Tours - Teenage Boy, 1st Time to Europe

Dewi,

Is there any possibility you could increase the time to at least two weeks? That would provide more choices.

He might enjoy a "family" tour more, as there would likely be others in his age group. A tour would also provide a more rewarding experience and he'd learn more. ETBD offers a Family Best of Europe 14 days tour, which starts in Paris and ends in Rome. That would provide a great exposure to several different countries, cultures and languages. With a bit more time it would be easy to add a few days in London on your own at the beginning of the trip.

If you'd prefer to travel on your own, that's certainly an option as well. You might both enjoy watching some of Rick's Travels In Europe shows in PBS to get some idea on places you'd like to visit. You can also see selected "clips" on You Tube.

Good luck with your planning!

Thanks for the tips!
Of course the rub is always can we squeeze a few more days into our trips. I'm trying to schedule around his fall break from school to miss as few days as possible. Although I think he may have more valuable life-long lessons from an extra week abroad than the missed school days.

Does anyone have experience in dealing with school/teachers when taking extended time off and how best to approach the subject? Any experience with the RS Family Tours?

Ooops. Just noticed that the Family tours are only offered during the summer. Any experience taking your teen on a "standard" tour?

I'd do it yourself! You can plan some great activities and keep some flexibility when it's just the two of you. Personally, I'd stick to London (I'm one of the few people who really did NOT like Paris- I know- I'm weird). You can do some GREAT day trips by train from London- Cardiff Wales, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Brighton, Cambridge, Oxford, Canterburry, Dover, York, Winsor,Winchester, etc. Then there's theatre! Lots of things in London are free, too. And at the time you are considering, you can probably take in a Parliment session- that was a highlight for a trip we took our daughter on for her 18th birthday (it was in late Nov/early Dec.). We've been to the UK alot (more than 40 trips) so feel free to pm me.

I would suggest you plan your own that way you can customize it to what you and your son wants to see and do. It's so easy and fun to plan a trip. With only having 7-10 days I would only plan on two places like London and Paris.

As a former tour director, who has led many tours with kids, I can say that if he is the only one,he will not be happy. Depending on which tour company you go with, you might get kids since they market to English speakers all over the world. (When it's fall in the U.S., it's spring in Australia and you might have families with kids on their spring breaks.) BTW--in the tour industry, the longer the tour, the older the crowd. It has very little to do with time of year.

However, considering the destinations you've chosen, I'd suggest doing it yourself. Get him involved in the planning of the tour and he will be even more excited to go and see the things he's been reading about. Language will not be a problem in Ireland and London--so no tour needed. If you do want a tour, take local ones--days out, walking tours, etc.

For the short amount of time you have...limit yourself to three home bases: Dublin, London and Paris. Look into day trips out of each city. Some you might do on your own, others might be organized. All three cities are easily managed with great public transport.

Dewi,

Bite the bullet and spring for a ticket and most associated costs to allow your son to take along his best male friend.

Thank me later.

No,, don't ttake a friend,, that is a horrible way to miss a once in a lifetime opportunity. A trip to Europe one on one with your child is priceless. And 14 is a great age to do it.

I have three kids. My husband and I wanted a family trip to Europe, but travel for 5 is insane, 5 airfares and two hotel rooms and a bigger rental car,, thats alot of money at once( for us). Plus there is a 6 yr age span between our oldest son and youngest daughter,, harder to keep eveyone happy.

We split it into three seperate trips.

I took our oldest son when he was 14, to Paris and London. Had a great time.

Two years later, husband took our next son to London, Germany and Paris when our son was then 14. Had a great time.

One year after that I then took our daughter to Europe. She was only 11, but as mature as our boys were at 14, LOL.
I took her on a 14 day Rick Steves Family Tour, plus we arrived in Paris 7 days early and stayed an extra 5 after the tour.

I cannot say enough good about doing the family tour. We saw alot more then I would have wanted to tackle on my own with a child, and in such a short time. My daughter LOVED the tour, there was 28 people on our tour, and 14 of them were kids. The kids totally had a blast. All the kids just hung out together and as a parent traveling solo I found two other moms also solo ( one was married like me, one was widow)so we had someone to chat and hang with too.

I wouldn't even consider taking a child on a regular tour.

I also would not consider flying all that way for 7 days, considering first one or two is jet lag time. I would at minimum sqeeze 10 days out. I would also limit to two cities( travel takes time too!). For first trip, London and Paris are super easy. Eurostar is only 2.5 hours from city center to city center. If you go to Paris, my boys loved visiting the Catacombs. look it up . Also the Invalides War Weapon Museum.

There are also super fun bike tours in both cities. Fat Tire Bike Tours

Hello Dewi,

Oh, I would take my son and go alone -- just the two of you. What an opportunity for bonding. Our youngest child is a boy who is 11 years younger than his next oldest sibling. We took him to Europe the first time when he was 9, then again at 17 and 18. It was just his mother, him, and me. Those trips and the memories are some of our very best. On a trip like that, there are no distractions. It's just you, your son, and Europe. What an opportunity!!
For 10 days, I'd split it between London and Paris, since he has expressed an interest in both. They are very different types of cities, and two of the most exciting places in the world. I would just go to those two places rather than moving around a lot. You can take the Eurostar and be from London to Paris in about 2 hours -- city center to city center. This will be more than fun for you. We plan to take our son again before he finishes college. If I can help you more, let me know.
Thomas

Dewi,

"Any experience taking your teen on a "standard" tour?"

I don't have any "personal experience" on that, but on my last RS Tour, there was an 18-year old being taken on the tour as a Graduation present by her Grandmother. There was also another young lady travelling with her Mother. Based on my observations during the tour, everyone had a great time despite the difference in ages.

You might find it helpful to order the FREE Tour DVD from ETBD, as I believe there were some younger travellers on that tour as well. The Tour covered in the DVD is Rick's "flagship" Best of Europe 21-day Tour, but it provides some idea of the activities and atmosphere on the tours.

Choosing one of the "standard" tours will also provide you with a greater range to choose from, including some shorter ten and eleven day tours.

Cheers!

Personally, if it's supposed to be a father/son trip, then plan it yourself and skip the tour. Also, that way, you can do what you enjoy most - our son loved spies and James Bond, so we took a LondonWalks "spies and spymakers" tour.

Giving yourselves more time would be good. It sounds similar to the first time we took our son to Europe, when he was 10yo. We went to London, then went to France and visited the Loire Valley, then finished in Paris. So we had some city time and some countryside time.

In terms of taking kids out of school, we've done it several times. At least in our district, with their teachers (we've done with both of our kids), they were very understanding. Each kid did a presentation for their class on their trip. My daughter created an awesome powerpoint presentation! In our favor, however, was that both kids do very well in school and are basically never sick, so they didn't have ANY sick days. The teacher didn't feel they would fall behind, and seemed to understand the importance of the educational experience.

WOW!! Thanks to everyone for their input and great advice. My son and I actually sat down together and read through the comments and watched the RS videos for the areas he is interested in.
We decided that it would probably be more enjoyable to move at our own pace and not have to stick to a regimented itenerary. Plus, since it really is a father/son trip, I'm hoping that going it alone will provide for more spontaneous and memorable moments.
We're also going to shoot for 2 weeks as he would only be missing a week of school total.
He is set on London and Paris so I guess 5 days each. For the remaining time we'll be in Ireland. Now we are trying to decide on Dublin or Dingle/Western Ireland. I'm thinking Dublin might have more variety of choices for a 14 y/o but I've been there twice and never to Dingle. Any thoughts?

Sehr Lustig!...........NICHT