What have been your best holidays with young teens?

[TwoMagnificentLabradors]

We are looking for an august 10 day holiday with DS12 and DD14. We enjoy being outdoors, cultural trips, museums. Not really ones for hours on the beach, but enjoy a lake or private pool. We normally self cater, often to the Alps, but also enjoy US National Parks and city hotels. We’ve never really done package/ resort holidays. Often mix city break with a nature/ beach spot. We are stuck for ideas this year and fancy something different.

What have been your best summer holidays with kids this age?

Universal resort Florida. Was our best holiday ever as a family. When 2 adults, 2 teens.

Best holiday before that was Sorrento in a hotel with pool, with trips to Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Capri.

Thank you. I’d be up for Florida, maybe with a National Park in the trip too. We stayed in Sorrento last Easter and did those day trips, and we all really enjoyed it.

Dordogne. Lots of caves and Neolithic dwellings www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/natural-heritage/prehistoric-caves. Castles www.perigord.com/en/liste/chateaux/. Canoeing and boat trips on the river. Pretty town, nice food, loads to do. We've stayed near Sarlat and Les Eyzies before. Or this boat trip www.leboat.co.uk/boating-holidays/france/camargue through the Camargue to the Med. Only a couple of locks and the kids could help drive the boat.

Ah, we loved the Dordogne. Sadly the kids were a bit to young to get the most out of the river activities, but we had a great time. I love the idea of a boating holiday!

Jamaica, The Rockhouse in Negril and Jakes at Treasure Beach. Heaven.

Greece - couple of days in Athens followed by island hopping.

We did an Adriatic cruise with grandparents as well, and that was a fun week. Lots of different cities to explore in a short time. DS was 11, but we are planning another for next year when he will be 14.

We've also enjoyed Amsterdam and the Efteling theme park which would be good for those ages.

Denver, few days in the city then up into the mountains, Rocky Mountain National Park, loads of activities eg alpine slides, trail riding, white water rafting, try and get a concert at Red Rocks, Valley of the Gods, bouldering.

I read that as Arctic cruise at first and got quite excited. Adriatic also sounds wonderful!

Also recommend Cyprus.

Canada. A road trip in Ontario - Toronto, Niagara Falls, hiking in Algonquin national park, white water rafting on the Ottawa river, short city breaks in Ottawa and Montreal.

DC were 13, 15 and 17 at the time.

We did 3 weeks in florida with 12&15 year olds last year. Did the theme parks but also went over to the Gulf of Mexico, boat trips, airboat tours etc

Florida was a good holiday. Disney and Universal. Brilliant memories and second to that was a cruise that we did in 2019. Away for a week and a good variety of ports and places to visit.

Canada - 3.5 weeks 5 centre holiday or Oregon which was very similar to canada - 3 weeks 4 centre holiday. personally I loved Oregon very different loads to see and do and not your normal tourist destination.

We love Florida with our teens. It was perfect last summer as we tagged on three days in NYC on the way home. It’s a great city for teens as they recognise so much from movies and popular culture.

Best was Australia but need longer and Costa Rica.

Touring Slovenia independently by car. Lovely mix of city, mountains, lakes, caves, castles....

Also Canada (which the Slovenia was partly modelled on)). But Slovenia much more practical/affordable for a holiday of less than two weeks. Shorter, cheaper flights and much more compact.

North wales! Loads to do - zip wires, caving, surfing

We went to Bali and Lombok last summer, travelled around, temples, waterfalls, great snorkelling, surfing, beaches (more in Lombok). Beautiful boutique accommodation and villas with private pools and cheap when you’re there (kids were 10 and 14)

That time of year it’s been cruises - Alaska being the best one we’ve done

Croatia. Stayed about half an hour from Dubrovnik in a beach resort. Plenty of cultural stuff to do (but don't time visits to Dubrovnik at the same time as Cruise ships are due to dock), national park, water ports and beach stuff. It was perfect!

Sri Lanka. We spent 10 days with a driver visiting cultural sights, tea plantations, spice farms and on safari and then flopped on a beach for 5 nights. Amazing!

Florida theme parks, Miami Beach and Key Largo by far

Center parcs in the Netherlands. So much better than uk ones, lots of activities for teens at more affordable price per activity.
We did it Friday to Friday and combined it with long weekend in Amsterdam. Our young teens loved it

what's your budget OP we always do big active trips but they don't come cheap. Out of all of them the top 3 I would say are:

Iceland- volcanos, quad biking, glacier hiking, into a glacier, history, geography, whale watching. We booked it all ourselves

Namibia self drive, balloon rides, dunes, kayaking with seals, desert camping, san tribe stay, and a few days safari. Used an agent.

Peru - trekking, white water rafting, jungle, history, bike rides, culture, train rides, kayaking. Used an agent because it was post covid

The one that got cancelled was a PGL Family trip in France, which I would still love to do.

A friend took her family on a cycle trip round lake Constance and loved it.