One week: me and a ten year old - but where?

[ribollita]

I want to take my kids on a 1:1 trip around each kid’s 10th birthday. I will have roughly 7-9 days to spend. Budget isn’t much of an issue.

While I want my to-be 10yo to “choose” - I am trying to think of some options. Any suggestions for a summer (in northern hemisphere) trip?

[erbear]

Iceland
Ireland
Banff
Philadelphia
Harry Potter World

Any parameters?

[goldengirlz]

This is way too broad! Lol You can literally go anywhere!

What does he like to do? Are you flying from East or West Coast (or somewhere in the middle?) Are you open to domestic and international? Etc. etc.

ETA: I haven’t taken DD out of the country by myself yet. Some are stricter than others about paperwork (Canada especially). When I get over that (mental) hurdle, London is high on my list because she loves musicals. We’ve done girls trips to New York and San Diego and I think our next one will be the Pacific Northwest.

[tres3]

my husband has been rotating our three boys since the oldest was 5 taking one every summer on a trip to visit his parents and then daddy and me time. They've done Rome/Venice, Milan/Switzerland, Amsterdam, Estonia/Latvia, Berlin/Prague/Salzburg., Norway and Paris. This year it s looking like Sweden might be the choice. All of them are child led. My middle child has a love of WWII/Soviet history so he did Berlin/Prague/Salzburg when we was 9 and at 12 he did Latvia/Estonia. My oldest is up for anything. His last trip was bicycling above the Arctic circle in Norway (age 13). It is his turn in 2021 but it will probably be spent visiting UK universities as he will be 16. My youngest loves all things mythology. He likes roman ruins and vikings. My husband was looking at splitting time in Stockholm and some time cycling in Sweden this year with him.

If you haven't done London with your kid, London is super kid friendly and an easy intro to global travel plus you can take the eurostar to Paris super easily. 

I did a couple days in Dublin with my youngest and we had a great time.  He was 10 at the time and we just did a 2 day stop over on the way home from my FILs funeral in the UK because tickets were a lot cheaper to Dublin than Heathrow with 1 weeks notice.  DS was 10 at the time and very much into vikings and mythology. Dublin has a lot of viking history but also Irish mythology is interesting. We did all the usual tourist things like the Kells, but we also did the Leprechaun museum which was hokey but he loved. 

As for traveling without a parent, I just notarize a letter giving DH permission. He travels with birth cert, marriage cert and passports. The only time it has been an issue is coming back into the US a couple years ago the immigration officer questioned my husband. As a mother I've traveled solo with my youngest to my FILs funeral. I had no issues and no one asked for paperwork.

[ribollita]

Jan 14, 2020 0:05:05 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

This is way too broad! Lol You can literally go anywhere!

That’s the point of this post...
Yes, open to anywhere.

[ribollita]

Jan 13, 2020 22:47:39 GMT -5 erbear said:

Iceland
Ireland
Banff
Philadelphia
Harry Potter World

Any parameters?

No parameters other than I want to keep it to around a week (for my work purposes), and somewhere new. He hasn't yet been to any of these. Thank you!

[ribollita]

Thank you tres3! Some great suggestions. I was thinking of Switzerland as I simply love it but you posted some other intriguing options!

I have traveled alone internationally with this kid and, like you, have no worries about doing it again.

We (whole family) are going to Italy this summer so that’s out. I’ve been to London/Paris together so many times, and we will definitely take a family trip there, that it’s not high on my personal list, but I’d deal (lol) if it’s the #1 choice.

[dcrunnergirl52]

I love this so much! My 9.5 year old son is obsessed with Greek mythology and is dying to go to Greece, so that would be his/our choice. His twin sister is Harry Potter obsessed so we'd do England.

[wanderingback]

Jan 14, 2020 7:01:11 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Jan 14, 2020 0:05:05 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

This is way too broad! Lol You can literally go anywhere!

That’s the point of this post...
Yes, open to anywhere.

Ok so what are your child’s interest? That might narrow it down to get helpful suggestions.
If you’re open to anywhere though then I’d just go on google flights and pick a random location that fits in your budget.
If you have a week central and south america would be great - Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, etc.

[ribollita]

He loves sports (all kinds), all physical activity and food. He has enjoyed previous visits to big cities. He’s not into just looking at scenery but likes to be outside and be active. He likes museums and theatre but maybe as a side activity rather than the main focus. He loves thrill rides but we’ve been to a lot of theme parks already.

I am hoping to follow his lead but want to suggest a few additional options.

Thanks everyone!

[tres3]

Jan 14, 2020 17:16:11 GMT -5 ribollita said:

He loves sports (all kinds), all physical activity and food. He has enjoyed previous visits to big cities. He’s not into just looking at scenery but likes to be outside and be active. He likes museums and theatre but maybe as a side activity rather than the main focus. He loves thrill rides but we’ve been to a lot of theme parks already.

