Ideas for next trip - with teens

Well I have just the place, it combines both extensive WWII and Medieval history, plus the weather is pretty good during the Summer - consider Poland!

It's a pretty hot up-and-coming destination right now, 1000 years of history, great food, good English tourist infrastructure, new high speed trains, very inexpensive, and relatively less tourists than most of Western Europe.

With 2 weeks one can do a pretty good "Best of Poland" tour:

-Warsaw - day trip to the medieval town of Torun (UNESCO Heritage Site)

-Gdansk - day trips to Malbork Castle (largest castle in Europe) and Adolf Hitler HQ Wolf's Lair

-Wroclaw - day trips to the Church of Peace in Świdnica and Spa Towns of the Sudeten Mountains

-Kraków - day trip to the Tatra Mountains and Eagle's Nest Castle Trail

As for small towns, there are plenty to splice in, like Torun or Gniezno.

The UK fits the history buff's interest- and they have LOTS of museums- art and other kinds. I'd suggest something like this, depending on how long a trip you can do- - -
London- 4-8+ nights (with day trips to at least some of these- Dover, Canterbury, Windsor, Bath, Cardiff Wales, Stratford-upon-Avon)
train to York- 1 to 3 nights
train to Edinburgh- 2-3 nights
train to Inverness- 3 to 6 nights. If possible do (long) day trip or try to spend at least 1 night seeing Orkney (wonderful history stuff, including WWII). Lots of day trips possible from here.
Plenty of other destinations possible, if you want.

I second Poland. It's relatively inexpensive, and quite interesting. I would also check out Auschwitz when in Krakow.

Or for something even more exotic, and less expensive, consider Ukraine or the eastern Balkans.

We traveled with our teens when they were young. We exposed them to the history, art and culture just like they were adults. Now, they are all in love with foreign travel and have a wonderful understand of history, art and other cultures.

For medieval history, places like the Romantic Road in Southern Germany are great. Crakow, Poland; Brugges, Belgium; Toledo and Segovia, Spain are great.

Florence is great for Renaissance.

Wales is filled with castles. Cardiff has more than a dozen medieval castles just minutes from that city.
York in England is amazing, with its ancient walls and cathedral.

For WWII history, Normandy is wonderful. Belgium has the sites for the Battle of the Bulge. For WWI history, I highly recommend Verdun.

We have been to most of the major cities of Europe numerous times. Our next trip is Berlin-Dresden-Krakow/Auschwitz-Budapest

For how long? Maybe Estonia can be a good idea, Tallinn is a great town with a very beautiful old town and a lot of medieval history as well as WWII and cold war-history. While it is becoming a more popular destination, the crowds are still nowhere near the ones you find in Prague, Rome or Krakow.

I’m loving all of these suggestions! I have some places to research now, which is half the fun.

If we travel over the summer, we would take about three weeks. During the school year, no more than two weeks, maybe adding a few days if we go over Christmas break. Poland and Estonia really appeal, I’m just not sure about either as a winter destination. After our trip this year, when it was in the 40’s-50’s most days, the family wants me to pick someplace warmer next time!

We have toured Poland (in 1989 while it was still under the Communists) and the Baltic states (2011). You could do Poland and the Baltics in two weeks. Don't try this in the Winter.
The days are very short and COLD. It gets dark at 4:30pm around Christmas time.

Greece is wonderful. Yes, it is humid, but you will be near the sea and the sea breezes help a lot.

For Poland, the big three cities are Gdansk, Warsaw and Crakow. Crakow was not damaged much in WWII, Warsaw as pretty much destroyed.

If you have three weeks you can easily see both Estonia and Poland without feeling rushed. You can even add some extra stops if you want to, like a visit to Visby for more medieval and hanseatic history. If you don't do well in heat, it is probably not a bad idea to focus on coastal areas in northern Europe if you plan to visit in the summer.

And Estonia is not bad as a winter destination, the old town looks extra nice when covered in snow, and the Christmas market is not bad either.

Here's what we're doing for 2 weeks this summer with two kids who are a bit younger (13 and 10) but have similar interests. We are flying into London and staying 5 nights (focusing on historical [e.g. Windsor Castle, St. Paul's, Imperial War Museum] and Harry Potter sites). Then we take a 2-night Cunard cruise from London to Hamburg, and then the train to Berlin, where we are staying 3 nights (and focusing on WWII/Cold War sites). Finally, we fly from Berlin to Iceland, where we are doing 3 nights to get our nature on. Everything I keep seeing about Iceland looks absolutely stunning (waterfalls you can walk behind, thermal features, glaciers, etc.).