Holiday to remember with teens

[Crocosmia74]

Both DH and I have big birthdays approaching and would like to mark the.occasion with a big holiday with our teenage kids.

Not keen on AI but equally we like a bit of comfort (no camping!). Had considered Costa Rica but it looks £££. Not sure on budget yet, that said. We go to Europe every year so are looking a bit further afield.

I like the idea of seeing interesting wildlife but am petrified of snakes.and similar (can cope with little Mediterranean type lizards). DH is coeliac which can be more complicated, but we both speak pretty good Spanish. Must be in the summer holidays due to kids' exams looming. Kids keen on beach sports, kayaking etc. Don't mind a bit of rain mixed in with hot weather.

Any recommendations, wise travellers of MN??

Can you give us an idea of your budget and how many people in total?

We are currently in South Africa. Did a family safari tour with Explore for South Africa/Eswatini. It's been fabulous. 3 other families with us, all with teens, and we all had an amazing time.

Friends did Costa Rica and booked everything separately themselved, they said it saved a lot compared to booking via a travel agency as a package.

I think they found the flights the most expensive.

How about USA? We did Boston for 4 days, then had a car for 1 week for Rhodes Island and Cape Cod, and then 4 days New York.
If it was me, I would have skipped NY but it was also DD's 16th birthday trip and that portion was her wish.

Other friends did Malaysia, Vietnam and are off to Sri Lanka this year. I think these ones can be as expensive or cheap as you want them to be.

4 travellers. Budget tbc. We usually spend around 5000 on a summer hol in Europe and are prepared to up the budget for this one as its supposed to be a special one plus i realise that won't get us far ourside Europe. Booking everything separately makes sense and is what we are used to doing, I can't remember the last time I used a travel.agent for anything - good to know that would be an option for Costa Rica. The US holiday sounds fun @reluctantbrit did you do much in the way of beaching or was it more sightseeing?

@Crocosmia74

It was mainly sightseeing but Cape Cod is an area with beautiful beaches. It's where plenty of people from Boston are going on Summer holiday. There is normally watersport possible as well.

The issue with the US is, there is no real resort culture like Spain or Greece at the coast. So no AI hotels with pools. There are lots of great beach towns but it depends what you look for.

Costa Rica woudl definitely fit the bill. Friends went last year and 3 out of 5 of them are coeliac and they managed fine.

What about a bit of safari and then a bit of beachy time?

Or hire a camper van and do a US road trip.

To stay closer to home an adventure holiday in the Alps would be fun and less of the budget would be eaten up by long flights.

Thanks @reluctantbrit ! Good to know. AI definitely not of interest to us.

@Muchtoomuchtodo really reassuring re your friends' diets, thanks! As that can be stressful (bad enough here when eating out tbf).

ETA I also like your idea of a US road trip!

Borneo - excellent for wildlife and the weather is good in July/August. There are cheap or expensive accommodation/activity options.

California road trip

Both Costa Rica and Sri Lanka would fulfill your needs and more.
Flights cost roughly the same to both.
On the ground costs significantly cheaper in Sri Lanka (e.g. eating out in Costa Rica is approx UK prices, in Sri Lanka probably about 1/3 of the price. Activities are expensive in Costa Rica but not to be missed e.g. white water rafting is almost half the price in Sri Lanka). Accomodation across the budget range in both, but will get you much higher luxury in Sri Lanka.
Plenty for active teens in both.
Mine loved both.
Sri Lanka just has the edge for me - food and culture.

House4DS can I ask what time of year you went to each, and how was the weather? We are considering these trips with our tween kids next year

@minipie July/August - start of UK summer holidays for both.
Weather good for both. Some awesome overnight storms. Costa Rica was 2 rainy days in 3 weeks. Sri Lanka probably similar.
Sri Lanka has the south West monsoon then, so habarana-trincomolee area-arugum bay-ella-kandy route is best for the weather.

The holidays my Teens talk about most
10 days AI in Mexico
7 days AI in Cape Verde
1 week cheap SC in Corfu
10 days SC near Munich.
To be honest though the more wildlife the better for us and if we went somewhere like Costa Rica the lizards etc would be one of the main reasons for us to go.
We are thinking about Texas and Mexico next year

We are just back from a trip with our older teens to Singapore and Vietnam (Central). It worked out cheaper than two weeks in August to Greece because we booked it separately ourselves with the airline direct and hotels with booking dot com.

It was fantastic, highly recommend.

We also did a two week trip to Akumal, Riviera Maya Mexico pre Covid that was very well enjoyed by all.

Thanks all. Loads to consider here!

New york ..? That was destination of choice for teens.. or Japan...

We took our teens to Japan. It was an amazing destination!

Canada, we did Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Rockies last August. Holiday of a lifetime, every day was magical. Would be fine for a coeliac they are great with special diets.

Having done California road trip as just adults, and Thailand with teens, the food bill for 4 was less than for 2 of us in the US. Worth considering!

We did a road trip through Florida last year with my teens. The keys, Miami, up to Orlando then over to Tampa coast. Loads of wildlife and nature. We loved it. Wouldn’t return to Orlando but loved the rest and the kids wax lyrical about it.

how about interrailing? We didn’t with 3 DC’s when they were 10,12,14 and it was fantastic. You can stay just within one or two countries if you like - we flew to Budapest, then Vienna, sleeper train to Venice, then Bologna, a few days in the mountains relaxing next to a pool, then Lugano, then Lake Constance, Paris, Eurostar back to UK. We stayed in a youth hostel in Lugano as Switzerland was by far the most expensive stop (well worth it though and the YH was great!)

We also loved California road trip, Thailand and Costa Rica (tagged on a couple of days in NY by flying back via there).

To clarify- we took one flight and the rest was trains - you get a certain number of journeys included in the price of the interrailing ticket so that seemed the best was of using them within the time we had available (2 wks)

We just got back from Costa Rica. Absolutely amazing but so expensive. Apparently lots of people going to Nicaragua now as similar to CR but much cheaper. We'll go there next time. Have also done Sri Lanka and would highly recommend. Much cheaper when there and so beautiful and friendly. Also done Vietnam with kids and loved that.

We did Akumal Bay in the Riviera Maya too and the kids loved it (were a bit younger) and still talk about it.

Last year at 14 (nearly 15) and 16 we did a Mediterranean cruise which they loved as plenty of freedom and then come together (we did a night in Athens and a night in Venice each end too).

This year (nearly 16 and 17) I gave them free rein (with a budget!) and they chose a Norwegian cruise (with a night in Amsterdam on the way out).