Recommendations for 2024 Holiday with Teenagers

[Octopus45]

So as not to dripfeed we need the following:

Accommodation with two rooms. We're just back from an AI holiday in Turkey where we were all in one room, which didn't really work. Boys are 16 and 13.

Somewhere where we can have a mixture of downtime, but maybe go on a couple of trips. We didn't do any trips on our last holiday cause the holiday had cost so much. DS1 was bored.

I hate doing domestic stuff on holiday and would only consider a villa if it wasn't out in the sticks and if there were loads of places to eat really locally. I'm thinking maybe apartments that are part of a complex

DS1 seems to think that we will save money if we book flights/hotel/accommodation separately. I'm a bit nervous of doing this, cause I like to have everything sorted/worry something will go wrong, but will consider it if it saves us money.

At the moment, I'm thinking maybe one of the canary islands.

What’s your budget / when do you want to go?

It can be cheaper to book things separately, but not necessarily and especially if you can take advantage of a free child place (as you can get through Jet2 for example at much older ages than most companies). Importantly, if it’s not going to allow you to relax then having the protection of a package agent is worth paying the little bit extra (at least I think it is for me)

Have you considered a cruise? Royal Caribbean or MSC would be worth looking at. They can be good value / cheaper than equivalent value compared to AI in Mediterranean in the summer. We have 17 and 15 year old and did a cruise in February. 15 yr old said it was the best holiday he has ever been on!

We are just back from Crete and highly recommend. Beautiful and interesting, lots of activities, easy to get around and great food and hospitality. No need to do AI - plenty of accommodation options near small or bigger resorts so you don’t have to cook. We did boat hire on our own, gorge walks and go karting for teenage son. Definitely recommend getting a car to explore. The driving is much easier than the UK where people are aggressive and in a rush!

No need to do domestic stuff if you have a villa. It's a great option with teens. Can't imagine for the life of me spending 2 weeks in a shared bedroom with mine. Most villas have dishwashers. We buy in breakfast stuff and bits to make lunch with (often a packed lunch to take to the beach) and eat out every night. Feels like a complete break from the usual domestic drudgery and everyone has their own space. I always make sure there's a washing machine too so no trying to stretch out everyone's clothes for 2 weeks. You'll pay more to be in walking distance of a town but it can be done.

Also I love having our own private pool for a fortnight. No fighting over sun beds!

Maybe Tenerife. Jet2 have some hotels that include unlimited access to Siam Park. I took my 9 year old who's usually super nervous of slides and we had a fantastic day.

Thanks, we spent about £3,700 on an AI inclusive in Turkey this year, hoping to spend less but realise that probably isn't realistic. Good point about maybe not saving money booking things separately. Will also bear in mind Jet2Holidays, although we're not that near any of the airports. In terms of location, thinking maybe Spain, any of the Canaries, possibly Greek islands.

You would be able to do a one or two bed apartment (in a one bed it’ll be sofa beds in the living area which might not work so well now your DS are bigger) in an aparthotel / resort in the Balearics or Canaries for between £2500 and £3500 self catering - this is based on Jet2 for the first week of August next year.

For example,

Cala D’Or Playa apartments in Cala D’Or, Mallorca for £2700 self-catering in a one bedroom apartment (includes a free child place)

Cordial Mogan Valle apartments in Puerto de Mogan, Gran Canaria for £2700 self-catering in a two bedroom apartment (includes a free child place)

Thanks very much for all the recommendations. Will be looking at all the options Interesting about cruises, might be a good option as well

Cruises can be a great option - and in the school holidays there’s a very good chance of there being lots of other similar aged teens for yours to make friends with

Watching as am in the same n
boat :)

It might be a bit out of your budget, but when we were looking for this year, I couldnt find anything that I thought our 15yo dd would like in Europe. Both her and dh don’t particularly like just sitting by the pool. We ended up going to Thailand and had the most amazing holiday. Flights were about £1k each though

Agree cruises are amazing, we loved our royal carribean holiday.

Disagree completely that it can be a cheaper / equivalent cost option.

We sadly wouldn't do another due to the sheer expense.

I think the only way cruises can be cheaper is if you get a good deal or you share a 4 berth cabin (which defeats the point of doing something different than this year) or you go on one of the cheaper cruise lines. P&O are usually cheaper than Royal Caribbean, for example. MSC can be the cheapest, especially in the Med.

We went to Tenerife this summer and that worked well. The Costa Adeje is NOT classy, whatever it wants everyone to think, but there is at least some good stuff for teens to do and the weather is reliably hot without being sweltering.

Siam Park was AMAZING, but you need to do your research before you go or you'll just stand around in queues all day long. Mount Teide was great. Our friends went to Loro Parque and their teens liked that. You can do wind surfing and kite boarding if you're into that. You can do boat trips, speed boats with an inflatable or a parachute thing towed behind. There are also masses of hotels to choose from at all price points, including aparthotels, if you want more space.

@2024Hols Did you go to Thailand in the summer? We are desperate to go but not sure if it's risky with the weather in August

For cruises, try Tui. I found booking much easier and I think it was a bit cheaper too.

@Bobbster I think there’s always a risk in August but the weather is better in the east. We had showers in Bangkok, it was wet in the jungle but beautiful in Koh Samui. Only 1 shower the week we were there

If you don’t need a beach holiday and want to do more activities then you could consider Duinrell in Holland. The accommodation is self catering but the small town is very very close and has lots of restaurants etc.

Our older teens loved it as we used it as a base to visit Amsterdam, The Hague, Leiden etc. You can also hire bikes (cycle to local beach) etc.

The water park is there to keep them entertained in between. I didn’t consider it a ‘luxury’ holiday though if you like up market but it was fun and no one was bored.

DC would love to go to Thailand but it would need to be June or July for us. Is that a suitable time? How do we get the best prices?

We did AI last year and while we did plenty of trips as well, with teen DD it just didn't work anymore that well.

So this year we had a mix of city break and beach in the US. Flight to Boston for 4 days, one week Newport in Rhodes Island with drives around the area and just hanging out and then 5 days New York. It was trip for 2 big birthdays though.

But next year we plan 1 week Berlin and then 1 week s/c somewhere in Germany, not sure where yet.
I think this works for us a lot better than AI, especially as none of us was keen on the heat last year and it was a lot cooler than this year's temperatures.

S/c can be as much or less work as you want. We just love the space and privacy.