I have a 13 year old son who is at that awkward age and not always eager to join teen programs when we're on vacation. Does anyone have recommendations for vacations which your teens have loved? Or teen programs that even teens who are more introverted feel comfortable participating in?
My teen wants no part of any organized activity. She does have fun doing watersports with us and she loves a nice pool. Our kids loved the Bahamas (Atlantis) as that was like a city in itself. They tended to avoid the activities, though. Oddly, winter vacations they seem to like the planned stuff. Go figure.
My girls also loved Atlantis - there is just so much to do on property, that you have to make an effort to get into Nassau. Another place that my girls have enjoyed but it is not particularly handy for you, is Wisconsin Dells. There is a lot of family friendly choices there.
My girls also loved Atlantis - there is just so much to do on property, that you have to make an effort to get into Nassau. Another place that my girls have enjoyed but it is not particularly handy for you, is Wisconsin Dells. There is a lot of family friendly choices there.
I take it you stayed at Atlantis. Was there enough for the parents to do there?
I take it you stayed at Atlantis. Was there enough for the parents to do there?
We actually stayed at Harborside which is an onsite timeshare operated by Starwood. There is plenty to do on Paradise Island, where Harborside & Atlantis are located and you are just across the bridge from Nassau. Fine dining, clubs, casino, beaches, lagoons for snorkeling, etc. Although it is very expensive to eat out at Atlantis, it is well worth our returning for a second straight year.
We have an "only" -- a ten-year-old boy -- and have found that active vacations work really well. Generally, we do cycling or multisport (hiking, rafting, kayaking) vacations with active tour companies (REI, Backroads, Butterfield & Robinson, etc.). My son loves being part of a group of kids, while still doing stuff with my husband and me. Because the adults are doing the same thing the kids are (hiking, cycling, etc.), there's no "kids stuff" stigma to the activity. Usually, there are kids-only activities in the afternoons that the teens opt in or out of, depending on their interests/maturity.
Because these are active vacations, there are usually more boys than girls on the trips. If you're interested, look at the different websites, trips, dates, etc., and call the companies re. the ones you're interested in. We usually try to pick a trip that has kids around my son's age and older. Ones with a large cadre of 6-8 year olds and no other teens would not be good.
I've tried it all with my kids (they are now 17 and 18). Surprisingly they like cruising the best if we are doing a family vacation. I try and pick ships that have lots of activities so that they each have lots to do.
They've both been on vacations without parents and have done well with tours that are planned for each day. My now 17 year old spent several weeks in australia last summer on tour and had a great time - but again there were activities all day.
I have two teens at home still and at about 13/14 had the same issue and since one is a girl and one is a boy it made it even harder as they didn't really want to hang out together. Thats when we started letting them each take a friend so they could do things that interested them and not necessarily with each other.
We had started taking all-inclusive vacations when our kids were 4/7. Now they are 17/20, and for the past few years we have switched to cruising. They enjoy that much more than AI's, and for some reason find it easier to find kids their age to hang out with. This Dec. we are trying Breezes Bahamas instead of a cruise (cruise didn't fit into dd's college schedule). DH and I have been there 2x by ourselves. I just hope my kids will find others to hang with.
Family vacation suggestions for teen travel?
Active Vacation?
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