Europe next summer with teens, ideas

[Anonymous]

We did Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and it was a big hit. Ljubljana, lake Bled, Kobarid, Trieste, Plitvica, Split, Mostar, and Dubrovnik.

Pretty touristy and crowded - especially places like Dubrovnik - but lots to see and do.

[Anonymous]

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We did Venice and Dolomites his summer with 13 and 16 year olds.

Not sure how much they enjoyed Venice but we all liked the Dolomites. Did ebiking, a spa, hiking. We had 3 full days there; having 4-5 would have been great.

Op here. I lived in Venice for a few months years ago and worry my memories will mislead us…though I lived the broader Venetonregion in general too….but why did your kids not like it? Too many people, boring churches, etc? I think we would probably only stay 2 days anyway and then focus elsewhere…

For the Dolomites, any recommendations?

I didn’t get the impression they DISliked it - but neither raved about it either. I just think the “absorb the city” nature of experiencing Venice wasn’t their thing maybe - or just that they liked the other spots we went to more. Personally I do like Venice and still find it charming.

In the Dolomites we stayed in Ortisei. Took the train from Venice to Bolzano and rented a car there. It was lovely. Went to Seceda, Alpi di Suisi, and day tripped to Merano.

PP here. Also planning either Ortisei, Castelrotto or Badia. Or maybe directly on Alpindi Siusi. Any insights or recommendations?

We stayed at Hotel Grien in Ortisei. Loved it - definitely recommend. It was like 5 minutes up the hill from the heart of the town which meant it was perched on the hillside and had a great view of the mountains. With a car it was easy to pop down into town and tool around. They did have a shuttle van too though if you are careless. The town had several restaurants we liked.

Definitely do e-bikes if you want to bike on Alpi di suisi. I had planned normal biking and the nuts at the bike rental spot said that would be fine if we wanted as it was “mostly flat”. I think “mostly flat” must mean a different thing there - it was quite rarely flat. We would have died on normal bikes.

Thanks so much! I will keep this in mind and look up hotel grien

[Anonymous]

We went to Spain last summer with our 14 year old twins and had a great time. We mixed it up with cultural activities, days at the beach and hikes. We went in late June and didn’t find the heat too oppressive but we did try to stay in hotels/ paradors that had pools. We traveled to many cities over 16 days, but the highlights for my teens were the day trip to the Rock of Gibralter - we took the cable car up and walked down. The visit to the Alhambra. The 3 days we spent at the beach in Nerja - our hotel had a rooftop pool and the town is a nice family oriented beach town. And the day hike we took up the Rio Chillar just outside of Nerja.