Fodorites,
I'm wondering what brilliant tips you have for traveling with young teens. We are taking our 14 & 15 year olds to Ireland, and I thought you might have ideas for especially successful trips. They are a lot of fun to travel with, IMO, but we've never traveled this far for this long (10 days).

I've taken two monthlong trips with teens. One to Mexico and one from A'dam to Rome plus a bunch of shorter trips.

The big question, are they boys or girls?

Boys are easy. They go anyplace, are relatively patient, find something to eat and drink and sleep where ever without complaints.

The only request I got from my boys was to see "castles". Ruins or restored? "Ruins". Boys talk like that. LOL

Girls are a whole different story. They go anyplace as long as everyone within earshot understands they are being forced to go against their will. They find something to eat and drink after loudly complaining that everything on the menu is gross. They sleep where ever but let you know they can't believe you would make them sleep there.

When you ask a teen girl what she would like to see or do on vacation, the answer will probably be something along the line of, "I hate you, you're ruining my life, stop yelling at me."

We left one teen girl at grandma's for one trip. I figured as long as I'm ruining her life, I might as well do it affordably. She's older now and remembers we left her but also knows why.

Our kids, all ages, generally enjoyed anything to do with climbing, hiking, animals or water. Everyone really liked castle ruins. The boys liked medieval armories and crime and punishment museums.

Get them involved in the trip planning.

Have them manage their own packing (backpack or small roller).

bdjt and suze,
thanks for the advice. I think our girls are fairly low maitenance. The youngest is perky, the older a bit more moody- so bed time will probably be the most likely time to clash. At least we got two rooms so they'll have their own beds!Castles and various ruins will be on our list. We've done lots of research but are taking it as we go since weather will be a factor in Dec/Jan. I am definately going to follow your advice, suze. We have taken the girls to the library, bought and borrowed books, and searched destinations online. Packing will be right up their alley! They already have lists in progress.

By the way, bdjt, a month at a time? Lucky children!

Yes, some of their teachers thought so, others seemed a little miffed they would be out of school.

Our second daughter is easier than the first (it could be we're just smarter or able to laugh about it now). I still can't get her to say yes. The conversation would go something like this:

"Honey, do you want to go with us next month to _____?"

"I don't know. I guess so."

"You guess so, or you do?"

"I guess so."

"Well okay then we'll make other plans for you to visit grandma."

"What do you mean? I said I guess so."

"Well you didn't sound too excited so I figured you don't really want to go."

"But I said I guess so." LOL

Never too young to practice good packing! A skill that can serve you well for a lifetime ;-)

Friends of mine have 5 kids(!) and travel to Europe with them, have since they were little. Each one carries their own kid-sized backpack, even the youngest.

bdt, have you been eavesdropping on any of our family trips?

Seriously when you explained about "they go anyplace as long as everyone within earshot understands they are being forced to go against their will. They find something to eat and drink after loudly complaining that everything on the menu is gross. They sleep where ever but let you know they can't believe you would make them sleep there" - you actually made me feel a little better about things.

I have traveled quite a bit with my son starting when he was 13. I found that having a gelatto/ice cream budget for everyday indulgences was important. He also became the official "map boy". Sometimes our walks went a bit out of the way but he had a great time figuring out the direction he wanted to go using the compass. Short museum trips, bicycle rides when available, some park time to relax or run around in helped also. Have a great trip.

BabsB- thanks for sharing. I am so excited to explore the west coast of Ireland with the girls and then share what my husband and I loved about the east coast. It should make for a good mix!
They LOVE gelato- maybe they'll settle for Bailey's cheesecake!

I had to laugh this is my situation. I think teen daughters are harder to travel with than boys. I left mine home last time to hear her whine this is the trip she really wanted to go on. Mind you the 5 trips before were not what she had in mind. We are trying costa rica next month give me your blessing. ps one tip I quit asking if she was having fun.

I've found that my kids need down time in the room, so it's great if they're old enough to leave alone if you want to go out a bit.

I have also learned not to get annoyed that they may not want to see and do everything I do -- a bit of a corollary to the above.

I learned this years ago when they were little, and we were touring Quebec City, where they got the most enjoyment from watching themselves on the security camera at the funicular, rathing than admiring al the charming old architecture!

Well I have teen girls and they are nothing like what you have described here. Either I am very lucky or you just have high maitenance girls.

My girls were 14 and 15 last summer when we went to Europe for the first time. They were great travelers and enjoyed trying new foods and seeing new places. (They are not the most adventurous eaters normally, but were willing to try new stuff). They slept wherever and they got up and went when it was time to go, no complaints.
I will say this is the FIRST time in their lives they were interested in shopping for clothes. For some reason, they wanted to buy some european teen clothes. So, we did do some shopping and they like wearing their euro jeans to school.
They also liked a bike tour that we took in Paris. They said that was the fun sightseeing.
They did not enjoy the museums. We only went into a couple.
We did a few walking tours in some of the cities we went to. They would have been better if they were shorter. I think they ran around 3 hours. My husband's cousin set this up for us and having the older woman taking us from church to church was a little boring for me as well. Maybe it would have been better to have a more interesting guide? We had a great guide in the Schonbraun castle. She told the story of the Hapsburgs and that was very interesting. Also, that tour was only an hour.
So, I would make sure they both have ipods with a european charger. I would also get them each a small digital camera.
My one DD got a flip video camera for christmas this year and it is very small and lightweight and she loves it. Both of mine brought small regular digital cameras on the trip.
Each had a small backpack with emergency stash of snacks. My Dad gave them each some cash. So, I went to AAA and got them the travel pack in euros and that was worth about 100 dollars and 70 euros at the time. Something like that. I also got them each a credit card at AAA. It is a preloaded card with an exact amount of money. The card was in my name technically, but it has no name on the card itself. They signed the backs and were responsible for the cards and keeping track of their spending. It had a visa logo on it and was used in all the stores they went to. I thought this was a good option for them to have their own money, but if lost, it was replaceable. Also, if they were separated, they could use it at an ATM for cash to take a cab back to the hotel. We never lost them, but they had the security of having some safe money on them.
All in all, I found this was a great age to take the kids to europe. My 14 year old in the past was the kid that got more tired and did not like the sightseeing as much. I talked to her many times before the trip as my mother in law and her 50 year old neice were traveling along as well. I said that we would be touring daily and that she would need to suck it up and be ready on time and she was. I guess she is growing up and has more stamina now. My older daughter was ready to do this trip at 8 years old!
I would recommend some downtime for the girls. One of our hotels had an indoor pool and they went down there for an hour to relax and hang out one night. I also recommend hotels with a/c in the summer. That was the hardest thing for me to deal with! We had a/c in paris and munich because I booked that portion of the trip. When the relatives joined us and we traveled through austria, it was 8 nights no a/c. This was hard in the cities where opening the window was a must. It was so noisy. Also, no screens. Just different way of life. The girls were okay with this, but not me! I was the one who had such a hard time sleeping with the noise and the heat. So, good to have a/c in the summer anywhere in europe.
Have fun and enjoy them at this age!!

Girl on the go and all who responded,
We had an outstanding trip! I wish I had received your post before leaving, as I love the credit card and euro travel pack ideas. I will do that next time! I still can't get over all we did in ten days without feeling as though we were overdoing it.
The Christmas tree and stockings were a huge hit. However, I could never have predicted how much they would appreciate Christmas day mass at the cathedral in Galway! We attend weekly mass and they are spiritual people, but this was such an amazing experience!