I recently took my teens on their first big international trip. We spent about two weeks visiting London and Paris. I learned a lot about planning a complicated trip to popular areas. Here are my top ten tips for traveling with teens to crowded locations in busy times of year.
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#1: Crunch the Numbers On All-Inclusive City Passes
Many cities have a Go City Pass. It’s worth spending some time crunching the numbers to see if it’s cheaper to to buy a pass rather than purchasing tickets to attractions separately. Simply make a list of all the places you want to visit and how much tickets cost. The official website of attractions will have ticket prices. There are often discounted family tickets and lower prices for kids you can take advantage of. So make sure you calculate the correct price for your party.
Try to assess how many activities your family can do in a day. Do you think your teens will rush through museums, or linger and read every placard? Is your family extremely active and used to walking miles each day? Will your teens enjoy unscheduled time or get bored? Answers to these questions will help you better assess if you might squeeze in a few more activities a day. This greatly increases the value of a Go City Pass.
Another benefit of a Go City Pass is that it’s refundable within 90 days of your purchase date. Even is the pass is a bit more expensive than buying tickets separately, it’s probably worth it so you can get your money back if your plans change.
Our Decision: No to City Pass
I spent a lot of time analyzing the various passes available in London and Paris. Ultimately, I decided that buying passes would be more expensive than booking directly on attraction websites. Fortunately, we didn’t need to cancel anything, so the refund policy didn’t matter.
I had no idea how fast or slow my family would proceed through attractions. It turned out that the kids walked through things super quickly. But in the end, we probably could have fit 1-2 more activities in each day. So we might have enjoyed having access to some of the things on the passes that I originally thought we didn’t have time for.
Tip #2: Book Early & Stay On Top of Booking Windows
Unfortunately, we live in a world that requires most things to be booked early unless you want to pay a substantial premium. Keep on top of booking windows. Check the official websites of each attraction and see how far in advance they typically release tickets. Then schedule the opening date on your calendar along with the direct hyperlink to the site. Keep in mind that the attraction is probably in a different time zone than you are. So calculate the time difference so you check for tickets on the correct day.
Our Experience: Adapt to the Circumstances
You can book Louvre tickets about 60 days in advance. But by the time I booked ours (probably 58 days in advance), the slots I wanted were gone. We ended up with an evening timeslot for this. Another example was our tickets to Warner Brothers Studio London. This was expensive and I was waiting for a time I felt comfortable booking it financially. I waited too long and ended up only being able to book an evening timeslot. In both cases, this worked out OK because teens thrive at night! But if we had little kids, this would have been awful.
I also missed out on getting the least expensive Eiffel Tower tickets. I needed to purchase them as soon as those tickets were released. This happened during the middle of the night for us. We ended up skipping going up the Eiffel Tower because what should have cost us $100 total would have cost us $400 booked through a third party.
Tip #3: Sign Up for Free Tours
One great resource for family travel and traveling with teens is Free Tours by Foot. You can book walking tours in cities all over the world. You pay only what you think is appropriate or what you can afford. I’ve done these in several places and have always found them to be high quality.
Similar tours booked through Viator or Get Your Guide are pretty expensive for families, and you still have to tip. With Free Tours by Foot, you pay whatever you think the tour is worth. For a two-hour free walking tour, be prepared to tip $5-20 per person. I generally gauge what I pay based on the number of other people in the group. If there are a ton of people, then $5-10 a person is fine. But if the group is smaller, $15-20 is appropriate.
Our Tour: Harry Potter Sites in London
I forgot about Free Tours by Foot and didn’t check their website until the very last minute. I was able to book a walking tour in London visiting sites from the Harry Potter books and movies and places that inspired J.K. Rowling on our first day in London. Our guide was delightful, and it was a good introduction to the city. I ended up tipping about $60 for our tour, $15 for each person. I wish I had thought of this option earlier and booked more tours in both London and Paris.
Tip #4: Know When Things Are Closed
Be aware that some major attractions are closed certain days of the week. You may need to carefully craft your itinerary around these dates. Just check out the attractions’ websites to see their standard opening schedules and make note of their hours and the days they are closed.
Our Plan: Avoid Monday & Tuesday in Paris
This impacted us in Paris. Because I was booking our flights on points, I wasn’t sure when I would get the best deal. So I crafted a different version of my itinerary for departing the U.S. on each day of the week. I wanted to make sure we would avoid Paris city center on Mondays or Tuesdays as many things are closed that day. But visiting Disneyland Paris on weekdays is better than weekends. So we spent Friday-Sunday in Paris city center and Monday-Tuesday in Disneyland Paris.
