We're struggling with this right now, trying to find a side trip at Christmas while visiting family in Germany. Right now we have it narrowed down to Prague and Vienna. I asked the kids what they want to do, and "snowboarding in the Alps" is what they came up with.

I think it depends on what type of travelers you are. We've come to the conclusion that we are a family of "do-ers", not "see-ers". We are also more nature-oriented than city-oriented. I can only drag them to so many museums, castles and cathedrals. They are not shoppers and don't enjoy sitting in outdoor cafes for hours. Ask them their favorite parts of their last Italian vacation and none of those activities will be mentioned. What they do remember fondly: water sports in Lago Maggiore, playing soccer every afternoon beside the lake with the local and other European kids,(DS's very favorite part of the trip), hiking the villages of Cinque Terre, then swimming in the sea at Monterosso, riding bikes along the wall of Lucca, etc.

I agree with the poster who suggested renting a place for a week or more in an area where great day trips are possible. It's difficult to decide to do this, as our temptation is to pack as much sight-seeing as possible into a European vacation. But our last vacation convinced us that this is the way to go with our family.

Oh, and they also loved Costa Rica. Our itinerary was very similar to missypie's.

lago di garda for windsurfing, lago di como.

div

Second for the Swiss Alps. We travelled through 4 countries with 12 and 15 year old girls a few years ago. Zermatt was the favorite by far.

lammom -

My older daughter (17) loves everything Italian. I think she would rate her favorite cities:

Florence (wants to live here)
Rome
Paris
London
Venice
Salzburg

Of course she loves Zurich which is where we live. She only spent a quick minute in Amsterdam but would like to return.

Neither of my kids go crazy over the Swiss Alps but then wouldn't that figure when they're so close?

They had a fantastic time hanging out for a full week in Santorini and are pushing for another sun vacation. Mom is boring and likes to incoporate "culture" so we'll see...

My younger daughter (14) is not much of a city gal but I think the trip she was most fascinated by was to Morocco. It was perfect for the non-museum type because just walking around is an education in itself. She also loved Salzburg. I think all teens love it there.

Good luck!

gruezi

Two children (now 14-girl, 11-boy)
2004 - Normandy (D-Day beaches, in particular); Gimmelwald, Switzerland; Burgundy; Paris.

2007 - Cinque Terre (Vernazza and the hiking trails); Rome; Hilton Garden Inn at the Rome airport.

We just went to Istanbul in April and my daughter loved it (age 17). She loved the culture, mix of old and new world, and especially just loved the people- she thought that they were among the friendliest of places she has been. She really wants to go back and see more of Turkey.

But...she also dearly loves Italy (especially Rome) and Israel.

Next on her list would be Paris, then Prague.

She has been to Vienna, London and several cities in Spain

Barcelona is manageable, and has a great beach.

In addition to places you have visited in Europe, our kids enjoyed

Munich/southern Germany and Provence

For a next trip in Europe, my younger son would pick Pompeii/Paestum/Amalfi Coast.
His older brother would pick Spain including both Barcelona and Andalusia

They also both enjoyed trips to Mexico and Peru very much and the younger one really liked Costa Rica. We are doing a trip to Guatemala next year for more Mayan ruins

Cinque Terre, Venice.

My son has pretty much enjoyed all of our trips through the years, for this reason or for that reason. Although probably at the top of his list were the "beach" trips, once to the Amalfi coast, and once to the Cote D'Azur, he just loved the Scandinavian countries trip we took a few years ago, especially seeing a midnight sun.

Daughter (now 22) loves Lisbon, Barcelona and Prague. She's studying abroad right now and has skipped trips to Paris and Amsterdam--she's been twice with the family and said that was enough. DO NOT let your kids go to Ibiza in season--drugs are like candy (serious drugs). She does not like Brussels and thought Berlin was ok.

Son (19) loves Madrid, Prague, Berlin and Paris. His favorite country is Spain--all of it.

Son (15) hates to travel. I believe he was switched at birth.

The older two liked Krakow, but mainly because of our visit to Auschwitz so for them I don't think they would want to go back.

12yr old DD loved Switzerland , Wengen specifically,, wants to grow up and live there forever.

Then Paris, followed by Rome.
Wasn't thrilled by Florence.

Had to smile at your post bozama. A friend and her family visited Switzerland a few years ago and her youngest daughter loved it so much she ended up going to a boarding school in Switzerland and graduated this year.