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Family Travel with Teen Boys in October

We will be traveling with our three boys (ages 17, 15, and 9) for 10 days in October 2025. I know it is time to book! I traveled extensively in Europe in my twenties but have not been in 25 years. No one else in my family has been outside of the US except for Mexico and Costa Rica. I want to create a memorable family experience and allow the boys to experience the best of Europe. As an entry, I was initially thinking Scotland/England to ease the language barrier and because I think they'd enjoy the castles, loch ness tours, etc., but am also considering Italy and Spain for the food and culture. I have not been to Scotland but have been to London and it was not my personal favorite. Any thoughts or advice?

Edited to add: We will have 10 nights. We are from Nashville and the older two boys are interested in baseball, American football, fishing and country music. I am trying to expand their worldview. The youngest is interested in science, music, art and Harry Potter. But he is the third child so very easygoing and happy anywhere. We are all foodies so that is why Italy is a major contender.

Posted by
3918 posts

What are your main interests, e. g. history, ...? Or what are dislikes?

These criteria often helps the forum to come up with ideas.

Posted by
6505 posts

How many nights will your adventure be?

Posted by
2657 posts

Several pieces of advice. Count your actual days on the ground, not arrival.nor departure days although you can get perhaps a half day of touring on arrival. If you decide on two countries be sure to fly multi city all on one ticket. You do not want to start in Edinburgh then visit London then back track to Edinburgh for flight home as an example. Also try to book direct flights of course depending where you live. Strongly advise you get Europe thru the Back Door and then the individual tour books for the two countries you are visiting. Engage the boys, what do they envision seeing or doing.? If you can try to go early in October to have as much daylight as possible. Renting an apartment would let you spread out and have a few meals "at home". I know you weren't impressed with London but they might like the London Eye, the Tower, boat on the Thames, day trip by train to York and then maybe train to Paris, two days in Normandy, Eiffel tower, Louvre and home. I was shocked when I took my two teenagers to Paris and of course I got the eye rolling and sighing when we went to the Louvre and spent the entire day there, one loved the sculptures and one fell in love with the paintings. They did not want to leave. You do mention Loch Ness but we felt it was a long boring day just for a ride on the boat there but that is just our opinion. As you work on your trip keep coming back here for fantastic advice. Some.members have extensive experiences in Europe and are more than happy to help you. Also check your passport expiration dates now. Good luck and enjoy what will be a wonderful family experience.

Posted by
761 posts

Some things to think about.

How do you plan to get around outside of cities? Will you rent a car or prefer public transportation?

Generally Italy and Spain will be warmer than Scotland and England in October.

What do flight schedules and fares look like from your home airport to various cities in Europe? Do you only want to travel nonstop? That may narrow your options.

What didn't you like about London? And what did you like about your favorite European places?

Posted by
1484 posts

In my opinion, you only have 10 days, pick out one country, two at the most, to make the best use of your time. If you try and include a bunch of countries, you lose a day to travel for each time you switch. Ask the boys what they’d like to see. It’s hard to give advice without more info on the boy’s interests. London has a variety of all kinds of activities that might appeal to boys from the war museum to natural history museum, rib boat ride on the Thames, Harry Potter, The Tower of London, guided ghost walks….

Posted by
22953 posts

9 or 10 days as in leave on a Saturday and return on a Sunday? Go to England. Easy and you have enough time for London and some day trips to castles, etc.

Do it better for the cost of the long haul flight and spend two weeks and do London/England (knights and castles) and Rome/Italy (coliseums and gladiators).

Posted by
9696 posts

Hi, Amy, wow, that will be a great experience for your whole family but especially your kids!

A lot depends on what your interests are and so on, but earlier this year I took two of my grandkids, a boy age 15 and a girl age 11, and we went to London and Paris for 2 weeks. We flew into London and stayed there, then took the Eurostar over to Paris for the remaining time and flew home from Paris. We booked a multi city flight, which made it a lot easier and also saved on time, as we didn’t have to go back to London after Paris to catch a flight. I would suggest that you look into doing that no matter where you go.

Both of my grandson kids loved the trip and especially loved all the sites in both cities. They had been Harry Potter fans and even though it had been awhile since they read the books, they absolutely loved the Warner Brothers Harry Potter tour north of London.

I also took them on a tour of Tottenham Spurs Stadium, which they really enjoyed as they both play soccer. They really enjoyed seeing Hampton Court Palace and Buckingham Palace. And of course we saw most of the major sites in both places, including taking an evening sunset cruise along the Seine River in Paris to see the Eiffel Tower lit up.

But I also involved them in the planning. I gave them a guidebook and told them to look through and see what interested them. My 11 year year-old granddaughter surprised me, because she decided that she really wanted to see one of the illusion museums in London and they both had a fantastic time there. It’s something I would never have thought to visit.

But I definitely would involve them in figuring out what they want to see. Tell them to go to YouTube and look up videos or look in guidebooks and see what looks interesting. It took some persuading for them to do this, but I think they were glad that they had some say in the process.

I would also not overdo it. I would say two destinations in 10 days is more than enough. My vote would be for London and Paris. You mentioned not caring much for London over 25 years ago but tastes can change. I went to Paris when I was younger and wasn’t thrilled with it. But this time (30 years later), it was absolutely wonderful. Plus keep in mind that if this trip is for your kids, it’s not going to be your likes and dislikes that matter, it’s going to be theirs.

So while you may not care for London, they would probably be enthralled. Interestingly, the things they enjoyed the most were being able to go out on their own and get take away food from nearby vendors, going out for a morning croissant, and riding the double-decker buses in London. They both thought that was wonderful and loved looking down on all the sites around them. They loved the Tower of London. And they loved the food. There are so many different kinds of restaurants and food available in London, and the kids loved every place we went to.

One last thing. Mr. E is correct—London is easy and so is Paris. You could probably get a nonstop flight to London and from Paris, I would imagine. For a first time trip, I think it would be helpful to start in London with no language differences, get the kids used to that, then take the Eurostar (which is a fun experience in itself) to Paris, where they will get a taste of another culture and place. There are plenty of castles in and around London, and you could always take a day trip to Versailles from Paris.

Regardless, no matter what you do or where you go, I’m sure it will be a wonderful trip!

Posted by
1039 posts

A good entry-level destination that you can see a lot of in 10 days is Ireland. Aer Lingus just added a direct flight from Nashville to Dublin four times a week.
Ireland has great ocean, river and lake fishing and a surprising country music scene. American country music. And kids are allowed in the pub until 8 or 9. Sunday shows often start early.
Plus castles.
Even if you don't want to drive on the "wrong" side, you can get around on public transport to loads of places. This site is absolutely LOADED with itineraries, must sees, etc.