Suggestions for the best vacation with Teens?

Involve the teens in the discussion of what they would like to see or how far they want to go. Fly, train or your own car?
Don't tell them "We're going here, like it or lump it".
This is a very diverse country. There are even a few places I've gone back to 2 or 3 times.

First, take Tom's advice. Second put ideas like the fantastic national parks on the list. Heaven knows they are jewels.

What teens? 13 year old boy? 19 year old girl? What are their interests? And yours? How much time do you have? What is you budget? Where have you all been before and loved (or hated) it?

Really - your question has hundreds of answers and you need to give us more info.

If it had been my daughters they would have wanted a big city with lost of museums and/or hsitorical sights and the chance to see theater and ballet.

But I know some people would love a beach? or camping or whatever

Just looking for ideas to give the kids. Yes - we make decisions as a family.
My oldest is in middle school so we are feeling like we have only about 4 more years of vacationing as a family before they start moving on.
We are just looking for some ideas on what others had as their favorite vacation.
We did Orlando (Discovery Cove, SeaWorld & Daytona) and this year we are doing Orlando (Disney Parks, Swamp Boats and Legoland). Just looking for something different.

Does your oldest have any plan to go to college? Some parents include a tour of a campus with one or more National Parks.
I still ask beaches or mountains, forests or deserts, cities or remote areas?

My teenage grandchildren alllove visiting cities, chiago, NYC, etc..

My kids also loved cities when they were that age - New York, Paris, London.....

As an aside, ours traveled with us even after they graduated from college - trust me, if you're paying, they're coming along!

Yosemite National Park and spend a couple of days in San Francisco-best the last of May or first couple of weeks in June

San Francisco and drive HWY 1 north to the Redwoods or South towards Hearst Castle/Monterey-can do this trip any time

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons-Best in the 3rd week of June

Rocky Mountain National Park-July

Duragno-Train/Zipline, Mesa Verde-June

Arches National Park, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon-best to avoid in the hot part of summer, but can be done anytime, maybe raft the Grand Canyon

Carlsbad Caverns-Best in July

Alaska-Kenai Fjords and Denali--July and August

Washington DC-anytime

Cedar Point Amusement Park if you really like roller coasters

San Antonio/Schlitterbahn Waterpark-best in the summer

Smoky Mountain/Gatlinburg area

Seattle, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, San Juan Islands, Olympic

Sequoia National Park

Choose from any of the above for a great time!!!!!

I forgot our favorite trip though. A trip to Oregon. Lots to do there.

I'm with spiro on his list. I've been to most but not all on his list and I choose to live in Oregon.
To spiro's list I would add any of the southern Utah National Parks.

spirobulldog

THANK YOU!!! for the wonderful ideas!! That is exactly what we are looking for!!
So many choices!! Love it!

I think Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon/Utah Parks are probably the three best things to see in America. I would place them well above Disney or any city trip. Just my opinion, of course. My daughter will be 18 next week. I have been to about half of our 58 national parks. The only one that I have been to that I consider a dud is Hot Springs National Park(unfortunately, it's the only one that is close to us). They are all amazing. You can go upscale or as simple and cheap as sleeping in a tent. Either way is pretty fun. You can even rent gear now at a lot of places, or even rent an RV. The historic lodges are pretty spectacular too.

You would be suprised at how much adventurous things you can do in the parks. Everything from whitewater rafting, wild caving, canyoneering, to spectacular hikes. I mean the stuff that you think you just see on tv, you can actually do. Most of it fairly inexpensive.

Not to say that you want have fun on your Disney Trip though. We did that several times too, including their cruise. Thoroughly enjoyed those. Just saying that Yosemite Valley, the geysers at Yellowstone, etc-all those places aren't manmade and are mind-blowing really.

New York city. Let them see more Of the real world. They will be I spired.

Before you present a list to your kids, just ask them where they want to go. If that elicits grunts and shrugs, ask them what they want to do on vacation. Presenting them with a list is certainly a reasonable option - but asking the first question of our son lead to a family trip to Egypt - something that would not have been on any list of mine, even if it included 100 possibilities. I was sure it was too difficult, too expensive, and too exotic. Best trip we have ever took as a family - and we traveled a lot.

Lists work for some kids better than others - keep in mind that while we as asults may know a bit about these places, to most kids they are just names with little context or information.

Gail,
Do you have a Trip Report on Egypt. Sounds interesting.

Well i fyou've been focusing on Orlando I would go somewhere very differnt - in terms of weather and activities.

Why not head to DC if yuo've never been there. Tons of faascinaitng things to see/do, very educational whle being painless - and real (instead of all fantasy).

When we were kids my parents never took us to amusement parks for vacations - felt it was a waste of time. usually did a week or two near the beach on LI - but did museums and other activities there two. And spend a lot of time in NY State, NE, souther Canada - a mix of outdoors stuff and historical sights. Never saw Disney until I was an adult - perhaps one of the reasons I just don;t "get it".

AS others have said, a lot depends on your kids' interests. My young teen loves the beach and the outdoors. She's loved our trips to Maui, the Caymans Islands, and the Turks and Caicos. She totally loves snorkeling and kayaking. She also enjoyed a combined trip to San Diego and Los Angeles where we got a little beach time in and some city sites too, including Universal Studios. We also take short trips to Arkansas where we can stay on a lake and kayak, hike, play tennis together, etc.

Depending on where you live and what your interests are, but these are some of our favorites: NYC, Baltimore/DC (I live in Baltimore and the Inner Harbor is a great spot), New Orleans (GREAT music everywhere!), North Carolina beaches, Maine beaches, Williamsburg (Busch Gardens & Colonial), a family cruise with snorkeling!
Enjoy!

And I got some great ideas for our next vacation!