Family holiday of a lifetime- suggestions.

[hopless500]

Next summer (early July) I want to take the family on a memory making, fantastic 2 week holiday. It will be me, hubby and 2 girls who will be ages 15 and 18. Last year we went to Menorca and after a week everyone was bored and they complained there was nothing to do. I want to change that and give them loads to do!

My first thought was Thailand- some time in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. I've made some initial enquiries and a price of £5000 has been quoted for flights from Newcastle, transfers between resorts and B&B in each place. I'm sure I could get the price down on doing more research.

Anywhere else that you have been that was fantastic? I'm thinking of a multi centre, cultural experience to cram in as much as possible and ideally I'd like the price to be £4000 (or less!)

Suggestions gratefully accepted!

Your first idea sounds great. Chiang Mai is probably the only one which could be missed as there's not so much up there, but it's still nice. The bits in between Chiang Mai and Bangkok are, in the main, not terribly exciting. Bangkok and Phuket are fab though and I want to come with you please
edit/ I'd personally swap Chiang Mai for Cambodia.

 

[vickster]

Vietnam & Cambodia, superb trip, cheap when there. Flights less so however. Just choose time of year carefully to avoid weather extremes

Loads to see in USA and might appeal more to the teens. West coast, Florida, NYC. Not too much in the middle

 

[ianrauk]

Girls of 15 and 18?
They'll want 2 weeks raving it up in Ibiza not following wrinklies around deserts, jungles, road trips and temples.

 

[MartinQ]

Girls of 15 and 18?
They'll want 2 weeks raving it up in Ibiza not following wrinklies around deserts, jungles, road trips and temples.

Songkran (Easter time) is one of the largest "parties" over 3-4 days

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyCOzvmaoaM

Chiang mai or bangkok are probably the "best" places. Plenty of expat / backpacker entertainment in bangkok / beach resort / .. with the usual scam warnings in Thailand.

 

[awomaninsane]

Have just done a bit of my own research and booking flights, hostel accommodation and trains pretty much halves the price I was quoted earlier for Thailand. Going to look into Vietnam and Cambodia.

Not sure I want to do a driving holiday in America on reflection but its something to keep in mind.

As for the girls raving it up in Ibiza... I think they'd actually hate that! How weird are they!

 

[vickster]

You could do Bangkok, a beach and Angkor perhaps. Vietnam has lots of history around the war which may be of less interest to teen girls?

 

[T4tomo]

Vietnam is great, plus cheaper and safer than Thailand. Do Hanoi and down to Ha Long bay for a cruise, then some beach time at say Hoi An, which is lovely and has some good bars for the teenagers. Then finish up in Ho chi Minh for a bit of culture and shopping - option to do a day trip to mekong delta from there. Did similar ish a couple of years ago with my 3, the oldest would have 14 at the time, they loved it

 

[Hill Wimp]

I once had a hankering for doing the Florida Keys @User , have you done that?


I lived in Australia for a year a long time ago and would love to go back. Do you think it's a bit too far though for a 2 week holiday @The Velvet Curtain ?

I have done the Florida Keys and on a purely personal note i wouldn't do it again. It was most uninspiring.

However with your two teenagers i think the US offers superb variety for your two week window. Fly drive for me would be the way to go. If you had longer i would say Camper van around Australia.

 

[wonderloaf]

and Basingstoke.

You beat me to it !

 

[Andy_R]

Northern NZ......

 

[vickster]

Vietnam is great, plus cheaper and safer than Thailand. Do Hanoi and down to Ha Long bay for a cruise, then some beach time at say Hoi An, which is lovely and has some good bars for the teenagers. Then finish up in Ho chi Minh for a bit of culture and shopping - option to do a day trip to mekong delta from there. Did similar ish a couple of years ago with my 3, the oldest would have 14 at the time, they loved it

I do think if you are going over that way, Angkor is an absolute must for a couple of days. Short flight from Ho Chi Minh city to Siem Reap

We did a fully guided private tour which was great but pp was not dissimilar to your quoted budget you can do much cheaper though

 

[Dave 123]

Rhyl.

Plenty of diverse wildlife.
Culturally challenging.
New languages to master.
Cuisine.


Or how about doing something like this-
http://www.seakayakgreece.com/
Followed by a nice luxury break in a hotel nearby to wind down.

 

[Cuchilo]

Forget the package deals and just do what you want . My best holidays have been just going with the flow and ending up where we ended up . Not traveling but 3-4 days is enough and sometimes you want to move on right away . See the people and go to the local markets / pubs . You soon make friends and really get to see what the country is about .
People are really really nice when you get out of the tourist areas .

 

[Electric_Andy]

Disney and Universal Studios in Florida if you can afford it. Plenty to do for all ages. Not very cultural though, but not much travelling involved once you've actually got there. Australia would be great but you'd spend half your time travelling.

Write lists of what exactly the girls and wife want to do; then find a country where you can book it all to please everyone?

Bear in mind that you won't please everyone.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Rhyl.

Plenty of diverse wildlife.
Culturally challenging.
New languages to master.
Cuisine.


Or how about doing something like this-
http://www.seakayakgreece.com/
Followed by a nice luxury break in a hotel nearby to wind down.

I can honestly say that Rhyl is the worst place I've ever been to in the UK, and that's saying something as the one thing we do really badly here is beach resorts. I felt severely under-tattooed on the beach.

Back to the OP, my choice would be the Canadian Rockies. Mountain biking and rafting in the summer, or skiing in the winter.

Graham