Anonymous wrote:You could totally do Paris on 12K a week for 4 people. We did this last summer (my kids are the same age as yours). If you book early, you can find non stop flight for $1000- $1200 each, so that's about 5K for the flights.
We were able to get a nice AirBnB in the 17th arrondissement for $500/ night, so that's another $3.5K for the week, which leaves you with $3.5K to spend in Paris. We'd usually have 1-2 meals a day at our apartment and have one nice meal a day and the rest of the budget was for sightseeing.

Similar budget for a week in Paris in April for 4 staying in a big apartment. We had bakery and grocery store breakfast. Lunch on the go. A few dinners out, but most cooked with grocery store food. It's fun to shop in foreign grocery stores!

Fly to Amsterdam and then do a bike tour of the Netherlands.

Anonymous wrote:Alaska cruise.

Totally agree and if money left over, spend a few days in Seattle to explore the area.

Alaska cruise.

We have kids that age and have tended to do cool European destinations (temperature cool). Northern Europe, Alps, etc.

Also, Canada (Banff, etc), Pacific Northwest, Alaska if you want to stay US.

That's not a super huge budget (as ridiculous as that sounds) so sort out flights first and see how much you have left and maybe that helps you figure out your destination.

What do you want out of your vacation, OP? What are some favorites you have done, and what didn't your family like?

You have a ton of options and could do about anything depending on how budget you are willing to go with flights and accommodations, so knowing your style will result in better suggestions.

As an FYi, we went to Rome 2 years ago and we spent about 15k but I think could have brought it down to 12 by flying economy instead of economy plus. The tickets were 2K apiece (United direct flights). The vrbo in historic center was only 2900/week in Euros. We also had a few big splurge items that brought our tourism expenses up.
I’m not saying Rome if your answer, but do think you could do almost anyplace in Europe if you’re willing to economize in one or more areas.

PP here. I meant, "have one nice meal a day out"

You could totally do Paris on 12K a week for 4 people. We did this last summer (my kids are the same age as yours). If you book early, you can find non stop flight for $1000- $1200 each, so that's about 5K for the flights.
We were able to get a nice AirBnB in the 17th arrondissement for $500/ night, so that's another $3.5K for the week, which leaves you with $3.5K to spend in Paris. We'd usually have 1-2 meals a day at our apartment and have one nice meal a day and the rest of the budget was for sightseeing.

Are you saying for a week? I think there’s a ton you can do for that budget, depending on where you are willing to skrimp and whether your teens are willing to sleep in the same room as you.

Europe is a light tough on that budget only because the flights will eat up a lot of it. If you can fly economy and are a little flexible, you could luck out. Once there, there are many really affordable options especially if you don’t need to stay at Kiel the Marriot in downtown capital city like London, Paris, Rome. Smaller cities (Avignon, Burgos, York) have fantastic history and really cheap hotels. Another advantage of Europe is that a lot of the attractions are free for kids and/or just free or very cheap (download a walking tour and walk around and look at stuff). Street food like pizza and ice cream is much cheaper there than here. I haven’t been to Croatia or Czech Republic I think those are a good destinations that are a bit cheaper than the big 3-5 European countries.

West coast — you could absolutely do a California trip for this. We flew in SF and rented a car, went to Yosemite, Santa Barbara, and Disneyland, flew out of LA You just need to price out some options and decide where you want to splurge (we splurged on a kayaking trip to Channel Islands national park and Disneyland tickets, but those are both very skippable, and there are lots of great cheaper options.) Costco usually has the best car rental prices. There are lots of hotel choices a clots of price points and Yosemite even has great tent cabins.

Costa Rica — if you can get good air fare, you definitely could do a week in Costa Rica.

Cruise — pretty sure you could do this for a week and have enough money for some great snorkeling or scuba trips as excursions. Western Carib has best snorkeling and diving due to the barrier reef. You don’t need the newest fanciest ship (which is often double the price)—just pick one with good port stops.

Mexico City — there is so much to do here. Flights are much cheaper than Europe, the food is great and lots of hotels at different price points.

Anonymous wrote:Safari!

lol that’s a per person budget.

Safari!

Dollywood and Smokies
New York City
Canada

What kind of people are you, then? Hiking, history, theater, theme park, pro sports, golfing, art, food, bicycling....?

Where would you go with a family of 4 during the summer? (Not this summer, starting to think about next summer). Kids will be 15 and 12. We are not week-at-the-beach people.