Help please - Holiday with 16 and 14 year old

[lemonsaretheonlyfruit]

I'm taking my DC away alone for the first the this summer. We have always been with a friend and her 3 DC before and it's been brilliant as all he DCs are the same ages and friends but she's away with family this summer. We have been to France, Mallorca, Morroco, Crete etc - sometimes but not always all inclusive.

So I'm feeling a bit stuck. It might feel a bit odd / lonely doing the same kind of holiday we have always done with the other family as it will feel like people are 'missing'.

The dream would be to take them to New York for 4/5 nights but I'm not going to be able to afford it.

So now I am thinking a) same kind of holiday but one where there are activities nearby Ie parasailing, jet skis , boat trip etc. in which case has anyone got any suggestions for similar age DC?

Or b) someone mentioned a cruise round the Med. does anyone have any experience of this?

DD has had a tough couple of years MH wise but is in a much better place - has just finished GCSEs and i really want this to be a good one. My main thing would be them being occupied / happy so I can relax a bit too.

Anyone got any ideas please? Thanks!

A cruise would be perfect in your circumstances, there will be plenty of other teens onboard in the school holidays. Greek islands or western Mediterranean from Barcelona would be fun. However not sure if it would be much cheaper than New York once you take flights into the equation.

Something completely different so that they are not comparing the holiday to the ones that they had with the other friends?

E.g. a trip to the Alps - France or particularly Austria - where they can go hiking, tandem paragliding, "Go Ape"-style climbing, mountain biking, white water rafting, lake swimming, mountain tobogganing (on rails rather than on snow), zip wires, sailing/wind surfing/boating ...

Lake Garda.

Peschiera del Garda in particular. Stay at a campsite type place. Hire a boat on the lake, plenty of decent theme parks, ferry to different towns on the lake, easy train ride to Verona and Venice

Cruise would be great Not P&O but Royal Caribbean, Celebrity etc as they have better standards and better kids clubs

We are taking our 16 year old to Lake Garda next week!!

We took ours on a Marella cruise round the med as teenagers. It was brilliant. I liked the informality (some cruises make you dress up for dinner) all inclusive and no tipping, There was loads going on day and night and we got days out in some fabulous locations - Barcelona, Monte Carlo etc.

We did a week in Slovenia when ours were similar ages - summer alpine fun, rafting, kayaking, swimming from our base in beautiful Ljubljana - really safe city, car free, great restaurants.
Can also recommend Lagos in Portugal as a brilliant place for a break - harbour, beach, beautiful old town, loads to do, great restaurants.