I am planning a trip to Italy in June-13 with teens (two adults, two teens - they will be 17 & 14). I know it is early, but I am booking airfare now using FF miles (and I have to book WAY in advance to get good FF mile tickets). SO I am also thinking about itinerary.

I know my teens like to do things with mom & dad - but they also like to have other teens around to share some experiences with peers on our vacations. SO I have a question about the organized/group tours (like Globus, or Trafalgar, or ...) : : do they have many teens, or do they tend to be mostly older adults ? If they have a good mix of teens & adults, then they will be a good choice for us - if not, we will just "go on our own". For example I am looking at the Globus "Best of Italy" tour (starting June-8 2013) - 12 days total, Rome/Florence/Venice/Amalfi. For people who have taken this type of tour before : what is the mix of ages I am likely to see ?

BTW : Tauck is "out of budget" (I see 20K for family of 4 for their "Family Bridges" tour !!), so budget-wise I am looking at the Globus-level of tours...

I think most schools in Europe are still in session in June ( England is) so later in the month there would probably be more...but I don't think a lot of families take group tours...the people I see on tour are generally not teenagers unless they are with a school tour.

I think you would be better off doing it yourself and then focusing on activities that the teens would like and letting them go out for dinners etc on their own. Grout tours usually have very early mornings and are very structured (generally) so keep that in mind when you are assessing the alternatives.

Happy planning!

I totally agree with the post above. It's likely to be at least somewhat cheaper, too. Any chance that one or two of their friends could pay their own way and join you? I know that may not be quite what you had in mind for a family vacation, but it can work very well. THe kids have built-in companionship and the parents may even get some time off to wander by themselves.

This arrangement has worked very well for us over the years. Otherwise, it's luck of the draw whether you meet other teens or not, unless you can find some of those host programs in the cities that pair you up with native Romans for instance who share your interests. I think those programs are mostly meant for adults, but you may find something similar for kids.

I am saying all this as the mom of two now young adults, who has traveled quite a bit with her kids!

I would contact the tour companies but I think you will find mostly mature/older adults - and likely no other kids (many tours don't allow 12 and unders).

Frankly - I can think of nothing more painful for two active teens than very long days sitting on a bus and a lot of 7 am starts.

Much better to do your own family trip - so everyone gets to see some things they want to see/do and you;re less confined to a group with different interests.

I took a Trafalgar tour of Italy and Greece five years ago. It was the last week of June/first week of July. My sense is that you will have no way of knowing ahead of time what the age makeup will be. I believe there were about 35-40 people on our tour, and maybe 5 or 6 teens. Four different families with kids (a few were younger than 13). About 6 people in 20s to early 30s. Majority of people were 40s and 50s, some of whom were parents of aforesaid teens. One very intrepid grandma who seemed to have a good time.

For what it's worth, it's the only organized tour I took. I like having more control over hotel selection, and I found many of the included meals were just not what I was looking for.

I have taken 4 tours...3 with Cosmos (Globus Gateway's economical option) and one with Globus. There were no children on any of the tours we took (late September/early October so the kids are back to school). It was mostly 50+ but there were perhaps a dozen or so under that ago.

You may have to pay the adult price for the children if you want two rooms. It is more rare to find rooms with two queen beds in Italy.

Personally, I think that the rigid schedule could drive your kids crazy...having every day planned out for you with very little flexibility.

I found this tour which caters to families with teens (Globus, Colosseum to Eiffer Tower, 11 days). Yes its a bit of "if its tuesday it must be..." - but all participants must have at least one under-21 in their party, so lots of teens guaranteed.

http://www.globusjourneys.com/Produc...&content=print


On my own I would do this by myself, but my wife & kids liked the idea of doing a group trip with many others in their age group; and my daughter and wife both light up at the prospect of seeing Paris "you mean I get to see Paris as well ??". And sitting on a bus with a bunch of other teens will not faze the kids I am sure - in fact they will probably enjoy it a lot.


Now I have to make a decision soon - if I do this tour, I have to book my return flight from Paris instead of Rome, and with FF miles I cannot wait but must decide soon...

Take a look at Road Scholar tours - they have family trips.

I have always been pleased with the quality of Globus/Cosmos Tours and feel they give decent value for money. If you have found a tour that is geared for families with teens, and the teens are keen to go that route, I say jump aboard!

