traveling with 19 year old granddaughter

A 19 year old is an adult. Ask her what she is interested in.

Hi Linda -
My 2-cents? I'm sure your grandaughter is able to use the internet - as you've done here - and to spend some time with guidebooks on Rome, Venice and Florence as well. Having her make choices based on what she reads about which interests her will be a far more successful strategy than someone else telling you what they think she might enjoy. LOL, we might guess wrong! 😳

It's also a really valuable lesson in how to travel that she'll be able to use when planning trips in the future. Along with those guidebooks (start with the local library) why not have her start an account here so she can also learn how to use a travel forum? As well, sit down and book your hotels and attraction tickets together so she can experience how that's done.

Tours: I see no reason to take an escorted tour, especially as you have some prior experience under your belt. The only reason for doing so would be if you two decide you just don't want to spend the time to craft an itinerary and choose accommodations and attractions yourself versus have that taken care of for you. What you might consider is just booking some tours at attractions which benefit from them, such as the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine and Vatican Museums/St Peter's in Rome, if they end up on your list. Even if you don't book tours for these two, advance tickets are a MUST; same for some other attractions in Rome and Florence.

Editing to add: as your trip is only 5-6 months away, time is of the essence so she does need to put the giddyup on doing that research. 🏇

We traveled with our slightly younger (17 and 14) granddaughters last summer. We really tried to involve them with as much planning as we could in the months leading up to our July-August trip. They had a focus, food and cooking which helped.

We recognized that they were really busy with school, music and sports in the months leading up to the trip so we asked for their input once we’d made some initial inquiries about places to stay and activities. They had traveled to Europe before but never Italy so they had questions but by reading and watching lots of YouTube videos they jumped right in to the adventure. Here’s my trip report.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/italy-and-paris-with-teenage-granddaughters

In addition to guide books, this is a very handy travel site for all cities:

https://wikitravel.org/en/

https://wikitravel.org/en/Rome

What are her interests? Many young adults (and adults and younger teens...) are foodies - adventurous eaters interested in trying local specialties. Not just high end food. If that’s an interest, food tours are a good thing to look into. Most cities have then, just an afternoon or evening with a guide who takes you to restaurants you might not find on your own. Try Eating Italy.

She is on the verge of being a grownup - so I would treat her like one. Take her on a wine tour, with some history thrown in for good measure. I highly recommend this:

https://tuscantrails.com/daily-chianti-tours

At 19 she is an adult! Not on the verge😁

Hi Linda, I traveled to Italy with each of my daughters when they were mid-to-later teens. They have very different interests, yet both enjoyed some of the same things. I strongly echo some of the earlier responders who suggest getting your g-daughter's imput. Is she athletic, a runner, biker, climber? Is she a musician? Love art and museums? Fascinated by Greek and Roman myths? Archeology? Does she have an eye for fashion, and enjoy the "hunt" of shopping? Is she a photographer, who enjoys early light, or sunset, to get the right shot? Is she a "foodie" and enjoy new tastes and the creation of new dishes? All of these will play into your planning. Each of my daughters liked museums, but in different ways, in different amounts. One loves visual art tremendously (and ended up getting an M.A. in Museum Studies and is now a museum educator at a well-respected museum!) She could traipse through the Uffizi for hours. The other daughter is highly "visual" but mostly enjoys sculpture; the Borghese Gallery, with its Bernini statues was a particular love, and the Uffizi was just too much for her. (She, however, LOVED our day trip to Pompeii - at her request. That day remains a highlight for both of us.) Both girls enjoyed strolling the San Lorenzo street market in Florence (great place for her to buy gifts for friends). With both of them, I ended up making a "deal" - equal parts churches/museums and shopping! (So: 2 hours Uffizi = 2 hours shopping for leather boots!) If she enjoys the outdoors, maybe a day trip from Florence to Lucca, and biking the (level; not hilly) two mile route of the wall around Lucca - and also the "row Venice" experience. If she's a musician/singer, then look into the Verdi concerts in churches in Venice. Perhaps some occasional small group tours would be fun, and would give you all the opportunity to interact with other folks during your adventures, and be a breather from the intensity of it just being the two of you. If so, then a walking tour of the Roman Forum (the stories are great!) and a cicchetti tour in Venice (especially UrbanAdventurs Venice) might be lots of fun. (I love Alessandro Schezzini's cicchetti tour, but it's really more about the wine than the food, with him.) Finally: My family is one in which teens had a small glass of wine with the family, on Friday nights, but families roll differently re. alcohol and teens. You may want to have a conversation with her parents and her re. wine and beer, while you all are traveling, so that expectations are quite clear before you leave. Edit to add: I would NOT go on a full-scale guided tour of the three cities, with her. She might well be the youngest, and would be locked into an intinerary not aimed at her interests or age group.

