Whether you choose to visit a theme park, take a traditional seaside holiday or visit a child friendly resort, family holidays can be great fun. However, as your children grow and develop into teenagers with their own ideas of what a holiday should be, you’ll be faced with a new set of challenges which require a whole new holiday strategy if you want to keep everyone happy.

10 Things You Need to Know About Travelling with Teens

On that note, here’s my top ten things you need to know about travelling with teens, to help you plan a holiday that will appeal to both teenagers and adults alike:

Get them involved at the planning stage

Ask their opinions and don’t reject what they say straight away. If everyone puts together a list of where they’d like to go, you’ll be able to see where the common ground lies.

Be prepared to think outside the box

skier

Rather than your usual beach holiday, how about a hiking holiday, or perhaps a winter holiday with some skiing or snowboarding on the agenda? Encourage the kids to use their holiday to try a new activity or experience, and you’ll reduce the cries of “I’m bored”. Also, you can make the trip more adventurous by having them explore the area on their own. It would make them feel like you trust them enough to treat them like adults. Although, remember to make them take survival kits along, just in case they happen to get lost during their exploration, which can be a possibility.

Check that your chosen destination has plenty of activities to keep teens happy

Ask your teenager what kind of activities they’d like to take part in and make sure that they’re available, whether that’s horse riding, water sports or other activities such as clubs for teens.

horse riding

Think about the most suitable accommodation

While your chosen Fallsview Hotel in Niagara might offer a range of accommodation, including spacious family rooms, don’t forget that teenagers may no longer want to share with you. Look for hotels with adjoining rooms, or perhaps consider an apartment, where they can have their own space.

fallsview_guest_room_2_queen

If you’re on a tight budget, how about a camping trip?

Give your teens their own tent and the responsibility of looking after it. Youth hostels are also a great budget option, as are bunkhouses, which often have family rooms.

teenagers in forest

Give your teens responsibility for their own packing

Asking your teens to pack their own bags will help them to learn to be accountable. If you’re worried about them forgetting something important, encourage them to make a list prior to packing. It will reduce the chances of forgetting something important, and teach them the value of planning and preparation.

Avoid repetition

Unless you are holidaying alone, there is always some kind of compromise involved. Let them choose the activities for certain days, avoid repeating the same activities every day and make sure that there’s plenty of variety to keep everyone happy.

kayak

Don’t forget technology

While a holiday provides the perfect opportunity to switch off from theinternet and social media, your teenagers will want to keep in touch with their friends. Make sure your accommodation offers Wi-Fi, and don’t forget to check the roaming option on your mobile network. You don’t want to end up with an enormous bill on your return home.

Don’t over plan every day

Teenagers like down time too, so plan in ‘lazy days’ when the kids aren’t expected to do anything other than laze around.

Don’t get too hung up on food choices

pizza

One of the great joys of travelling is trying new foods and drinks. Having said this, your teenagers may wish to stick with foods they know, so don’t get too upset if they want to eat burgers in Thailand or pizza in Spain.

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11 COMMENTS

  1. These sound like fantastic ideas. I agree holidays are a great time to switch off and they can give you a chance to talk more too. Also I love the idea of not over planning. Too much can wear you out and holidays are for relaxing more than usual..well in m mind they are. Angela

  2. Great tips. I do travel with my teen quite a bit. I often let her pick out her snack choices for long drives or for flying. I also give her a checklist and let her pack her clothes and then just spot check. Hope you enjoy NYC. We love it!

  3. Good advice my two are only small yet but i can imagine all the above well worth remembering filling away! Like the idea of everyone planning together and letting them pack themselves but doing a list first cause i would totally panic they hadn’t packed right, ( i’ll make hubby do that for next hols lol). Enjoy your next teen holiday x

  4. Fab tips 🙂 I love how you encourage people to listen to what teenagers want to do – it’s their holiday too after all! And the wi-fi one – spoken like a true blogger lol 🙂
    Debbie

  5. These are good idea’s for families too on a tight budget or just don’t want to spend much. I guess I have some hints when our daughter hits her late teens.

    Thanks for sharing

    John

  6. with 2 teenagers and a desperate need for a holiday this year I’ve taken note of all these! I’m not sure if I’d trust them with packing though going by the state of their wardrobes, it’d be a pair of pants and ps4 for each!

  7. Really useful information here Zena and although I have many years to go until I have a teenager in the house this post made me look back on my own teenage years and going on holiday with my parents and grandparents. Technology is such an important aspect, it’s horrible to have anyone bored on holiday.

  8. Great list, luckily my toddler doesn’t complain about where he’s brought but I can see how that could change when he’s older. Good idea to get your teenagers involved in the planning

  9. Great tips. I was lucky enough to travel a lot during my childhood and teenage years and I think the best thing to do is to go with the flow. Too much planning mixed with hormones will probably end in a stressful holiday for everyone haha

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