch our itinerary and see the funeral procession) I have also done the escorted tour with my mother, and while it was relaxing (someone to look after us, take care of the bags, arrange hotels,etc) we did lose a lot of flexibility. We were dropped at the hotel by 4:30 away from city centers. Perhaps some of the seniors appreciated the down time, but your son may get a little fidgety at this. <BR> Go on your own schedule - Have fun!