Tip #5: Schedule Alone Time
It’s important to keep in mind that your family is not used to spending 24/7 together. Everyone needs downtime and alone time! If your kids are old enough, this is pretty easy to do. With younger kids, take turns giving each adult time to do what they want.
Our Approach: Divide & Conquer!
We feel comfortable leaving the kids alone in hotel rooms in cities. We also were fine with them wandering around on their own between our hotel and Disneyland Paris. At one point, I took my daughter shopping while my husband took my son out to eat. And my husband and I enjoyed a dinner without the kids one night. We also all took some alone time during our final few days visiting Disneyland Paris.
Tip #6: Get Teens Involved & Add Fun Things to the Itinerary
Have your teens make a list of 5-7 things they want to do in the places you are visiting. If they are avid readers, you can check out travel books from the library. But if they are not, think about how they enjoy learning about new things, such as social media or YouTube. Then search for content creators to suggest to them. Once they make their list, do everything possible to include all of their suggestions.
There are always a few “should” see sites in every place you go. But those sites may not be the most engaging for kids. So make sure you have some “frivolous” things added to the itinerary.
Our Results: Trip Highlight!
I made each kid make a list of 5 things they wanted to do in London and Paris. I hoped they would really get into researching things and learning about what they were going to see. Instead, they hurried through this assignment. Still, they did provide me with some information to help make the trip engaging for them. And they added some things to our itinerary that I wouldn’t have considered. One of these was the London Dungeon which ended up being a highlight of our trip!
Tip #7: Make a Plan of Attack
If you plan to visit a huge museum or site with impatient teens, make sure you research things you want to/should see and create an itinerary. Also seek out floor plans and maps so you have an idea of the lay of the land.
Our Process: Map it Out
I did this for the Louvre as I suspected the kids would be bored silly if we spent too much time there. I did some research so I would know what we should see. Then I figured out exactly where everything was and grouped them together on a list. This way, we were able to minimize our travel time through the museum. This worked out well. The only thing I neglected to do was include a reason why a specific piece of art was on a must-see list. So we walked around with me pointing out things and saying “so this is a must-see item, but I don’t know why!”
Tip #8: Download Apps in Advance
If you are traveling with teens, the first thing you need to consider is how you plan for them to stay connected while abroad. My post on this subject gives you all the options available. If you choose a plan with limited data, then make sure you download all the apps you may need in advance.
Make sure you have downloaded transportation apps. Uber, Bolt, and other ride sharing apps allow you to call a car and driver no matter where you are. Google Maps and CityMapper both provide suggestions for pubic transportation, including what entrances and exits to use on subways. There are also usually metro apps for big cities that can be helpful.
There are also often apps for the sites you are visiting. If you download them in advance, you can spend some time studying them while you are planning the trip.
Our Downloads: City & Site-Specific Apps
In addition to those stated above, we also downloaded a metro app for Paris called Paris Metro. In London, we used the metro map TfL Go.
I didn’t download any site-specific apps in advance except Disneyland Paris. I did download some as we traveled and I saw signs for them, such as Versailles, Tower of London, and Stonehenge. If I could go back in time, I would have searched the App Store for every site we were visiting and downloaded them all. They weren’t very helpful when I discovered them halfway through a visit to a site! But they would have been nice to look at in advance.
Tip #9: Research Restaurants in Advance
I find it’s easier to know about food options near where we are going to be rather than just go on the fly. If your teens tend to be picky eaters, this becomes even more important. If you research restaurants in advance and know there are menu items your kids will eat, you avoid that awkward time lingering in the front of the restaurant and studying the menu. It also reduces stress and conflict if you know exactly where you plan to eat.
Our Practice: Flexible Options
I usually try to identify 1-2 places near where we are going to be each day. I also make note of a few chain restaurants that are in multiple places in a city. Then we can have some flexibility but aren’t wandering around looking for a place to eat.
Tip #10: Look for Discounts & Coupon Codes
Family trips can be expensive, especially if your teens are old enough to have to pay adult admission prices! Try to save a buck or two by searching for discount or coupon codes. If you are booking things through Viator or Get Your Guide, look for coupon codes on sites like Rakuten (join via this link and both you and I get $30 after you join and spend $30) or Capital One Shopping (join via this link and both you and I get $40). You can also sometimes get attraction tickets from Groupon.
Our Savings: Capital One Shopping for the Win!
I booked most things directly on the attraction websites as I found Viator and Get Your Guide to be very expensive for four people. But I did want to make our day trip to Stonehenge and Bath easy, so I booked it through Viator. I first had a booking that cost $700 total for our party of four. Then Capital One Shopping suggested a promo code that slashed the price down to $510. We used the savings to see the musical Wicked in the West End in London!
What are your top tips for traveling with teens?
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