Holiday ideas for 12 & 16 year old

[myhouseistoocold]

Last year's holiday (villa in southern Spain with a pool) was a disaster - youngest was too hot and once he got over the novelty of having a pool he was then bored. We were in a rural area and all the restaurants opened way past his bedtime (and hunger time) and all the food was too authentic for his fussy tastes.

In previous years we've gone to Cornwall, but he always used to be a 'go anywhere' type kid until he hit the pre teen moany phase.

I have no idea what kind of holiday to plan to please everyone. DS12 likes sporty active things (apart from cycling or long walks that don't have enough purpose), DS16 has more grown up tastes and likes culture, discovering new places, historic sites and cycling. DH likes the beach and the rest of us find that boring and too hot and sandy. I just want everyone to be happy.

My teenager moaned endlessly of heat and boredom last year - we went to the South of France. I asked her what she would actually enjoy doing and this year we are going interrailing around Eastern Europe. The cost for the various apartments and travel is no more than I paid for a mobile home last year. She is actually quite excited about and has been researching things to see and do already.

Sounds interesting, thanks Morsie. Not sure my youngest would like moving around but I'm just idea collecting at this stage so won't rule anything out.

Take them to New York. There's every kind of food you could want. Loads of culture. Cycling in Central Park. Roller skating. Tell your husband the holiday after that will be a seaside holiday.

We stay in French campsites (canvas holidays or eurocamp, or independent with the campsite).

You can pick somewhere with culture, beaches and sport. Children have a ready-made pack of similar ages to play with, or flirt with, depending on their age.

Have you considered a cruise? There's stuff to do on board, he will meet others his own age, plus the rest of you will get culture/historical sites/beaches.

The Azores? I vaguely mentioned it as a possible Easter break destination and my 12yr old surprised me by looking at it on Google and seeing what you could do there and being pretty enthusiastic (for him). It does look as if it has lots to do and I'm quite excited now too!

Another successful trip with 11 and 13yr olds was Germany - we flew to Stuttgart had a week on a Eurocamp type site in the Black Forest then went to a youth hostel in Lindau, Lake Constance.

I tend to find that glamping or hostelling works best as there are other kids for them to knock about with and they have a bit of independence as they're 'trapped' on a site.

We're doing it this year in Portugal which will hopefully be successful too.

New York is a v good idea.
My children like the opp to make friends on holiday they'd be bored stiff in a villa by themselves.
Neilsons and eurocamp, first choice holiday village rhodes have been good in the past for the opp to hang out with other kuds and do some structured activities.

Duinrell in Netherlands would be good for both 12 and 16 year olds. Or center parcs.

I'll look all these up, thank you. I also found some articles online like this one - www.101holidays.co.uk/holidays-for-teenagers/

Definitely a med cruise - Rome, Pompeii etc for your dd and loads of fun activities for your ds and he’ll easily make friends at that age. Plus when he gets hit there’s lots of indoor activities whilst he cools down, cinema etc

Intrepid do amazing family holidays. I did this one on one of their adults-only week’s and am just waiting for my two to be old enough to take them.

Cycle the Camino de Santiago - loads of exercise, history and culture.

How about getting a villa somewhere near some largeish cities and then giving each of them a couple of days and a budget. They decide what to do for the days, where to eat. It's fair because they have an equal number of days. And it's good for life skills - they have to work out public transport, cycle routes, entry prices etc. If they don't organise they don't get to moan.

Oh, and try not eating at night - eat at lunchtime. It's cheaper, keeps you busy in the heat of the day and fuels crazy walking/cycling endeavours.

We’ve done a couple of Neilsson holidays with our teenager, loads of different activities for everyone and other teenagers to ‘hang out’ with. You would need to choose the resort carefully to be near somewhere with culture/history to visit.

I think holidays with teenagers can be very tricky, I remember when I was a teenager and loathed family holidays, I am quite ashamed when I look back now as my parents took us to really nice places but I would just sulk & not join in. . Now I am 60 & my parents are in their 80s & we have some good holidays together .

We went to Tenerife with my then 12 and 14 year olds and they had an amazing time.

Jet ski
parascending
water park
helicopter ride
horse riding
mini golf
monkey park
medieval show

There are so many wateraports to do, also whale spotting, paint balling, snorkling, mountain excursion,huge zoo etc available there too - we ran oit of time to do everything!

Admit it wasn't the cheapest (it was a special trip for us) but we actually found so many deals of we pre-booked in the UK before we left.

It was a perfect teen holiday according to our boys.

We had a similar problem when ours were that sort of age, though DD and DS and not a big budget. Our best holidays were in Wales in holiday cottages when we took two kayaks and all the gear. They both took to it and went kayaking every day together. They are both quite competitive with each other which helped!

It's probably not what you want to hear but a big busy all inclusive hotel is perfect for easily bored teens who don't want to eat authentic local food. Somewhere like Tenerife which also has the most fab water park.

Also second a cruise. Sufficient culture mixed with wall to wall entertainment and unlimited choice of food.

For 20 years I tailored our holidays to best suit two DSs. Now they are grown up and still come along on holiday with us occasionally they love a cruise.

Mark Warner
Kids clubs are great and the Indy clubs for teenagers are really popular- they even take them clubbing in the evenjng!
Load for adults to do or not do, beach, classes, various sports.
Food is so so but it’s not what you go for really

Thanks, loads of great ideas! Actually feeling excited about the idea of a holiday now!

My children are similar ages to yours and we also had an unsuccessful villa with a pool holiday in Spain.

I recommend the German Bavaria region. Hike in the alps, swim in the lakes,
visit castles and it’s not far from cities with a art like Munich or Salzburg. We flew into Munich.

We also enjoyed New York and Washington. Tons to do for teens they forget to moan.

@beardedmum
Where did you stay ? I would love to visit Germany

Second Bavaria, look around the Nuremberg area
My 13 and 10 year olds loved it last summer

I would recommend Italy for a fussy eater. All the lovely sun, villas with pools and history of Spain but even the most authentic restaurant will serve pizza, pasta and ice cream.

I'd recommend Lake Garda area for swimming, walking, cable cars, paddle boarding and bike riding. A day trip to Venice and / or Verona and there's an amazing outdoor water park in Milan.

Another option is Annecy in France for all of the above but you can do a day trip to CERN if your boys are into science.

I see you've posted in short haul and not too sure of your budget, but we have done California road trips the last few years and they have been amazing. My dc are younger and they were fine with moving about - we've visted so many iconic places they have been truely spoilt, but it made for amazing holidays.

Duinrell - a Mumsnet favourite. It’s in zholland and has a theme park and water park next to it, great for keeping teens entertained.

There’s all the major caravan sites on site - Eurocamp, canvas etc, or you can camp. The theme park is free to use.

Amsterdam isn’t too far away, plus there are lovely sandy beaches nearby. There’s good cycle paths in the area as well.

It’s definelty a good place to go for teens,

Kick - how long does it take to get to Annecy, and what would you recommend there tomdo?