Greece or Prague/Vienna

I don't know Vienna but I love both Prague and Greece and we go to each at least once a year. It depends, obviously, on the time of year and the interests of you and your son, but assuming a summer holiday my advice would be Greece.

We've taken my godson to Greece on various occasions and the amount of outside space makes it more fun for an energetic young person.

Prague is a beautiful city but my experience is that teenage boys have a limited interest in old buildings. On the other hand they seem quite happy somewhere where there is a beach and perhaps the odd site.

A good bet might be Nafplio in Greece. Just under 3 hours outside of Athens by local bus it has, in no particular order: a huge venetian fort, a not wonderful but OK town beach, local bus to a nicer beach only 10 minutes away, access by local bus to both Mycenae and Epidavrus if you want to fit in a site or two, a street full of restaurants with outside tables that allow a teenager can wander off between courses.

Alan

The word "teen" in your post says it all, in my opinion. I LOVE Prague - but a teen there having fun? Not too sure. Greece is one of my favorites and I've been to many places. Island hopping via ferry with a few days spent in Athens before your flight home would intrigue anyone! Good luck in deciding! :)
Let me know if you would like any recommendations/tips for Greece travel.

Shannon

I was sort of leaning towards Greece anyhow, with all of the famous historic parts, the beaches, and the food. I know my son would totally enjoy it. Is it, I hate to put it this way, tourist friendly, as I'll be the one responsible for getting us around. I see that Greece has recently gotten a metro so I'm hoping that'll make Athens much easier to get around. Santorini sounds perfect for lounging on its beaches, strolling in and out of shops and exploring around the caldera, but is it easy to do with public transportation? I think I'll limit this trip to those 2 places , because I don't want to cram to much into our itinerary.

I love them all but I agree that Greece would be great for a teen. If he is interested in history a trip there will bring it alive for him. If he is not interested yet he will be after the visit.

I'm pretty sure that you will find Greece to be very safe and the Greeks very helpful. Learn just two or three Greek words and you'll have lots of friends and so will your son.

Athens teems with history. Santorini is one of the most beautiful places in the world - to experience all this as a teen....this a a very lucky young man.

Athens is very easy to manage as a tourist. The metro is straightforward - only 3 lines - but you probably won't need to use if much. If you stay, as most tourists do, in or near the Plaka area then everything is in walking distance.

There is a bus service on Santorini but, even though I speak some Greek and travel a lot on mainland buses, I didn't find it particularly easy or reliable. On one occasion I got stranded - a scheduled return simply didn't show - and after an hour and a half wait I managed to scrounge a lift with some friendly passing Americans. Mind you I was there in March when the buses are more infrequent. It may be better in season when more tourists are moving about.

Cheers
Alan

I haven't been in years, but, I found the Greeks to be among the most " tourist friendly" of Europeons.
I also felt very safe on islands( was just a young girl when I went with a friend) , but honestly Athens was not particularily nice, it is just a BIG city, so we only spent like 2 or 3 days there and then got out to islands. The islands are lovely, we did Mykonos and Paros and my friend went on to Corfu. This was years ago, but I still list the Greek islands as one of my favoirite places in Europe and a nice change from most of Europe .