Anonymous wrote:For those who’ve done Switzerland and / or Italian lakes / Venice what was your general itinerary ? Number of nights in given locations?

Fly in and/or out of Geneva or Zurich. Spend a night or two upon arrival, to recover from jet lag, walk around the city, take a lake steamer cruise. see the local sightes. Then, take trains into and through the Alps for the rest of the time. Switzerland's specially designated scenic trains go through terrific scenery. The Glacier Express and Bernina Express are perhaps the best known. Good places to spend a few days for hiking include Zermatt, Murren, and Wengen. Look them up and see if they sound appealing. I'd plan to spend at least three nights in any location, since with travel time you'll really end up with only one full day in each place.

Mt teens would 100% pick Hawaii, but it really depends what activities your family is into. My kids love the beach, surfing and hiking. Less into walking around big cities.

For those who’ve done Switzerland and / or Italian lakes / Venice what was your general itinerary ? Number of nights in given locations?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Iceland + Europe is a good mix (we did Amsterdam and Belgium) though I’m sure Hawaii would be great too. I wouldn’t do Ireland/England/Scotland. I did a couple trips there with my parents as a teen and they were pretty boring.

Np wow. Please ignore this poster...maybe it was you that is boring rather than England, Scotland and Ireland?

Her point is AS A TEEN.

I think the Cotswolds could be boring for teens. It depends on their personalities. But if you want to celebrate them as part of the trip, take them someplace exciting, someplace they’d be proud to share with their friends/Instagram. That is their reality. Don’t make it about your middle aged travel goals. You’ll have plenty of time for empty nest trips soon enough.

Anonymous wrote:Iceland + Europe is a good mix (we did Amsterdam and Belgium) though I’m sure Hawaii would be great too. I wouldn’t do Ireland/England/Scotland. I did a couple trips there with my parents as a teen and they were pretty boring.

Np wow. Please ignore this poster...maybe it was you that is boring rather than England, Scotland and Ireland?

Anonymous wrote:Funny you think other countries will want Americans in another month.

Funny you think you will have money in another month.

But hey it's your dream.

Hawaii has the most to offer for teens and you.
London & Coswalds
Italy absolutely not from flooding to heat bad idea.

Take your negativity to the politics forum.

We did a 25th anniversary trip to Italy's lake district with Venice and it was so wonderful. Teens loved that trip. Great mix of Roman ruins, boating on the lake, chilling by the pool, shopping and eating - fine dining as well as pizza + gelato.

We've done a week in Iceland and while the scenery is gorgeous, it's a lot of riding in the car and eating unpredictable, overpriced meals. The hiking is outstanding, but mine aren't willing to do a full week of it anymore. Glad we did it, but it's not a milestone trip, IMO.

PP here. We loved Lake Maggiore. A lot more low key than Lake Como and it’s the Italian side of Switzerland so we ate a lot of Italian and even had dinner in Italy one night which was fun. We combined that with Geneva and Zermatt which we also loved.

+1 to Switzerland. Combination of a cities and lake/mountain areas. My older teens loved it.

This may be unpopular on DCUM, but we were not fans of Iceland. Might have been the horrible weather we had, but it was not our favorite trip.

Anonymous wrote:Also you didn’t suggest cruises but one that I’ve looksed at is the Norwegian fjord cruises out of Amsterdam — those look awesome.

This is an interesting suggestion. Fjords are supposed to be amazing. If not that, I'd go for Switzerland and northern Italy. Good weather, amazing sights, and can be active or relax.

Google “self-guided hiking tour” and see if any of the options look appealing. Or consider hut to hut hiking in the Alps. The version I did was in Tuscany - we walked hill town to hill town and the tour company transported our luggage each day. I wouldn’t recommend Italy in July/August… but that type of trip might really suit your group.

Anonymous wrote:Trying to decide on a 10-12 day trip for 2 adults And 2 older teens celebrating a high school graduation , some Milestone birthday / anniversaries etc…

Like beautiful scenery, hiking, nice healthy food, and probably a mix of outdoors and maybe more urban

Would be late July/ beginning of Aug
Considered
- Hawaii
- south of France ; Paris , London
- lakes in Italy and Switzerland
- Ireland or Scotland / London (but might like something sunny and not grey)
- Iceland ?

Parents have been to Hawaii and several locations in Europe , kids have not

What do your kids like to do? Museums? Active watersports? Sitting around on the beach or reading next to a pool? Shopping? Eating?
I have kids who like to be really active so Iceland was good for hiking and kayaking. The food was horrible.
They haven't been to Hawaii but would love it so that would be my pick for you. But you mentioned urban and it's not really an urban place.

Also you didn’t suggest cruises but one that I’ve looksed at is the Norwegian fjord cruises out of Amsterdam — those look awesome.

I was going to suggest Galapagos but your ideas all sound great too! We had friends that did London plus hiking in Wales which looked gorgeous. There are also great biking trails in Ireland now that you can do (google greenway that goes through Waterford) and little pubs and inns set up for cyclists along the greenway.

Of the things you listed, I think I would put Iceland as the last choice. Not sure why but just seems like more of a 4-5 day trip.

Ring Road in Iceland would be great. Look at Tour.is for itineraries.

Switzerland? We are going this summer--Roundtrip Zurich, 6 nights in the Alps, and ending in Lucerne.