How to plan the perfect teen holiday: Real stories and expert tips for family travel
“My favourite holiday? Garryvoe, in a lovely, rented house for a month when I was 13. There was a heatwave in Cork that summer — it didn’t rain for the month. We were five brothers — my sister was born the following year.
“We did everything together — simple things. The beach every day; my mum would pack a lunch. We learned to swim that summer. We made new friends; played pool, I went to my first disco. We bought mackerel in Ballycotton; my dad filleted it in the kitchen.
“Those smells, the sensual memories and experiences — waking up every morning in bunk beds, the sun splitting the stones, the lighthouse down in Garryvoe. My eldest brother, Brian, 19 and working — he’d come at weekends and we’d hang out.
“A holiday is really a holiday once you slow down and spend quality time just hanging out together. The memories stay, emotionally. Sixteen years later, on Garryvoe beach, I asked my wife to marry me.
“I think you need to let teenagers find their own rhythm on a holiday. And have that lovely balance where you also get space to spend quality time together. Even if they’re not doing a lot, it can be a real growing experience. They can find out more about themselves.
“We’ve always gone on holiday with the kids. We love Portugal. They love to slow down, take it easy. Oisín is 19 — since he was 15, he has loved getting up, going to the gym, doing his training, and then going to the pool on his own. I go down an hour later, join him for coffee, I read my book, and he listens to music. I might go for a run on the beach. When we get back, my wife and 17-year-old daughter, Keela, are up and pottering around.
“Rather than one person saying, ‘This is what we’re going to do’, you let everyone find their own rhythm.”
“I’m the second eldest of five. We never went on holidays abroad — we did day trips to Owenahincha, Youghal for a weekend, but those had stopped by the time I went to secondary school.
“One of the best holidays I had as a teenager was a school tour in second year. We said goodbye to our parents in Ballyphehane Park, got on a coach, and went from Ringaskiddy to France. We drove overnight, all asleep on the coach, and woke up in Germany.
“We packed so much in to that week. We went to the beer hall where Hitler tried to overthrow the government, to the Olympic Stadium in Munich, to Dachau. It was a really historical trip — it sparked my interest in history.
“We went to an outdoor swimming pool at night. It was February, snowing — we’d never seen snow that thick before. We were brought to Oberammergau village; it was like something from a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. From there, we got a train up to the Alps in Switzerland. We got a picture of us all where the borders of Germany, Switzerland, and France combine, some of us standing in France, some in Germany, some in Switzerland.
“I thought it would be museums and guided tours. It was nothing like that. It was so much fun, being with my friends the entire time. It was my first time seeing the teachers as humans — eating with them, doing karaoke. I was studying German at school — a highlight was getting to speak it to actual German people.
“I think it’s important to have a mix of culture, history, and fun when holidaying with teens. They get bored easily. A city break offers a huge amount to keep teens entertained. I’ve brought my children to Amsterdam, Barcelona, and London. My 15-year-old loved looking at the architecture in Amsterdam, the canals, seeing things that are different to Ireland.
“This summer, we’re going to a campsite outside Venice with a family who’ve children close in age to ours. They’ll be able to go off together within the campsite — go to the arcade, go for ice-cream. We’ll take a water-taxi from the campsite into Venice, explore St Mark’s Basilica, take a gondola ride.”
- Leona Forde brings ‘The Wonderful World of Milly McCarthy’ to the Young Adults & Children’s Festival, West Cork Literary Festival, St Brendan’s School Hall, noon, Sunday, July 13. See: westcorkmusic.ie/literary-festival
“The holiday I think back to more than any other was when I was 15. We travelled up the West coast along the Wild Atlantic Way, starting in Cork, into Kerry, on to Clare and up to Galway. There are seven kids in my family — three of us were on that trip with my parents.
“My idea of a holiday at that age would have been to get on a plane, go abroad. I didn’t know then the beauty of our countryside and that it was so accessible. My reaction when I heard we were staying in Ireland would have been, ‘What do you mean? Why aren’t we going to Spain, somewhere sunny?’
“It challenged my idea of what a holiday should be. I didn’t know you could have an amazing trip along the coast of Ireland.
“It hit me early on in the trip. I’m from Rathcormac, so by the time we passed Clonakilty, Skibbereen, heading to Bantry and Castletownbere, and we were still in Cork — just the scale of the landscape, the beauty, how peaceful it was.
“At school in those years, you’re already feeling the stress — of exams, the decisions that will happen in the next few years. I’ve memories of calmness on that holiday, being with my family.
“It changed my concept of holidays — just the idea that you can get in your car and a holiday can be anything as long as you’re with people you love. I see a holiday now as a re-set. I go back to my family home in the countryside outside Rathcormac — when I’ve been busy working — and I treat that as a holiday.
“In my teens, I did all styles of holiday. The post-Leaving Cert holiday to Santa Ponsa — maybe not what you need when you’ve been constantly with these lads for months. I’ve been on holidays with different friends where I haven’t come back refreshed.
“Even as a 15-year-old in the West of Ireland, I felt a weight lift I hadn’t realised was there. Time in nature, connecting to the landscape in a way I didn’t think possible. I’m really glad I got to find it at that age.”
- Stephen O’Leary plays the role of Ray in The Everyman production of Nancy Harris’s ‘The Beacon’, opens July 7. See: everymancork.com
- Ask each family member to describe their dream holiday — and something more realistic. Draw up a shortlist — vote on the final destination as a family or a lucky dip.
- Incorporate enough activities to keep them engaged and connected to you.
- Enrolling in a class, for example, surf school, means they master a new skill and meet other teens. And everyone gets a break from each other.
- — source three affordable restaurants that meet everyone’s dietary requirements and are highly rated, or source two activities for everyone to do that cover fun, culture, and learning something new. Giving some ownership over holiday planning secures buy-in.
- Listen to them, be interested in what interests them.
- Book that spa treatment or day tour you’d love. If travelling with another adult, take turns so each gets solo time to relax.
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