Are most tours OK for young teens?

I have been on two tours, both in the summer, and both with teens along who were traveling with an adult. From a tour participant perspective it was enjoyable to have them as part of the group and it seemed they were enjoying it as well.

There were several teens (age 13 was the youngest) on the Best of Istanbul that I went on a few years ago. It happened to be scheduled over Christmas break. They all seemed to have a good time and, at least this adult (me) enjoyed them!

You can call the Rick Steves office and ask them what the make-up of a particular group is - are other families signed up already on a specific tour. I have done this to see if a group has other singles, couples, older, younger, etc. and they have been willing to give me a general idea.

I went on an Ireland tour with an Irish tour company. The group included a family with an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old. It looked like they had a fine time, and the rest of us really enjoyed their company.

Are your children happy to do a tour? It’s the last thing I would have wanted when I was that age. There probably wouldn’t be other children on the tour.

When I was their age, I planned our first family trip to Europe and was the tour guide for our family. It was so much more fun to be involved (and this was before internet). I obviously don't know your kids, but I would have hated to be in a group with a bunch of older adults at that age. Even if people report that kids were on the tours, that doesn't mean they enjoyed it.

Never been on a tour, but I seem to recall at one time they had some that were focused as "family groups", but that was a while ago. Worth asking though.

I have traveled with teens though, and I would second the idea of the previous poster, get them involved. They of course cannot plan the itinerary on a package tour, but they can still do a number of things.

Have them find something in each stop that interests them for activity in free time. Difficulty factor is that it likely will not be something that interests you, or even something you consider travel worthy, but you are "dragging them along" so give them a break.

Also have them read something, do internet search's, map out the route, read a novel, history, anything about one of the stops, art if that interests them, etc.

Sounds like teens on the tours are not unheard of, and well received, but your concern is valid, I believe the demographic does skew to older tour takers, so they might feel a bit like traveling with the senior crowd.

Kelly, these former posts might be helpful? Some of them are from a few years back but other than COVID throwing a wet blanket on travel the past few years - and the ability or not of younger folks to be vaccinated - I wouldn't think much has changed.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/tour-news/december-2019/raves-about-family-touring
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/rs-tour-with-teens-in-2020
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/non-family-tour-with-teens
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/teens-and-rick-steves-europe-tours
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/teen-on-non-family-tour
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/teenagers-on-tour

There are probably more but just a start... They do reference a variety of tours, not just Ireland.
The level of enjoyment your teen would have might be up to their maturity? All of them are different but remembering myself at that age, I would have been more comfortable around accepting, lively, interesting adults on a tour than young children (and possibly treated as one!)

Just note, there is a "Family Tour" with some activities designed for younger folks. The rest of the tours - kids will be welcome and treated well by the other tour members. Take a close look at the itineraries for details on what you'll see and do every day. I would have been bored to tears as a teen with long museum visits, art and history discussions, and the scheduled meal times, and lack of same-age new friends. But you can always opt out of planned activities and there is plenty of free time.

I don’t think it’s a question of fitting in with the group. They would be accepted. It’s more a question of their tolerance for some long bus rides, lots of walking, museum visits, lectures. As a mother and grandmother, I can tell you these would not have sat well with my granddaughter or daughter at that age. They would have been bored to tears and complaining. I would look at other tours that offer more physical and outdoor activities i.e. more doing less seeing. By way of example, we had a 6 year old on our Galapagos tour. She was the only child on board. She had lots of “aunts, uncles and grandparents” looking out for her and we all loved her. And she had lots of activities to keep her amused such as kayaking, swimming, short hikes, seeing the wildlife, etc.

There have been kids the same age as your's on several of our RS tours. They all blended in with the adults of all ages and there were never any problems. I'd say go for it, and give them a chance to interact with older people other than relatives and teachers as they will have to start doing that in just a very few years.

My grandkids have been taking the Rick Steves tours for several years, beginning with a Family Tour when they were 7 and 8. It was one of the first family tours and an exception was made for the 7 year old. I’d guess roughly more than half that tour was kids slightly older and into their teens. They had a ball on that first tour, were eager to take more and next summer, I will be taking the now turning 21 year old on the 8 day Ireland tour with her 18 year old cousin. The tour office was beyond helpful in helping us choose tours appropriate for them. Over the years, the kids have been with us for the Germany, Austria, Switzerland; Paris and the South of France; Villages Italy; and 7 Day Paris tours. They fit in very well on all the tours and made many friends, both kids and adults, along the way. I have witnessed firsthand the difference traveling early and as often as possible can make in children’s social and intellectual development. I highly recommend the Rick Steves tours!

You may also want to look at G Adventures, Tauck, Backroads, and Adventures by Disney, all of which have family-oriented group tours to Europe.

We had 2 teenage boys on our RS 8-day Ireland tour. I think they enjoyed it; they were smiling most of the time. It’s actually been fun to watch them age/mature on Facebook since. When we went it was not a particularly heavy museum tour, but I would recommend advanced tickets to Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin as being something that would appeal. It wasn’t part of the itinerary when we went. Also, the guides we had were especially good at interacting with the teens without patronizing.

When they say they want to travel, what is it that they are looking forward to doing?

The only tour I would hesitate to take children on is the tour covering Amsterdam. This may be an issue due to the inclusion of an in-depth coverage of the red light district. (But, I don't see a mention of that part of the tour in the current tour info, so it may no longer be relevant.)

Otherwise, any tour would be appropriate for any age children as long as they are willing to want to be on the tours and are not so young they require full time baby sitting.

As someone who’s been on RS Tours, I’ll suggest considering one of the city tours (e.g., London, Paris, Rome). They provide the tour experience with less bus time, less packing and unpacking, free time each day, and they run 7 - 9 days. The shorter time frame is a bit of a safety net in case the teens find the tour experience isn’t their thing. With all that said, they may like the idea of a longer tour or countryside!

I was on a RS tour of Scotland a few years ago and there were two young sisters in our group who were brought by their grandparents. They were exactly around your children's ages. They were welcomed by everyone and added to the enjoyment. I never heard a complaint or any whining from them. They were so well behaved. The only issue was the afternoon that we toured a whiskey distillery, the guide had to call ahead and notify the owners that there would be two under-age members. Permission was given and they had a good time, just couldn't enjoy the freebie shot of whiskey at the end!!

It occurs to me that Rick Steves Europe structures one of its tours for "Family Groups". Check it out.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/family-tours

Hi Kelly, I’ve done 9 RS tours (including Ireland). The tour guides are great and the itineraries are fun and educational, I usually travel in spring or fall when most kids are in school but one tour at the end of May had a high school girl and two college-aged kids. They really enjoyed the tour and I bet your kids will too.

Suggest you contact the office to find out if there are other kids traveling. Ireland is great, music everywhere, all the time. If your kids play an instrument or like to sing, that could be a plus for them!

The only tour I would hesitate to take children on is the tour
covering Amsterdam. This may be an issue due to the inclusion of an
in-depth coverage of the red light district.

You can at least be sure that teenage kids won't be bored on that tour. :D

Back to serious:

I would not be concerned about the kids not being accepted by the group, or not being well-behaved enough. Neither would I be concerned about the program of the tour. With a bit of effort and creativity, I am sure that you can find something interesting to them everywhere.

What I would be concerned about is about the kids being stuck in a tour bus with a bunch of older adults for such a long time. Kids want to be with other kids. I remember that we did enjoy a certain amount of sightseeing at that age, but what we enjoyed a lot more is getting together with other kids of approximately our age.

So, maybe you can find out ahead of time about the makeup of the tour group. Or, better yet, bring friends along!