Rick Steves tour with teenagers

We have travelled with our kids ( a bit younger 13 15) independently and will again this fall. They really don't care for organized tours much, especially if they are geared to adults, and this is with only a day or half day tour not a week or 2. If what the guides are talking about doesnt interest them they lose interest fast, and a guide that my be great for adults may not be great with kids. Your grand daughter is a bit older so this might not be an issue, but I would think about it before I booked a lengthy tour. Travelling independently allows them to help plan things that interest them and they take more ownership of the trip. Before I booked a tour I would see where her interests lie and how well the tour matches it. I would also wonder if she would be the only teen with a bunch of older couples how comfortable that would be for her. Our kids will sometimes pick surprising things out that might not be what an adult would think of but can be fun and interesting and they loved Europe, but as kids sometimes we needed time outs from too much formal stuff like looking at churches or museums and just mess around. Just some things to think about.

We've traveled with our daughter since she was 5 mo old and she's now 20-but never on a tour. Maybe your granddaughter is different but the early morning departures on most group tours would rule them out for our daughter. Jetlag is more of a problem for her-remember the body clocks of teens are already set to go to bed late and get up late.

My wife took our daughter on the Best of Europe tour as a junior college graduation gift, so not so much difference in age. The difference is that she is one who, even as a pre-adolescent, gets along with people of all ages. She was never a sulking adolescent. She loved her trip, and, as a result, we are planning our 6th RS tour to Portugal with her next summer (she is now 33). On our Best of Spain tour this summer there were several adolescents and most of them seemed to have a good time. Consider one of the RS family tours so she will not be the youngest on the tour.

We took our 17-year-old son with us last year on the Best of Paris tour. He's a bit on the introverted side, just like his parents, and he had a great time, just like his parents. He got along fine with everyone, no matter their age. All the other tour members were friendly and welcoming. Ages ranged from 12 to 70s. No problems at all. And so, we're taking him along on our Venice, Florence and Rome tour next year, when he'll be a "grown-up" at 19.

Well my daughter was only 11 when i took her on a RS family tour, but she loved it, kis were mostly between 10 and 18 , but they all mixed with everyone and had a great time.

Even when i travelled with my older teens, we dont let them sleep in all morning, what a wasre of money and sightseeing time, and rs tours usualyy have civilized start times , at the bus by 830 or even 9 sometimes, plus there are always free days , rs tours do not move every morning!

We ran into another RS tour at a rest stop, just the regular Europe in 14 DAYS Tour, and there were two older teens in that group( guessing they were 18-20) and they appeared very happy.

If you take the time to go to the tour page on this site and look at the Scrapbooks you can clearly see very mixed aged tours.

I have taken my daughter on 7 Rick Steves' tours starting when she was 11. I completely agree with you that we learn so much more than when we travel on our own! We took all regular tours, not the family ones. I highly recommend taking your granddaughter along! We travel in the summer, when typically there are more families traveling, but on every tour we have been on there has always been other kids. Sometimes my daughter was the oldest, sometimes the youngest, and some tours almost half of the group was kids with their parents on a graduation trip! If your granddaughter is interested, I think it is a fantastic way to see Europe. If you would like more details etc, feel free to send me a personal message.

We have also taken our teens on three Rick Steves tours. The first when my daughter was only 10. On the two other tours both city tours my kids were the only kids on the tours. It was over the Thanksgiving holiday. They were fine being the only kids and have always done well talking to adults. This last tour was a BOE tour. I thought about doing the family one but thought my son at 18 would probably rather be around other adults than younger kids. My daughter was 15. There were a few other teens on our tour but honestly my kids probably had just as much fun talking to the adults. During free time sometimes they would hang back in their room to catch up on texting etc or watching Netflix (which my daughter claimed was much better overseas than at home) We all had a great time. They did have each other to hang with so that could make a difference.

Since you have been on RS tours you know the drill and should know if you very lucky granddaughter would enjoy it. If you think so I would go for it. If you go in the Summer you would have a much better chance of kids being on the tour than in the fall. The office is very good about letting you know if other kids have signed up for the same tour they did let me know when I asked.

We went on 2 RS tours, with our 23 and 26 year old that loved every minute of it. On both tours there were high school kids that seemed to really enjoy the tour. On the Italy trip, there were 2 othe families besides ours with highschool kids. On the Paris tour there was a high school girl with her grandma. I think it is about the kid and their personality.