I taking my two girls (13 & 17) to Paris, Florence & Venice in June. Although I could spend every day in churches & museums, I know I need to have a list of other things for them to do. If any of you have recent experiences with teenagers in these cities, I'm looking for advice! What did your kids most enjoy?

In Paris my teenage girls enjoyed the street performers in front of the Pompidou Center. The fashion show at the Galeries Lafayette was enjoyable and can be reserved via their website. We enjoyed the ballet at the Palais Garnier. And the girls enjoyed shopping on the Boulevard St. Michel for clothing in the chain stores; the same chains are also available on rue de Rennes.

We were in Rome/Florence/Venice this past February with our kids, ages 12 and 15. Last year we took them to Paris/London. My kids happen to love the museums and churches. Versailles was also a hit. I wouldn't worry about Venice, they will love it! It is great just wandering around and trying to find your way back to the hotel! My daughter also loved shopping at the outdoor market in Florence and on the Rialto Bridge in Venice. There are also many non-art museums that are fun, such as the Science Museum in Florence. They will love the trip!

You are going to have a great time! I just recently turned 18 (in Italy actually)..I was on a class trip! First of all, in Venice, you MUST take the girls on a Gondola ride. They will LOVE it! There is nothing like a Gondola ride through Venice, and guaranteed, you will love it as well.

Florence..Well, you will just fall in love with Florence. This is just my opinion, but Florence is the best city in the world! The girls will love the sights in Florence...The duomo is amazing! Also the square where Santa Croce is always has lots and lots of activities to do.

There is a lot of shopping in Florence, some amazing leather factories, some great discos, but there are specific discos that are for teens where they won't run into trouble. They are sponsored by CHA tours. Check them out on the web for more info.

Also in Venice there is an amazing glass factory that the girls would probably enjoy. Saint Mark's square is amazing and everything in Venice is breath taking. Venice is a lot of shopping! You will be over whelmed by all of the stores and all of the vendors. The cathedral is gorgeous...

If you have time, I would reccomend stopping in Bologna..I didn't get to spend too much time there and Bologna is a great place. I had the best pizza in Bologna.

Don't forget to get to the highest point of altitudes in Florence for the most breath taking pictures!...Also Assisi is not far from Florence, it's a great little city to visit, and you can visit "Parco di Pinocchio" which is an enchanted little place. It's the Italian's version of story book land and it's centered on the story of Pinocchio which is very big over there.

--Hope I could help!

When my daughter was in high school I accompanied a group of students to Italy for a tour over spring break. I do remember a lot of resistence to my going, but, after we got there (and I made myself suitably scarce), my daughter was glad I went. Why? You see all the kids had budgets and I had my credit cards. I do remember that she got a lovely leather jacket in Florence.

For girls, the key to everything at that age seems to be shopping. Actually, I was no slouch in that department on that trip either .

They also made one foray into a disco at night. I went to bed early. The next day, as the bus tooled through the Italian countryside, they were all sacked out and missed it all.

On Friday nights, Paris has a huge gathering of roller bladers. I'm not sure of the location, but check the web for info on roller skating in Paris. As for museums, make a plan ahead of time of what you really want to see. Teens only last about an hour in museums unless they are really interested in something there. In Paris, cruise the Seine. When traveling with kids, I try to take the opportunity to vary the transportation. Planes, boats, trains, cars, funicular, cable cars, gondolas, canoes. They seem to like that. In Venice, my girls seem to like to see the places they seen in pictures like Rialto Bridges, friendly pigeons in St. Mark Sq. But, the best thing of any trip is when they meet local teens. I tried to find a way to get them to meet some other kids.