Keep in mind that there are extra costs that you need to take into account for group tours. Tips to the tours driver and tour guide, optional excursions which you will feel left out if you don't take (and in some cases have no option as your hotel may not be central enough to wander around on your own) and extra meals that are not included. You should budget for these items accordingly in advance so you won't have any disappointing surprises along the way.

Good luck with your planning.

I took time to look at this tour. I am sorry to say, I would never do it. I took students on tours that were pretty busy, but this one is truly not good. Take a hard look at it. You will be paying for an awful lot of travel time and very little actually seeing anything of Italy or France.

As I read it, you have only 5&1/2 days of actual sight seeing and at least four days of travel while there. Pretty expensive bus time. Think how much you are spending for every hour you are sitting on the bus. Here is a probable time frame - based on my experience.

Day 1: depart US
Day 2: arrive Rome, get into city, hotel check in afternoon. Chill time, perhaps a walking tour in evening. Maybe a half day altogether.
Day 3: Rome (1 day)
Day 4: Drive to Pisa (2-3 hours - most of morning), tour Pisa (3 hours), drive to Montecassini in time for dinner - not much to do in Montecassini, but there used to be a disco dance place that you could taxi to if your kids are into that - don't even know if it is still there though. You would have to ask at the hotel. Anyway - less than half the day sight seeing, rest on bus.
Day 5: Drive to Florence (about an hour), tour Florence 3/4 hours, drive to Venice (four hours including bathroom stop), check into hotel in time for dinner. If hotel is right in Venice, you could walk around in the evening. If not, then may be nothing to do after dinner. So, another day that is more than half driving and less than half sightseeing or doing anything.
Day 6: Venice (1 day)
Day 7: Half day drive to Lake Maggiore, half day on the lake. Another half day of driving, half of being someplace.
Day 8: Switzerland (1 day)
Day 9: travel to Paris in time for dinner
Day 10: Paris (1 day)
Day 11: fly home - uaually early - no sightseeing.

Understanding your concern about using your miles, why not pick your two bases, fly into one and out of the other (giving yourself the most time you can for the trip), then plan the rest of the trip with stops in between. Example: Into Venice, out of Rome: lots to do in between with not too much travel. Or, into Paris, out of Rome - 4-5 days each - fly in between. It looks like you are trying to make a quick decision about too many conflicting things: use miles, have friends for kids, what to see, see two countries, which tour/company, etc. You can't get everything in one quite short trip, and by trying to do so, will have a trip that is not enjoyable and does nothing you really want, except use up those miles.

Most people who post on this forum are independent travelers. Some of us have used tours...we took a tour to China, which was fantastic...but I also know a couple people who have done their own China trips successfully. But Europe is pretty easy to plan and quite enjoyable when you are on your own. The primary cities you want to see are very international, entertaining tourists from all over the world, and I've been surprised how much English is used, particularly in Italy and France, in the 10-12 years we've been traveling like this.

My cousin has gone on multiple tours and had a terrific time. She's traveled with her sister, friends, and her husband and grown children and they have enjoyed their trips. I don't know which company she uses, but frankly, when we compare the trips to the same destinations we've gone on our own, we hit much better restaurants, and seem to do things that are more tailored to our tastes than they visit on tours. I know we stay in more interesting hotels with better views and locations, and end up with better photos. And we end up spending about the same!

I think your family might enjoy two destinations, done well. Fly into Paris and spend 5 nights there, then take the train to Amsterdam and spend 5 nights there (and fly home from AMS).
OR you could pair Paris with Venice -- two cities that really scream "Europe" to most people.

You could either fly between Paris and Venice or take a train. OR Paris and London. Maybe your coupling of destinations would depend upon where you can redeem your miles....

Get the kids to help plan what they want to see where. You may want to change the days spent based on what they want to see the most. If you spend 5 nights to a week in one location, you can rent an apartment rather than stay in a hotel. This is very cool because you get the feel of living in another city (it also helps you food budget )

If you want to read a full day-by-day report of Globus "Best of Italy", my trip report is here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...the-report.cfm

I went in May 2011 and everyone was 18+, but thankfully, as you will read in the report, I got on very well with a brother and sister that were 20 and 18 (I was 20 at the time). Definitely nobody younger than that, and those two were college students, not high school, so I'm not sure. If you got a good tour director, your kids would love it! The tour director makes or breaks it, and the one we had was very funny and VERY Italian. I liked him, but some of the older members on the tour found him annoying. His name is Salvatore, if you're wondering...

