Summer holiday with teens

[Sefty1]

I'm hoping for some words of wisdom here. I'm wanting to book a lovely family trip this summer for my husband and two teenage kids. As teenagers they get bored on beach holidays and they are both quite adventurous and keen to explore. In the past we have been to the Rockies and toured around (booking everything ourselves) and last summer we went to Sri Lanka and toured the whole island and loved it, especially the 5 days at the end by the beach. All apart from one thing....they are too old for a family room and so my husband and son shared a room in most of the hotels (which made it very expensive), but also they just rubbed each other up the wrong way! So I'm keen to avoid the hotel situation again.
It's my 50th this year and I suspect it will be the last year my daughter will want to come on holiday with us so I want to make it special. Ideally we have a really lovely budget of about 12k. I'd love to go to Costa Rica, but have been really put off by the weather in kids summer holidays and also how would I do that if not in hotels?
Other places I'm interested in are Vietnam, Thailand but again put off by weather.

Where else could we go. I've thought of Greek islands but isn't that just beachy? Also thought of combining Lake Como with something else, but not sure what.
I'm a bit overwhelmed and no idea where to start. HELP!

Yes I do love a road trip. This sounds like a great option too.

I love the idea of a cruise, but my daughter suffers with seasickness unfortunately!

Thank you so much for this, it's really helpful. I was really worried about the climate and if you spend all that money you really want it to be amazing.
I hope you find a fantastic trip for your family too. Sri Lanka was very different.....there are temples of course, but we did quite a few safaris at various locations, blue whale watching etc and also ended up with 5 days at the beach which was bliss. We travelled around pretty much the whole island, but we did use a driver which I was resistant to because we've always been independent travelers. However, having seen what the roads are like I'm so glad we did and he helped us book up safaris when we felt we wanted to do them at much cheaper prices. It was so cheap too, he was literally on hand all the time if we wanted him and then made himself scarce if we wanted family time. Happy to share details if you're interested.

Ooooh yes please that sounds great

Whereabouts in Vietnam did you go? Was the weather reasonable?

Sorry I just wondered if you could share your itinerary in Costa Rica. I've looked on air bnb but haven't a clue whereabouts to look. Did you self drive and if so how did you find that?

The weather is hot in Vietnam in summer, but if you're careful you can avoid the worst of it. It's not a trip we've done yet, but it's one we're considering. This article is quite detailed about which areas are hottest:

I love the idea of Argentina, but again I was worried about the weather. Isn't it fairly cold in school summer hols? Wow it sounds like you've had some amazing trips.

Amazing thanks so much

We've been thinking about doing this - if you could share your itinerary, that would be great !

What about a safari? Weather will be good in summer holidays somewhere like Kenya?

A friend took her teens interring last summer. They were gone for about 4 weeks and had a fabulous time.

@Sefty1
We used public buses or minivan transfers.
People do self drive but I preferred not to (and budget didn't run to it!).
Over three weeks we did:
Samara (beach, surfing) - Monteverde (zip lining, cloud forest hikes) - La Fortuna (hanging bridges, hot springs) - Tortuguero (turtle egg laying, wildlife, saw first sloths here) - boat (fabulous) + bus to Cahuita (beach and national park - lots of wildlife inc many sloths - lovely beaches).
Then transfer back to SJ via white water rafting. Check out exploradores for activity transfers. Saves much travel time!

amazing thanks so much

@ImNotReallyHere
I'd love to know your Indonesia itinerary.

Also how did you find the July/August heat in Greece? Island hopping appeals, but from 20 years ago I remember Athens and the Peloponnese being incredibly hot. I was pregnant though....

We did a cruise in the summer and loved it. So much for our teens to do and we loved waking up somewhere new each day. My 19yo Dd gets travel sick, but had no problems onboard. She took tablets for a few days, but was fine anyway.

When we went to Costa Rica, we did a night near San Jose to recover from the flight, then five nights in Arenal, five nights near San Miguel National Park, then the last night near San Jose again. We hired a car and the driving was easy (although we needed a 4x4 for the airbnb we stayed in that was quite out of the way up some dirt tracks). Did a hotel for the first bit and an airbnb for the second half.

It was honestly the best holiday I've ever had, it was just wonderful. Really recommend. Everything felt easy and safe.

Bucket and Spade UK holiday with loads of pre booked activities, surfing, Shooting, Go Karting, Co steering, Dolphin watching etc
You can do all of this in the UK
Or Cruise

Hot and humid in summer in Vietnam.
It will be rainy in both North and South, while dry in Mid Vietnam.

Another vote for Indonesia, we went to Bali and Lombok and loved it (stayed away from the southern resorts in Bali)I I went back I’d love to add Komodo into the mix.

Thanks so much sounds amazing

Thank you so much....I'm going to look into it.

Do not go to Cape Town in UK summer - the weather will be shit!

Might not be your thing OP but my teen loves the Mark Warner /Neilson sports based holidays. He does all the scuba diving/water skiing/ Wakeboarding /mountain biking etc.. Dh and I do the Pilates/yoga/guided walks.

USA/Canada and Iceland are on our list for when DDs are a little older. If you stay in an apartment it might be easier than hotels?

How much would Costa Rica cost for a family of four in the summer if you want to do all the activities. Would love to go there.
Would recommend Thailand. We did Bangkok, Khao Sol jungle, Ko Phangan and Ko Samui. Was great fun.
We've also done a California road trip and loved that too.