non-family tour with teens?

Diane - I've been on two RS non-family tours in the summer which had teens in the group. The kids seemed to enjoy the tour and as far as I know there weren't any issues at group dinners. Since it's a summer tour, you may find other teens in your group. During group dinners, they can all sit together if they'd like for a change of pace.

PS - you could contact the ETBD office to see if other families with teens have signed up for the tour date you are considering.

Diane, I've been on a few "non family" RS tours, and in my experience the teens integrated well with the group. In one case, a young lady was taken on the tour as a graduation present by her Grandmother. Travelling with an older group may be a good experience for your children, as RS travellers are usually well educated and very interesting people. For example, I took the Greece tour in 2010, and one of the tour members was a Professor of Anthropology (or something like that). The Guide was also well educated in that field, so our group was well informed on the history. Some of the dinners are "group dinners", but they're usually very lively affairs, so I doubt that your children will be bored. You'll be on your own for other dinners and lunches. You'll also have some free afternoons and evenings, and at least one free day, so you can choose activities that will be interesting for your children. One activity that comes to mind would be to hike up the hill to the ancient Agia Sophia Church in Kardamyli (I believe that's the "free day"). It's a reasonably easy hike, but be sure to pack lots of water (I didn't take enough water, and needed a couple of LARGE glasses of Beer to recover). Be sure to pack swim suits, as there are some nice beaches in Kardamyli. That's also a good location to get laundry done (it's a "service wash" arrangement - the Guide will provide further details). Regarding the hike to the top of "the rock" at Monenmavasia, I had envisioned that it was going to be brutal, but it wasn't really all that bad. I'm sure the tour will be an incredible and memorable experience for all of you! I'm wishing that I could have done something like that with my Sons, but they're all grown now so that's not likely to happen. Happy travels!

Thanks for the tips! Good point that traveling with interesting adults (which doesn't include their parents, of course) could be a good experience for the boys - may help them to mature a bit. We'll make a note about the Agia Sophia Church, too. We are all pretty excited about the trip and I know that we'll have a great time. :)

Diane,, I am sure you will all enjoy the tour, and since RS does not offer a "Family " tour to Greece I am also sure there is a good chance there may be other teens /older kids on the tour. I was on a RS family tour and we ran into another RS tour at a rest stop, it was not a "Family" tour, but there were a few teens on that tour. I think that you are going during school break also increases the chances that there will be other young folks along.
As another poster suggested, you can phone the RS office and ask about the group composition, they will tell you if there are any other teens with the group. I phoned about 2 months before my tour and found out the group composition for our tour,, I had my 11 yr old dd with me and thought wouldn't that be awkward if it was a group with all boys or something on it, but was told the group we were in had 14 children, and that 9 of them were between the ages of 8-16! So although they will not tell you specifics they will tell you group make up. Even if there are no teens in the group I am sure your teens will have fun, RS tours are for fun people, "no grumps allowed" is the rule!!

We traveled with our 3 children, ages 15, 14(had her birthday on the trip!) and 12 on a Best of Italy trip in 2003. My kids were never bored at dinner. The tour members were very welcoming and engaging with the kids. There were 3 young adults (a 19 yr old and two 21 year olds) who took our kids under their wings and entertained them on several occasions. There was also a couple in their late 20's, both school teachers, who were tour "buddies" to our two sons. They kept them very entertained at dinners. By the mid-point of the tour, our kids almost refused to sit with us, they were having too much fun with the other tour members. As long as your boys are well behaved in general, I don't think it will be a problem.