Destination recommendation please! Two teenagers, one week in Europe

A week isn't really very much time, so you don't want to spend a lot of time transiting between cities. How many actual nights do you have on the ground? Where are you flying from?
My first thought would be the London and Edinburgh. Shared language, and different enough from home to wet the taste for travel. Perhaps have the kids watch the RS videos and read the Guide book and get some feedback.
Have a great trip.
Ps
You did not indicate where you yourself have already been.

Do you all have language other than English? If your teens are studying any particular language, perhaps a place where they might practice the skill? Also, where are you traveling from so that we can help with “cool to see that is different from home.”

No need to overthink it. The big three: London, Paris, Rome. Pick one and don't look back.

Liverpool
Helsinki
Bilbao
San Sebastián/Donestia
Belfast
Antwerp

I have to agree with Stan - a week in London, Paris, or Rome would be exciting for teens. If you have already been to these three, how about the South of France, Lisbon, or Munich?

Pick one city - one.

Your "week" for spring break is probably going to only give you about 5 or 6 usable days at best. That's very short for any trip to Europe, and you would burn a day each time if you change locations. So pick London or Paris.

Keep it simple. And get cracking.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but....take a look at a calendar. "Spring Break" for most schools is just a few weeks away. If you have made no decisions and done zero preparation yet, you are probably going to get whacked with some pretty high flight costs (if you have not been paying attention, maybe shockingly high), and limited availability for many things. The travel industry is booming, demand is sky-high, lots of people are traveling. Planning ahead (far ahead, not just a few weeks ahead) is key to managing costs and putting together a good trip that you enjoy and can afford. You have no time to waste. Pick a city, start looking at flights (maybe have a stuff drink first to steel your nerves...) and giddyup.

Paris
Lisbon
London
Munich
Madrid

Depends on your tolerance for potential rain and cold as well as airfare prices.

My top choice to visit with teens would be Spain - Lots of places teens would like. My first thought would be Andalucía with Granada as top choice, then maybe Sevilla or Córdoba. All reachable by train or bus. Or land in Madrid and head west to Extremadura - visit Cáceres, Trujillo, Guadalupe, Mérida. Or base in Madrid and there are great daytrips from there. Top daytrip choice is Toledo, with a possible overnight there and then a bus trip to Consuegra to see the windmills, or daytrips to Segovia, La Granja de San Ildefonso, Ávila or Alcalá de Henares. Spring is a good time of year to visit Spain before the heat of the summer kicks in.

Where do your kids want to go? Do they have a preference? Where have you been before since you said you want to go somewhere new?

Where do the teens want to go? Let them pick it if you have already traveled. I would vote for London simply because of the language. And day trips are easy.

Based on your description of interests and the fact that it's the first trip for your teenagers, I would like the idea of London in particular. London for spring break offers a number of great options that seem like they'd be right up your alley, including day trips of varying length via public transport (e.g., Bath, Canterbury, Cambridge etc.).

We did London and York in a week for our spring break last year with kids 15 and 10 and they loved it (we did sleep 3 nights in York however rather than a day trip). We spent our last day in Greenwich and our kids loved that too for something closer to town.

ONLY a week, Stan nailed it, pick one and do it all in one country.

If you pick London, do trips to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge (can do in one day) or Canterbury or Oxford.

Let them pick the city.
Let teens learn to do research.

London
HUGE menu of opportunities, superb public transportation, day trips aplenty, phenomenal city to walk and explore while easy to reach via east coast.

What are the dates of spring break in the USA? I ask because it may coincide with Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Spain which is April 2 - April 9. Which is a good thing :)

I guarantee that the Semana Santa festivities will be the highlight of your trip for everyone. Sevilla in southern Spain is the epicenter of passion of Semana Santa in Spain, every day is a festival. In Sevilla they put on really spectacular processions and celebrations combining music, art, and color. Semana Santa is the biggest celebration of the year in Spain, even bigger than Christmas and will be an unforgettable experience and is certainly "very cool and different from home" lol!

As you're already aware, Barcelona is unique - you're never going to mistake it for anywhere else - so if that's what's calling to you then I'd say go for it.
I agree that with so little time you don't want to waste a day in transit trying to add a second destination just to check a box. There's plenty to see in Barcelona itself and tons of things to see in the Catalunya region to keep you occupied on day trips for a full week - either independently by train or as part of an organized tour.

What are the dates of spring break in the USA?

The dates of Spring Break will vary by your local school district, could be as early as February, or as late as April.

Take a look at a calendar!!! The OP is locked into a specific week, which is approaching very quickly, and is at Square One in trip planning.

Spring Break is a very popular, very busy time to travel. So airline tickets? $$$$$$ Hotels? Full. This trip is coming up very soon.
No time to waste.

Where is “home,” so that the European destination will be different enough? If you’re big city people already, then scenic and historic rural Ireland would offer that. A lot of the “art” is the countryside. Irish traditional music, easy to find, is an auditory art form. Fly into Shannon, stay in Galway on the western coast. Daytrip possibilities include flying a small propeller airplane to Inishmore, the largest of the 3 Aran islands, with remains of a cliff side castle/fort, and a walk/hike out to the Wormhole, a natural rectangular space in the rocks above the sea, where waves come in and splash high through the opening. There have been extreme X-Games diving contests there. The 700+ foot high Cliffs of Moher are another stunning sight, south of Galway. Being right on the ocean, seafood is fantastic, but if that’s an allergy problem, you’ll have lots of other options.

