Special holiday idea with young teens

[Quantumfisiks]

I’m planning a big holiday with 2 teens ( 13,14 )

By big, I mean more than a beach holiday. I’m thinking of a once in a lifetime location. It will
have to be in summer, and will be up to 3 weeks.

i had been keen on theme parks ( Florida) but know it’s hot and busy at that time of year.

any other ideas?

kids both outdoorsy and sporty, so also thought about a camper van road trip to national parks.

however- places like Sri Lanka would also be good.

Costa Rica? Australia?

Have a look at the Facebook group “Adventurous Family Travel Community”, lots of trip reports in there to get ideas from!

Have a quick browse of the Explore worldwide/Exodus travels/Audley travel websites for some family travel inspiration. I used them a lot for adult travel pre-kids, not been with since having kids, although I am very keen on the Namibia trip for next summer. These trips are definitely fairly pricey when paying for 3 or 4 people, but the itineraries may inspire you in a certain direction and can you look at a similar itinerary done independently.

Seattle, Vancouver and the Rockies

I took my teen on a once in a lifetime trip. We flew to calgary, crossed the rockies on the rocky mountaineer train, picked up the cruise ship in vancouver and cruised alaska. Every day was amazing, the rockies, the glaziers, bear spotting, huskies.. thoroughly recommend it

Thanks for these- I definitely think Canada would be a popular option for my DS. Though Costa Rica also sounds great

Galapagos. Most amazing place I have been. ThinkGalapagos are great at finding something in your price range

How about a cruise?
Royal Caribbean have an amazing looking 12 night one from Tokyo to Singapore. Could do a few nights in each place at either end of the trip.
Being on one the cruise ships is an adventure in itself, and perfect for children of that age.

I went on a RC ship round Europe this summer with DD and her friend, both age 14. There’s so much to occupy them - escape room, 2 theatres, mini golf, zip line, climbing wall, water slides, fairground rides.
Really amazing and fun!

Definitely Costa Rica. Amazing wildlife and lots of outdoor activity options.

We did do Florida in July, Universal studios, volcano bay, Kennedy space station, Everglades (airboat ride was phenomenal) then up to Siesta Key.
The teens absolutely loved it.

What about a sunsail/mark warner/nielson type of holiday?

or a cruise?

August is off season in Sri Lanka (peak time Dec/Jan). It’s cloudy and you may get rain. Lots of busy tourist areas may be quiet / shut down. However it doesn’t stop us going in August - it’s also much cheaper!

Our best holiday that fits your description was when we flew to Vancouver and hired an RV and had a road trip to Vancouver Island then across the rockies flying home from Calgary. We had 3 weeks and went with young teens.

They still speak of that as their best holiday (we also went to Florida on another but they/ we all preferred Canada).

Do you go to the East coast (Trincolmalee?) etc at this time of year? Does that have a surfy vibe then - or is it still quiet? Can you still do trekking in the knuckles range etc in August?

We took ds when he was 15 on Rocky Mountaineer and although I loved the scenery, the age group was 70 plus.. not great for him.

In our summer hols we have taken ours to various locations and all of them have been active/outdoors /adventure. The summer ‘big’ trips have been

Peru - amazing variety, history, jungle, trekking
Indonesia - climb volcanos, wildlife (Komodo dragons, snorkelling, orangutans), boats, hiking, jungle.
Iceland - quad biking, hiking, glaciers
Tanzania - culture, hiking, wildlife
Namibia - culture, adventure, scenery, animals
Svalbard - nature, like a geography field trip

If I had to pick one possibly Peru.

We always try and do a cookery class, homestay, cycling/kayak an organised hike or climb. Train trips are good.

Have a look at something like Families Worldwide or Stubborn Mule.

Yes the east coast is better at that time of year but it’s much quieter generally than the backpacker/resort coast in the West. Not sure on the trekking though sorry

Sri Lanka is great, I’d consider Bali it’s good weather that time of year

@Quantumfisiks We took ours to Kenya for a safari, Peru (families worldwide) and South Africa. All excellent. Alaska was a hit and Ecuador/Galapagos if you have deep pockets. We didn’t go near Disney and didn’t do extensive driving holidays. Definitely not very hot countries either. Lots of people like Costa Rica and Namibia is good for families. Look at families worldwide for ideas.

Orlando for 10 days and add on a cruise .. a lot go from there round the Bahamas for 4-10 days so lots of options

I’d do a safari !

We did a road trip down the California coast when DC were younger. We broke the journey in New York on the way out and also visited Yosemite and had an amazing trip to the Grand Canyon including flying over it, walking through Antelope Canyon and boating down the Colorado River.

The trip was a good mix of outdoors, beaches, cities and small towns.

DH and I went to Vietnam earlier this year and that would have been an amazing family trip. Again a mix of hiking, history, cities and culture. You can do overnight boat trips, overnight trains, coffee on Train Street, trekking in Sapa and boating in the Mekong Delta. And it is v cheap.

We've done South Africa this year and it was amazing. They absolutely loved safari (we all did). What's more, apart from the safari part which was a real splurge (but you can do it much more cheaply) South Africa is cheap at the moment due to the exchange rate.

Also consider Sri Lanka - very easy to combine activity and chill time. So much to do and it's beautiful.

Road trip from Las Vegas to Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Moab (for Arches and Canyonlands), Monument Valley, Page (boat trip, slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend), Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and back to Las Vegas to fly home.

Indonesia would be perfect that time of year

Definitely Sri Lanka. You have it all, beautiful beaches, sea life etc, temples and other history, mountains, jungle, you can go on safari … and it’s a 10 hour flight from the U.K. and English is widely spoken plus in the towns they have uberTUT.