Looks like a pretty hectic schedule. We chose a tour that was concentrated on a small area (Southern Italy and Sicily the other was Vienna, Budapest and the Czech Republic. We spent several nights at each destination. When you leave to go from one destination to another on these types of tours, you are typically looking at a very early morning departure.

We have done both tours and independent travel (I was a travel agent for many years so I got some great deals on bus tours). I think you want to be careful to find a tour that strikes a balance and gives you time to enjoy your destination.

Hi - I took a Globus tour in July a couple of years ago. I was the only single person. There was a family with teenagers and a few "younger" couples and the rest I would say were in their 60s. I was in the middle of the pack except for the parents of the teenagers (I have a few of my own). It was a good mix. We had a very nice group of people and we mingled in the evenings as well as doing our own thing. I have since traveled alone and enjoy the experience, but I would do a tour again.

If you do decide on a tour be sure you understand the rules and the description:

Typically you have to have you luggage packed and outside you hotel room door by 7 am

There are long hours riding on the bus and stops for "shopping" for tscotkes that no one really wants

In tour language a "view" of a sight mean you see it out the bus window as you drive by; a "stop" is a 5 minute photo op outside the sight - only a "visit" means you actually go inside - and often not for very long.

I would figure out what you really want to see and figure out if the tour will get you there.

We started out doing trips with kids when they were 11 and 14 - with almost two weeks divided between London and Paris. They loved both - esp that they were able to practice their French and go off to do teen things during a couple of days that we were doing galleries or thing they didn't particularly want.

It's vital that you get your kids involved in this decision - so there are no surprises along the way.

I recall on my first coach tour we stopped in Cologne. We had 1 hour and 15 minutes to see the cathedral, get lunch, use the facilities and shop. There are times when you can feel very rushed on some of these tours. You can also spend 3 hours in between rest stops on the longer trips. They discourage use of the onboard facilities and tell you it should only be used in case of an emergency. I guess the dumping fees are expensive.

Like Kelsey22, I would also do a tour again, but would pick it carefully, and not one that spends almost half the time while in Europe on a bus. For me, a balance of 1&1/2 to 3 hours max travel in a day with 5-7 hours for sight seeing is fine. Even those, I want mixed with whole days of no travel. I also wouldn't take a tour with so many hotel stops - so much time taken up with getting off the bus, checking everybody in and then lots of time loading up in the morning, standing around waiting for everybody.

I think what happens is so many people want to "see everything", the tour companies try to satisfy that desire by designing itineraries that go all over creation. People can go home and say, "What a trip! 12 days and we covered a lot of ground. We saw Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower, Venice, Michaelangelo's David, The Leaning Tower, Assissi, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Isle of Capri." For some, it might seem like a "drive by photo shoot", but for others it may be the trip of a life time.

It may also seem that Fodorites are critical of tours, but mostly, I think, we want the poster to get a clear picture of what they are buying, so whatever they choose will be great for them.

Correct Sassafrass...I sold many organized tours when I was a travel agent and had many satified clients. I think it's about meeting expectations and going in with your eyes open as to what you're getting. Like you say, a sample is enough for some people and others want to emerse themselves in the culture and linger to soak it up.

Crazyfortravel, I may not be correct, but criticisms of tours sometimes seem to be from people who don't appear to actually have taken one, and they lump all tours together when there are so many different kinds. I hate when they say all the hotels are poorly located or you have to always get up super early. No, depends on the tour. Unfortunately, first time travelers don't always know where to look for a tour that will meet their needs and fulfill their expectations.

A lot of people do that with cruises also. I see so many blanket statements made by someone who obviously has no first hand experience, but the statements are often made with no qualifiers.

A little bit like the blind men touching the elephant.

Wonder what Ashta has decided. At least the tour he is looking at is geared to teens, so his kids should have fun, and kids like to see things quickly and move on. Perhaps it would be a good tour for him after all.
CFT, what did you think?