I am hoping to follow his lead but want to suggest a few additional options.

Thanks everyone!

What about the south of France, or cycling in the Netherlands (there are some cool tour operators that basically move your luggage for you and provide bikes and itinerary so you can see more of the Netherlands than just Amsterdam.  DH was able to get football tickets when he and DS2 were in Prague which was fun. 

[gardengal]

Jan 14, 2020 17:16:11 GMT -5 ribollita said:

He loves sports (all kinds), all physical activity and food. He has enjoyed previous visits to big cities. He’s not into just looking at scenery but likes to be outside and be active. He likes museums and theatre but maybe as a side activity rather than the main focus. He loves thrill rides but we’ve been to a lot of theme parks already.

I am hoping to follow his lead but want to suggest a few additional options.

Thanks everyone!

Denmark/Copenhagen. There’s Tivoli for rides (not super crazy but it’s a charming park), easy transport to more outdoorsy areas, great museums (my kids loooooooved the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde & various castles. If you go during their peak summer season, Leijre Land of Legends is so interesting), and a really great food truck scene. 

or Yosemite NP. Could spend a few days hiking & a few days in SF. 

eta: also Costa Rica. It’s been years since I went but I did an overnight rafting trip on the pacure River, hiking in Monteverde, riding horses near Arenal, & watching monkeys instead of squrriels at the beach (blanking on name...it’s a state or NP tho on Pacific side)

[tres3]

Jan 15, 2020 9:14:07 GMT -5 gardengal said:

Jan 14, 2020 17:16:11 GMT -5 ribollita said:

He loves sports (all kinds), all physical activity and food. He has enjoyed previous visits to big cities. He’s not into just looking at scenery but likes to be outside and be active. He likes museums and theatre but maybe as a side activity rather than the main focus. He loves thrill rides but we’ve been to a lot of theme parks already.

I am hoping to follow his lead but want to suggest a few additional options.

Thanks everyone!

Denmark/Copenhagen. There’s Tivoli for rides (not super crazy but it’s a charming park), easy transport to more outdoorsy areas, great museums (my kids loooooooved the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde & various castles. If you go during their peak summer season, Leijre Land of Legends is so interesting), and a really great food truck scene. 

or Yosemite NP. Could spend a few days hiking & a few days in SF. 

eta: also Costa Rica. It’s been years since I went but I did an overnight rafting trip on the pacure River, hiking in Monteverde, riding horses near Arenal, & watching monkeys instead of squrriels at the beach (blanking on name...it’s a state or NP tho on Pacific side)

My kids loved the Viking museum too in Roskilde.  Also there is Bakken just outside of Copenhagen which I thought was a better amusement park than Tivoli (But Tivoli has its own charms outside of the rides) .  There is also the original Legoland on the Jutland and if you make it out there Gammel By is interesting in Aarhus, Skagen is probably to 5 most beautiful places I've ever been and I love Aebletoft (cute little beach village). 

[mrsukyankee]

Scotland, Ireland and/or England would be fabulous for all of these - various sports, places to hike and be active as well as cities to explore.

[neonpink]

ribollita, I was trying to see if you said what time of year you are traveling and didn't see it. What kind of sports is your son into?

[krystee]

Is it still possible to get rooms in Tokyo for the summer Olympics? That would be fun for a sports lover!

[neonpink]

Jan 20, 2020 22:23:15 GMT -5 krystee said:

Is it still possible to get rooms in Tokyo for the summer Olympics? That would be fun for a sports lover!

I'm from Atlanta and still remember the Olympics when I was 12. I would love to attend another games. I didn't realize when I was a kid how special it was that my city hosted it.

[pandora89]

Jan 19, 2020 9:03:09 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

Scotland, Ireland and/or England would be fabulous for all of these - various sports, places to hike and be active as well as cities to explore.

This was going to be my recommendation as well! 

[ribollita]

We were away last week but are back now - so many great ideas, thank you!

[wildrice]

I think Costa Rica would be fun for him. There is a lot to do that is active, and if he likes thrill rides, he'd probably enjoy things like zip lining, horseback riding, and rafting (though I'd check if they allow 10 year olds to do those - I assume ziplining is fine but rafting might be more limited). There is a lot of beautiful outdoor stuff to do that is active. The food varies there, traditional food is yummy but they have a lot of tourists so they also have restaurants serving all different kinds of food. It seems pretty kid friendly and despite having lovely beaches, I don't think you need to really hang out at the beach to enjoy the country (we had 1.5 beach days on a 10 day trip there, and spent more than half the trip several hours from the coast).