Ideas needed for 'interesting but relaxing' holiday with DCs 15 & 13!!

[PingPongBat]

Really struggling for ideas for next summer... When our DCs were small we had villa holidays, PILs came with us & so there were plenty of adults to entertain them. As they've got older we've had a few long-haul holidays with a mix of exploration, sightseeing & relaxing by the pool.

Last year we did a busy sightseeing holiday with lots of walking in very hot weather, so we promised ourselves we would relax more this summer. DH & I would also like to be away from the crowds & DH in particular needs peace & quiet as his job is really busy and stressful.

I think if we do a really quiet holiday without WiFi the DCs will never forgive us. OTH I'm concerned that they will get bored if there are absolutely no activities. None of us are that bothered about water sports, nor are we sun-worshippers, but we'd like a warm sunny week.

Anyone been for a 'interesting but relaxing' holiday with young teens? How did you hit the right balance? (PILs not coming with us this year, just the 4 of us)

How will you get there uggmum? We've flown everywhere for our hols in the last 10 years, I'm not really used to long distance driving.

TheWordFactory that sounds like our holiday last summer! Rome + Amalfi Coast. Lovely, but we only had 10 days so it was more hectic than your month

Completely understand not wanting to be forced into social situations with people you don't know/don't care about. But IME on a Club Med holiday, you could be social or anti-social - whichever you preferred. Nothing was forced, and you could mingle as much or as little as you wanted. Even at meals, you had the option of sitting with others or sitting at your own table.

What I most enjoyed was not having to arrange anything - we could simply relax. After a few days when I felt rested and was interested in more than my book and the beach, there were plenty of options. All very low-key. it was also nice that various family members could go off and do whatever interested them. We didn't have to do everything together all the time, so different interests/energy levels were catered for.

Obviously, it is not for everyone but we enjoyed it very much and would go again.

You first need to work out if you want to go to (a) a large hotel or resort with lots of activities on site (b) a boutique hotel or a villa rental where you make your own entertainment with excursions. We are very, very definitely a (b) type family!

Once you have worked that out it is much easier to focus your search.

I personally like island holidays with a very reduced tempo, but have sometimes needed to compromise for the sake of teens. Corsica or Sardinia might work for you? No culture but nice beaches and food (in Sardinia).

The Alps are great in summer :)

We are going in the train. From St Pancras to Avignon. We will hire a car there and then drive down to Les Issambres.

We are going one way on the train as after the 2 week villa stay we are going to drop the car off and spend a week making our way back by French trains and stopping in Italy and them Paris for a few days.

The train tickets were just over £100 each, one way, premier class. You can save money by going standard class. It takes just over 5 hours non stop.

The train goes on to Marseille after Avignon so this may give you more options destination wise

My inlaws have a house in the French Alps (just outside Morzine)- bloody brilliant in the summer- shedloads to do in terms of activities and just simply stunning surroundings.

We had a great holiday in Kenya a few years ago. Lots to see (animals), enough to do (pools at hotels or beach in Mombassa) and very quite. It was a bit expensive, so for us it was a one-off holiday rather than something we could do every year. The disadvantage was that, apart from swimming, there was not much exercise.

Turkey has lots of interesting places to visit (stay away from the beaches), not too far away and not too expensive.

The Alps in summer are perfect. Bring walking boots.

I would look at Canada or maybe Boston and Cape Cod. We have also been to Alaska. Our teens loved a trip to Peru as well . Lots of things to see and two other families with teens as it was an adventure holiday teen departure. We also took ours to Ecuador and another poster was raving about Belize. Just sitting in a villa would bore me to death.