as a last family holiday before they prefer going with their pals, where would be great to go?

[ssd]

an strictly dreaming here mind, but with one foot in reality

ds nearly at the age he wants pals, not us

last summer family holiday, where would you take 2 teen boys?

2 weeks, not massive budget but dreaming of California..

I wouldn't get into debt for a holiday.

OP - what would your budget be without having to go into debt?

I would advise against that for several reasons - too much pressure for it to be perfect, silly to get into debt with no back-up, you could have just as much fun closer to home in the right location/with the right people.

I think it's a bit of a myth that kids don't want to holiday with their family after the age of 17/18 anyway. My three all still come with me and two are at uni.

For the California trip you would need to budget minimum £10k IMHO.

Yes, ours was more than that but we were there for 17 days and 6 days in more expensive hotels either side of the RV trip, I think in retrospect we could have found cheaper, better places.
I think £10k is scary realistic.

wow 10k!!

was thinking more 3k.....like I said am dreaming of California, will just need to dream

We did what we have always done (campsite in South of France) but made sure we ate out regularly and gave DCs as much freedom as possible. I didnt feel that it was about going out with a bang more a case of handing over the baton.

What about Canada?
We went 3 years ago for 2 weeks to Toronto.
There was loads to do- Niagara, cn tower, baseball game and lots more.
flights were £2200
hotel £600 odd including breakfast
we booked independently
eating out and spending money was about £1200 ish (most days we did picnics).
so much to do and see- definitely a favourite holiday.
we booked the flights as soon as they came out-11 months before we went to get a good deal, then we put £200 a month away for the other stuff.

Foxdongle you give me hope for our Canada trip. Can I ask where you found the hotels?

we booked with expedia - it was budgetish one similar to best western type. but was clean with massive comfy beds etc. also it, crucially for us, did breakfast and lots of it - (ds is a nightmare if we have to go searching!). there were loads of hotels around that price.
only thing ours was about 20 mins into downtown Toronto by tube but we had to have the breakfast!
Anyway once we were out we stayed out-nothing to do at the hotel.

It's so funny I clicked on this thread as we are doing a West Coast trip this summer. We're going to San Fran, San Jose, Yosemite, Vegas and Zion. We've already been to the Grand Canyon and driven the PCH between LA and SF. We are huge fans of Ca and if DH could get a job on the West Coast (we live on the East Coast), I'd go in a heartbeat.

We're staying in hotels/with friends and hiring a minivan. We looked at an RV but for one big enough for us, it was $4500 for two weeks. I'd rather have the comfort of a hotel at that price!

Thank you Foxdongle, very helpful.