October half term ideas for 13 year old teens

[Sim1000]

I'm looking for ideas for a 4ish night break in the October half term (so not too long a flight). We have 13-year-old twins. One is autistic and the other has a dairy intolerance so we don't want a package holiday with a pool, more of a sightseeing break. We were thinking Barcelona, but I'm looking to see if anyone else has any ideas. We only have a budget of £2k. A few years ago, we did Copenhagen, which we loved, but now the girls are teenagers, they are harder to entertain without having to spend a fortune. All ideas welcome. Our closest and easiest airport is East Midlands.

How warm do you need it to be and what would be max flight time?

Madrid is great for that age, plenty to see and do then come the evening you can go to tapas places, all do mocktails

My teens liked Amsterdam at that age, quick flight, lots of wandering around streets/canals, Anne Frank house/museum, canal tours also recommend day trip to the countryside or to one of the theme parks (if they like that sort of thing). As everyone speaks great English it makes food intolerances much easier to manage.

Thanks for suggestions these are great. We aren’t worried about being hot (beach holiday) but pleasant temp without needing lots of layers would be nice. Ideally we’d like to fly from our local airport EMA and flight upto around 3hr.

If you can make 4 hours flight I would suggest a greek island, maybe even some island hopping? Beaches/hotels with pools available but also lots of history. A larger one like Crete might work well.

Thanks, we are looking for more of a sightseeing holiday this time than a Beach one, Greece is lovely 😊

Agree with Amsterdam for history and waffles. Germany also if either doing History, although won't be as warm as Crete, obviously!

I would do Rome or Berlin - so much to see and do. Weather should be ok too as long as you wear layers

Just going to say my ASD teen and I have multiple allergies. Cyprus was amazing for this. Atlantico Mare hotel we stayed at was brilliant with allergies. Swim up rooms were brilliant if she got overwhelmed.

These would be my suggestions too, or Paris.
DD is a history buff so we're planning on taking her to Berlin next year and I've always wanted to go back to Rome with her because I think she'd like all the old buildings.
we've just been to Paris and that was easy to get around in buses, lots of architecture and a very short flight

Thank you @jeaux90 we are looking for more of a pool holiday next year so I’ve noted this hotel down. It’s been a long time since we have taken our daughters abroad and I think we are all a little nervous, what I know is silly.

I was going to suggest Amsterdam too.

I would have gone with Italy - Rome/Florence/Venice or maybe Athens? I went to Paris recently and really didn’t enjoy it at all, it was so busy. Amsterdam is great but hotels are expensive!

Barcelona is good as there are different types of things to do e.g. cable cars, cactus garden, daytrips by train, modern harbour area, town beach, in addition to all the historical buildings.

I have a 14yo and we have done Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris. We are going back to Berlin in October. All are great choices with lots of history.

For Paris and Berlin, there are apps for the public transport system. Download that and it will make getting around much easier. Everyone speaks English in Amsterdam so not as much a problem.

Rome, Seville, Lisbon would be good options. If you get an air bnb and eat breakfast & some meals there it saves a lot!

Bucharest, Romania. Perfect time to do the Bran castle tour. We went last Halloween. Loved it.

We have teens and beat city breaks have been Berlin, Rome, Amsterdam and Paris. I would say the first three were the easiest for allergies.

Would you consider taking the train? A 4 day Interrail pass will cover your trains to London, and within a day you could get to Amsterdam, Brussels/Bruge/Ghent, Cologne, Paris, Strasbourg, Avignon, Marseille etc etc...you could even have a stopover in Paris and head somewhere else the next day.

We had a very successful Paris/ Marseille break doing just that this time last year.

We are also in East Midlands and really enjoyed Brussels this summer. We went by Eurostar (if you can go from East Midlands Parkway then you alight in St Pancras, a 5 minute walk from the Eurostar terminal.) It was very affordable. We stayed in the Urban Lodge which had really spacious rooms and a kitchen available to use. It may not be warm enough though.

Amsterdam is harder to get to - Eurostar is a much longer ride and I don't think EMA has flights there any more.

We have also been to Barcelona and enjoyed it very much, there is a lot of variety there eg beach, parks etc. Also a curve ball maybe but we liked Benelmadena, we went in October half term so it wasn't hot enough for sea and sand but the marina is pretty and we could easily travel along that bit of coast by bus / Freenow (like Uber!)

Agree that France / Italy is harder for allergies and less spoken English if you're not confident asking about ingredients etc.