Traveling With Teens
by Candyce H. Stapen
If you don’t travel with your teens, then your time together is likely to be limited to swapping car keys, nagging about chores and enforcing curfews. On vacation, you can bond during windsurfing lessons and on an urban stroll find out what it really felt like to come in third again at the swim meet. Traveling with your high school or college student gives both of you the chance to talk without the interruptions of housework, homework and instant messages. The trick: choose a destination that your teen won’t find “bor-ing.” Here are some good bets.
Choose European Cities
 Europe has an allure all its own, especially for teens who crave trendy shops and clothes. In addition, many teens like history—not the dry-as-dust-textbook stuff—but the real sites. While alluring, London and Paris prove expensive and “obvious.” Pick Krakow and surprise your teens with your travel savoir fare. Not only is Krakow an up-and-coming destination, but hotels and meals cost less than in Paris or even Prague.
In and around the city are three UNESCO World Heritage sites. One is Krakow’s Old Town, crowned by the massive and turreted Wawel Castle, dating to 1499. The market square, reputed to be the largest in Europe, is edged by cafes and bisected by the Mediaeval Cloth Hall, where vendors sell souvenirs, including rings and necklaces made from “Polish gold”—amber from the Baltic Sea.
Go local and enjoy cheap eats by sampling goulash, bigos (hunter’s stew) and pierogies (dumplings). To see something different, go underground in the 700-year-old Salt Mine, just outside of the city and another UNESCO site. Tunnels lead you through chambers and to chapels, some as large as ballrooms, and all carved out of salt.
In Kazimierz, the Old Jewish Quarter is where 68,000 Jews lived before World War II when 65,000 of them were killed. You can tour the restored 1862 Temple and the tiny Remuh Temple, dating to 1553. A very important UNESCO site lies 30 miles from Krakow: Auschwitz and adjacent Birkenau. The true horror stories related by the guides as you tour the barracks, the gas chambers and the crematorium are powerful reminders of what happens when intolerance and bigotry rule. A visit to these concentration camps provides an opportunity to talk with your teens about big issues—man’s inhumanity, moral choices, and also about the goodness of the people who tried to help the prisoners.
Located in the heart of Old Town near the castle, Hotel Copernicus, where astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus once lodged, dates to the 1500s. The ancient cellar has an indoor lap pool. Avoid the rooms that face the inner courtyard as these can be dark and noisy (800-735-2478; www.relaischateaux.com).
Try a Cruise
 Cruises solve some typical travel-with-teen-problems. First, you won’t blow your budget on meals because all the food is included. Your bottomless pit son can order two steaks for dinner, stuff down slices of pizza between meals, and graze his way through after-hours buffets and it won’t cost you a dime extra.
Secondly, teens need other teens—and there will be plenty onboard if you book a spring break, summer or holiday voyage. Next, cruises give teens freedom. They roam the ship, meet up for midnight ice cream and often get a curfew way later than at home or a traditional resort. After all, no one is driving. (That said, it’s still important to set rules about drinking and partying.)
Especially good lines for teens include Royal Caribbean. Many ships have rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, and basketball courts. The Freedom of the Seas and the Liberty of the Seas, launched in May, add FlowRiders that create a wave you can surf on deck. RCI also breaks down teens into two age-appropriate groupings, 12 to 14 and 15 to 17. Brand new: the DJ for a Day program where teens (and adults) can learn to spin their favorite tunes. Also, RCI ships have teen-only sun decks and teen-only discos and hangouts (www.royalcaribbean.com).
Carnival’s Club O2 caters to those hard-to-please 15- to 17-year-olds by providing colorful teen centers with dance floors, DJs, music listening stations, and music videos playing on large screen TVS (www.carnival.com).
Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Disney Cruise Line, and Norwegian Cruise Line group teens 13 to 17 together, a sometimes not so happy alliance. At peak times when lots of teens sail, the groups tend to self-divide into younger and older cliques. Each line features teen-only centers and hosts such meet and mingle events as pool parties, midnight movies and disco nights (www.princesscruises.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.disneycruise.com, www.ncl.com).
All-inclusive Choice
All-inclusive resorts also ease travel with teens, especially if you pick one with a comprehensive activities program and a good beach. Club Med Yucatan, Mexico, comes with both. The property reopened in November 2006 after a $24-million renovation. Passworld, the new teen center, debuts in May. Teens, split into groups for ages 11 to 13 and 14 to 17, make jewelry, create graffiti, learn how to mix sounds, and hang out at Passworld.
Outdoors there’s plenty to do with your teens: sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, and snorkeling. The property offers excursions to Maya sites (additional fees). This isn’t the old Club Med with minimal accommodations. Many rooms have been enlarged and all feature balconies.
If you want top service, book the Jade Villa. These accommodations come with evening turndown, stocked mini-fridge, free wireless Internet, room service, access to a less-crowded beach, and a concierge as well as a private car pick-up at the airport.
Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, with a great beach, a designated teen center, and lots of activities, is another good choice for families. Traveling to Provence, France? In June Club Med Opio en Provence reopens after a renovation. (www.clubmed.com)
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Great Places, Great Deals |
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—Beaver Creek, CO
 See the local wildlife with the “Hike by Day, Raft by Night” package at the Pines Lodge, a RockResort in Beaver Creek. Along with a guided day outing, families, on a nighttime float trip on the Colorado River, use night vision glasses to observe critters after dark. The package also includes three nights lodging and a picnic lunch. Rates from $899 for a family of four for a three-night stay. A second room, when available, costs an additional $387. Available April 15 through September 30, 2007 (800-859-8242; www.vbcrp.com).
-Jackson Hole, WY
Explore Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park but stay in comfort at the Snake River Lodge & Spa, a RockResort, in Jackson Hole, WY. With the “Family Float and National Park” package, get a scenic float trip on the Snake River, a year-long pass to U.S. national parks, picnic lunch for four, daily breakfast, and three nights lodging in two rooms. Rates for a family of four with kids 14 years old and younger, from $1,088. Available May 17 through September 29, 2007 (866-975-ROCK; www.rockresorts.com).
-Australia:
Tauck Tours, which offers family itineraries in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, and Africa, has added Australia. The 12-day “Australia: Kangaroos & Koalas” trip begins in Sydney with a surf lesson at Bondi Beach and visits to the Taronga Park Zoo and Sydney Aquarium. You also spend two nights in the Outback near Ayers Rock, three nights at the Kewarra Beach Resort and two nights at the Coconut Beach Rainforest Lodge. Rates from $3,715 per person, plus air (800-788-7885; www.tauck.com).
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*****
– Candyce H. Stapen is the author of
27 books, including National Geographic Guide to Caribbean Family
Vacations.
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