If the trip is more about your granddaughter, then sit down with her and engage her in the planning of this trip. It will be much more productive than getting opinions here from strangers who don't know her or her interests. Teenagers are all different. As for tour vs. no tour, these cities are so well covered in the travel literature and so heavily touristed that it's easy to plan your own trip.

My then 20 year old son was part of family trip to Greece. He had never been out of the country and frankly showed very little interest in any of the planning. Yet it was a wonderful life changing trip for him. It really opened his eyes and he enthusiastically went back to Europe last summer on his own.

My advice if your granddaughter does not have strong particular interests is to mix it up. We had nature mixed with historical sites with a few museums thrown in. I would veer towards the outdoors rather than too much time indoors. I found for short museums visits that Rick Steve’s highlights are perfect. We spent a lovely two hours at the national archeology museum.

I would also recommend the Rick Steves Videos. He did watch those but not so much others I enjoyed.

Following BethFl's suggestions: You and your g-daughter may want to both download the free RickSteves AudioEurope app on your smart phones, then download all of the possible walking and museum and sight tours that you might possibly want to use. They are absolutely great! (For example: I have Venice - Grand Canal Cruise, St Mark's Square, Florence Uffizi Gallery Tour, etc.) You can each bring your own earbuds, or headphones, etc., and listen together as you walk.

Hi Linda

We have visited over 25 countries including many European destinations with our kids starting from age 7 to now 14. One suggestion would be to plan some sightseeing with their input. Keep the itinerary simple. Leave some time for exploration.

My daughter and I visited Italy this summer. Everyone is different, of course, but my daughter really enjoyed the cooking class we did in Florence. We also got massages in Assisi at a wonderful spa.

I'm sure she will have some good ideas for you too.

When I asked my daughters (19 and 22 at the time of our trip to Italy)what their favorite parts of the trip were, they both answered that they really enjoyed our day with Roberto Becchi of Tours by Roberto and our four hour tour with Paul Costa of Tuscan Tour Guide.

Roberto offers a few different day long Tuscany itineraries, some with stops at wineries. We found him very knowledgeable and entertaining!

We did the Florence “Grand Tour” with Paul which included a tour of the Accademia and the Uffizi, with a walking tour between the two museums. We have done many private tours in our travels and all of us agreed that Paul was, without doubt, the best guide we had ever toured with.

Enjoy your trip!

You might be surprised what answer you get from your granddaughter when asked. Way back when, for my daughter's and step daughter's first trip to Europe with me...a girls' trip...I asked each what they would most want to see in Europe. My 14 year old daughter said Pompeii and my 30 year old step daughter said Florence (due to room with a view). I was lucky they picked the same country! Anyway, that's what we did...Rome as bookends, Florence and the Amalfi Coast/Sorrento/Naples. Once you know what she wants you can fill in with some of your 'likes' for the area.

One more point about attitude adjustment: There is no reason two adults have to do everything together. Interests differ; so can experiences. Feel free to go separate ways during the day, then share your experiences over the evening meal.

Southam made a great point. We joined our grandson, who will turn 20 in two weeks, for a trip to France and London last May. We spent most of our time together, but there were several activities were we each did our own thing.

Our clocks weren’t in perfect synch. We’re earlybirds, usually up before dawn, while he slept later and stayed out later.

BTW, he’s in his first semester at the University of Tours, living in his own apartment. They grow up fast!