The London, Paris, or Rome destinations already mentioned will give you as much, or as little art as you can take, plus lots of cultural treats. Daytrip options include London: Henry VII’s palace at Hampton Court; or Bath with an ancient Roman bath complex, plus modern thermal baths where you could all take a soak, and fancy Afternoon Tea at the Pump Room; Paris: Versailles, the ultimate palace, or Giverny, Claude Monet’s home and the water lilies that were subjects of his paintings that you can see in Paris; Rome: Ostia Antica, and entire ancient Roman city that was covered for centuries (similar to Pompeii), and now unearthed - the huge, communal toilet and advanced seer system are strangely fascinating, plus the 2,000 year old cafes and fast food joints might be of interest, or Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli, an emperor’s sprawling retirement complex where you can stroll and be amazed. We took a public bus there and back this past September, and for part of the ride, there were Italian teenagers going to (or from?) school.

All of the suggestions you have received are good! I will throw this out in case you want something completely different (for you): Budapest. Way more things than you can do or see in a week, plenty of English, not as spread out as some cities, good public transportation, and probably less expensive than many other major cities.

Just food for thought for something different.

If the teens don’t have a preference, I’d choose Rome unless the kids have studied a foreign language in which case I would select a country with that language.

I'm surprised that nobody has suggested Netherlands.

First week of April - perfect time for seeing the flower fields, on foot or from the Leiden/Haarlem train; peak (well one week early, but who is counting) time for the Keukenhof for masses and masses of tulips and hyacinths in all shapes and colours, as well as the art pieces around the garden - I have a photo from one year where my wife is standing next to a mosaic herring fish standing on its tail - and the fish is taller than she is.

Then windmills. Little ones, big ones, medium sized ones. They are all over and you can visit some, at Zaanse Schans north of Amsterdam and even watch your wooden shoes being carved or Kinderdijk south of Rotterdam where there is a whole row of large ones right where they have been for hundreds of years, and visitable, and you can even get there by water bus boat.

Tall, skinny buildings with different roof gables on each, reflected in the canals, and the trip to see them isn't on a bus, it is on a boat!

Sounds very very cool and different to me.

And they speak Dutch! Very cool. And most will know English. Dutch is so close to English and German it is fun to learn a bit, but also very different. I love it.

If I were a teen I'd be in 7th heaven.

But maybe you've been there so the kids won't be going....

Traveler1920

You have received a lot of suggestions and hopefully discussed the destinations with your teens by now. Since your Spring break is coming up VERY fast, I echo David’s suggestion and decide now and get cracking on booking your travel. A deciding factor may be price of flights to chosen city from your nearest airport AND availability of affordable accommodation. Good luck!

Anything to see that is very cool and different from home would be a big hit.

Defining home as 'the east coast' is not especially helpful.

Have the kids expressed an interest in somewhere? Or do they still see 'going to Europe' as equivalent as 'going to Disneyland'

"Teenagers" 13/14 or 18/19 ?

With a first trip of only a week, I really don't see the need to go somewhere with iffier-than-average weather during March/early April. It's not that those months would be utterly miserable, but the days will still be rather short. Why not go somewhere that's likely to have a decent amount of sunshine? So I'd nix the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and points north, as well as Normandy, Brittany and the Atlantic side of Spain. Those are places to go on Trip 2 in the summer.

Unless budget is no concern, I'd look at airfares to Rome, Barcelona, Seville/Malaga/Granada, maybe Lisbon and see what looks most affordable. I can tell you that hotels in Seville will be at least double their regular rates--probably a bit more, mostly already full for Semana Santa, and tied to tighter-than-usual cancellation rules. But Seville + Cordoba would be a good fit for the time you have--though you wouldn't be maximally efficient sightseers due to the impact of daily processions (time spent seeing them, time spent detouring around them and short-term closures because of them). My bet is that flights will be cheaper to Rome and Barcelona, but southern Spain will be warmer.

Possible Barcelona side trips: Girona and Figueres (on separate days; or spend 2 nights in Girona and see Figureres from there). The reason to go to Figueres is the nutso Dali Theatre-Museum. As you no doubt remember, Barcelona has lots to see and is a very engaging city. If the weather is great and you're hikers, Montserrat would be good, but it's at altitude.

Possible Rome side trips: Orvieto, Ostia Antica and Naples.

I know you want picturesque but teens will find scenery boring and London would hands down be the best for teens-such a variety of things to see and easy day trips. Castles! People buried beneath the floor of Westminster Abbey! Mummies at the British Museum! Harry Potter studios! If they're girls, a fancy tea!

If you should select Rome, I’d like suggest that you stay in a CONVENT ! We stayed in Casa Maria Immacolata, a very nice establishment conveniently located between the Vatican and the river and close to a subway stop. We booked through Monasterystays.com. If their website is correct, they have space available at that time. No need to be Roman Catholic or even Christian to stay there. We stayed at 4 such places on our Italian trip and loved them

After seeing your Edits, then that does change things. Pick Rome or Madrid/Seville combo.

For your probably medium art priority, if Rome, make your Vatican Museums reservations as soon as you can - it has a vast collection, and reservations sell out quickly (some are booked by tour companies, and you may need to look at a tour company if you can’t get your own reservations off the museums’ Website). Also see the Borghese Gallery. Those two should fulfill the art part wonderfully.

If Madrid, pick among the big 3 art museums - the giant Prado, the Reina Sofia (Modern art, which includes Picasso’s Guernica), and the nice-sized, smaller but magnificent Thyssen-Bornemisza. Then onward to Seville for unique Easter celebrations.