I am looking to travel with my family (2 adults and 2 teens 17/19). We'd like to explore and have free time but not have to worry about all the logistics.
My husband and I went on a tour to Ireland with another company and loved being led around like kids!
We didn't mind the smaller hotels but wonder what our kids will think. Also don't know how keen they will be on group dinners.
Would love to hear from you who went on this tour in 2025.
Have you looked at the scrapbooks created by people who have taken the tour? One of the entries for the Paris tour in 2024 is by a teen.
https://gianakusterer.wixsite.com/my-site
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scrapbooks/tour-alum-scrapbooks
The group dinners could definitely be a sticking point, depending on how well your teens interact with adults; particularly, more senior aged than not. Consider sitting them down and explaining in detail how your group dinners on the Ireland trip went (limited menu, sitting there for 1+ hour, expectation they'll engage in conversation with the other members, etc.) The tour scrapbooks will be a great basis to have a granular discussion about group touring and your expectations. I'd definitely add on extra days after your tour to use your Paris skills and do more exploring.
I haven't taken many tours, but the dinners tend to be good bonding experiences (if you want to bond). And most meals in France will last longer than one hour, whether they're the three tour dinners or the four dinners on your own.
Of course I don't know your kids (and keep in mind, one is an adult), but I could also see that they might not prefer all of the scheduled activities, especially in the morning. Ask them!
And of course, for the dinners, even though they are included in the tour price, you could always skip them (but please let the tour leader know in advance).
We did this tour in the August before Covid hit and our group consisted of a group of all ages including a 19 year old and several women in their 30’s which included my daughter. The younger people seem to bond quickly and tended to sit together at the dinners and walked together during our walking tours, at times herding us stragglers along. My daughter had a great time. You don’t say what time of year you are planning on going but the off-season is normally when you are going to find tours that consist mainly of us older travelers. My kids and now grand kids have grown up traveling so I’m a bit confused as to why a large generic hotel would be preferable over a smaller French hotel but everyone has their own likes.
I've been on three RS tours with teenagers and/or college students (Paris, Rome, and Venice/Florence/Rome). Everyone meshed well on these tours. As others have said, social skills are pretty important--I don't mean being an extrovert--I mean being polite, patient, and able to make basic conversation with tour members of all ages. Also, are your children into standing and listening to a guide speak about history, architecture, or art? As Rick says, no grumps. The only grumping can take place in the hotel room amongst your own family.
As mentioned above, you can skip some meals or tour activities, but please let your guide know in advance. Group dinners typically come with a choice of three entrees. For example, in Paris that might be chicken, fish, or vegetarian. Quirky hotel rooms (or things not exactly like they are at home) are part of the adventure of travel, Life experience, in my opinion. Definitely ask them their thoughts, and good luck with your travel plans!
This poster may see your thread but meanwhile I thought I'd post a link to her TR for the Best of Paris tour that she did with her 15-year-old daughter.
I did my first RS tour back in 2013 with my brother, SIL and their 2 adult sons ages 25 and 20. The "kids" had a marvelous time on the Heart of Italy tour and at the end wound up going out with some of the other tour members when the rest of us were too tired to party, hahaha. I suggested the tour because I wasn't sure how well the guys would be at getting going early and I did not want all the planning responsibilities. The tour worked great. They were always the first ones down at the meet up time (trained by their sports coaches on the Vince Lombardi rule, lol). They loved the guide and she responded really well to them.
The knowledge I gained on the Best of Paris tour for how to manage in a big city still sticks with me today!
Thanks Pam, for linking my TR! My daughter loved it. She also loves art and history. She enjoyed the group dinners, especially our last one talking about literature with a couple on our tour. She was the youngest but there was another mother daughter pair and the daughter was in her early to mid 20s. I guess I'd suggest looking at the itinerary and see how excited they are about it. My daughter picked this tour when I asked her where she'd like to go. Or you could go on your own and pick up some walking tours or other activities of interest.
And yes, I was intimidated at the thought of going to Paris on my own so we did pay for the tour. Since then I've gained confidence and planned a trip for my husband and me to France that we took this October.
Not in 2025 as requested but my kids did this tour when they were 10 & 14. I know under the standard age but they both really enjoyed it. I got the ok from RS tours for the younger one to do it.
My daughter has done 6 tours and son 4. She is now 24 & just did Heart of Spain last month with us
They are museum kids and used to traveling. They are also both good with older adults. I think it is a good learning experience for everyone to have young & old on a trip. What is great on RS tours you have a lot of free time to do your own thing. When we did Rome when my son was 19 he was able to go explore on his own in free time or just go back to the hotel to chill or text his friends. We also let each teen pick an activity for the family to do in their free time so they had some say in the planning.
