Honest opinion on your favourite type of holiday

[NCTDN]

If you could do any type of holiday with a family of teenagers, what would it be?
AI complex?
Road trip?
Lakes and mountains?
Cruise?
Something else?

A villa with a private pool within easy walking distance of a town with nice bars, restaurants, and a beach. I want to be able to rent a boat and I want some sight seeing.

5* beach resort with several restaurants and great places to see less than an hour away.

Any kind of holiday where the teenagers stayed at home............

We had the best success with short city breaks (like Prague at Christmas), and UK cottage holidays with a swimming pool.

All inclusive with watersport activities available

Have one teenager but go on holiday with him and my 2 sisters. We usually do Greek Island villa with pool, self catering but eat out apart from breakfast.

Do some walking, bit of sight seeing, hire a motor boat (ds drives it), bit of beach, bit of pool, maybe kayaking/pedal boats if available.

Adventure road trip somewhere exotic and warm. Private car and driver (who is flexible and helpful). Luxurious, beautiful accommodation with pool (small upscale hotels rather than big complex) staying at each a few nights. Interesting activities close enough to accommodation that we can do an activity each day but still have some pool time: mix of sporty, cultural, wildlife - things which will appeal to both DD and adults. Amazing food, including availability of things that DD will enjoy (not nuggets and pizza, but eg plain fish and rice).

You did ask

A cruise, every time!! Somewhere warm with interesting ports, good food and a drinks package...and the kids in the cabin next door, not in the sofa bed of our cabin!!!
Love villas, love camping, love city breaks...but for sheer relaxation you can't beat driving to Southampton and just getting on the boat!!!

I've got my eye on Costa Rica for mine atm. Previous wins have included theme parks, water parks, a sprinkling of history as long as not too laboured, 'cool' destinations. We are now at a point where AI is not as necessary, but there is still a requirement for a near constant drip feed of food and drinks. Self catering works when there is a balance between doing and chilling. I find planning an early start one day necessitates a bit less excitement the next. Mine is v game and most anything goes, as long as I factor in the chilling bit.

What we do - French caravan park

Cruise every time

If you choose cruise, how do you do that with accommodation? Aren't they almost always twin rooms?

Something that involves outdoorsy stuff. Skiing is a favourite.
Ideally somewhere that also has other stuff to do, historical and other interesting sites, some adventure or sporting activities. Different culture. As well as normal stuff like a pool, nice places to eat etc.
Basically we don't really tend to choose holidays that are essentially England with sunshine. Or those that involve spending most days in a sun lounger.

I haven’t got teens yet but love a sightseeing followed by beautiful nature eg the Maldives.

2-3 weeks mixing it up. Few days in a big city or two, a week relaxing in a waterside cottage, tick off an iconic location or two, travel by plane, train, boat, and as little as possible by car.

Skiing!!!

An AI hotel, somewhere hot, lots of wine and nice food and laying by the pool/beach all day. Water park for the teens.
I like the idea of a villa and a pool but don't go on holiday to cook.

When we have been on cruises there has always been a room for the 3 teens together. Must admit, they have been ‘inside’ cabins but they only use them to sleep.

We've just come back from an AI that gave you the option to eat at a few restaurants in town for an additional supplement.

I thought it was a pretty good idea, and would definitely look to do similar on future holidays.

I have to say the thought of AI and buffet style meals would bore me after the first couple of days, so that seems a good option.

With my teenagers our ideal holiday is self catering somewhere off the tourist trail but with local shops and restaurants within driving distance. Good cycling opportunities and interesting historical/cultural sites within reasonably easy reach are essential.
Belgium ticks pretty much all the boxes for us - I have no idea why people perceive it as a dull country as it is full of interesting places. If we are going somewhere hotter, then we look for all of the above plus a pool and ideally somewhere to sail.
Quirky accomodation is a plus. We stayed in a windmill in the middle of nowhere last year which was fantastic. We usually book everything independently and either go just as our family or sometimes with extended family but we like plenty of privacy on holiday. We don't like big complexes or campsites etc - an isolated cottage is much more our thing.
I have fairly nerdy kids though. They are happy with each other /their cousins for company, not really bothered about socialising with other people and actively dislike loud entertainments and crowds....much like their parents really! Our kind of holiday really suits us, but I know a lot of other people would hate our trips and find them dull or not relaxing enough. We have tried hotels a few times and I quite enjoy not cooking etc for the first 2 or 3 days but then I start to get bored. We've enjoyed hotel stays a lot more out of season, but in the summer they are definitely not our thing. I can see why other people enjoy All Inclusive holidays though. If you are going to make a lot of use of the hotel facilities they make a great deal of sense. Lots of kids seem to really enjoy the clubs and activities that are laid on, but my lot are basically a bit antisocial.

We tend to do ours around wildlife and watersports as both the kids love animals and watersports. Done Costa Rica, Australia and Norway / Sweden past three years and Thailand / Malaysia / Borneo next summer.

The children both strongly prefer AI with watersports on site but that's only been possible in Costa Rica. My favourite places are staying where you can learn from the people - in Finland we stayed with a family who did wild bear trips, in Australia with a lady who used to be a vet who looked after injured possum, tree kangaroos, pademelon, bettong etc, in Sweden stayed on alpaca farm. For the kids the first question is always is there wifi!

Cruise ship cabins differ wildly, as do their regulations on allowing under 18s to share a cabin (for example P&O refuse to let under 18s share even an inside cabin, Celebrity allow it, as do others...) you can also get 3&4 berth cabins ( and many convert a twin room to a double)

As a pp wrote, any holiday where the teen isn't present. By mutual agreement, DD went to Camp Beaumont after she turned 14, because otherwise there would have been murder done. We holidayed together again when she was 20, (self catering in Malta) along with future Son-out-law. A brilliant fortnight, and as soon as DGS turns 4 and can swim we'll do it again.

No holiday as they’re always moaning.

Cruises are good for teens. Different places to see each day, you can get a good variety in terms of things to do (city, culture, beach etc) plus there are plenty of opportunities for them to hang out on board with others the same age.