ABD and children???

[BonnD]

Hi everyone!! I'm considering an ABD tour next summer for our family, which includes a 5 and 10 year old. Has anyone ever gone to one of these tours with children that age? Where did you go and did they enjoy themselves?? I'm really trying to decide between the Italy excursion ( Rome, Florence, etc) or England and France. Any idea?

 

[Cousin Orville]

For your 10 yo it will be perfect. The ABD's I've been on had several children around that age. The youngest I've seen was a 6 yo, but I would suspect the ABD's you're looking at are the 2 most popular with families with younger children. I haven't been on either of those. It depends on your child. I would suggest ABD's are best for children who no longer need mid afternoon breaks as some of the days can be long. My oldest son could likely have done ABD's at 5 (if we had known about ABD at that time). I started him at 7 on the France ABD. He was the youngest, but did well. My middle son (now 5yo) is not quite ready. Different personalities.

 

[mare1203]

We went on the Italy trip last year. There were about 20 kids on our tour, ranging in ages from about 7-17. The Italy trip is a LOT of walking and a lot of history, too. You get breaks, and they do fun things for the kids, but it can be a couple of long days (even for the adults!). It's a great way to see the sights of Italy, but it can be a little much for kids who need to run around or don't do well in museums and churches and things like that. We saw the gamut of kids in our group. The youngest on our trip loved it, but her cousin, who was just a few months older, couldn't handle it and seemed miserable the whole time. Like Cousin Orville said, different personalities.

 

[kristilew]

BonnD, looks like you are new to the boards - welcome! If you poke around on the threads on this ABD board, including the sticky for trip reports, but also go back a couple of pages through the various threads, you will probably be able to read reports for the trips you are interested in from families who went with kids your kids' ages. This might be your best gauge.

I would add, though it makes me sound like a grumpy old lady, one thing to consider is not just whether your kids would personally enjoy the trips, but also if they would be able to not negatively impact others in the group. All these adventures involve group meals, time together on a bus, and information being presented verbally to the group by a guide. We've been on some of these trips where young children loved it and were a joy to have along, and some where children didn't love the trip, but checked out with their earbuds and iPhones, not bothering us at all. Unfortunately, we've also been on one where young kids were out of control and made us miserable. (Of course, I'm sure yours fall into the "joy" category!)

 

[BonnD]

BonnD, looks like you are new to the boards - welcome! If you poke around on the threads on this ABD board, including the sticky for trip reports, but also go back a couple of pages through the various threads, you will probably be able to read reports for the trips you are interested in from families who went with kids your kids' ages. This might be your best gauge.

I would add, though it makes me sound like a grumpy old lady, one thing to consider is not just whether your kids would personally enjoy the trips, but also if they would be able to not negatively impact others in the group. All these adventures involve group meals, time together on a bus, and information being presented verbally to the group by a guide. We've been on some of these trips where young children loved it and were a joy to have along, and some where children didn't love the trip, but checked out with their earbuds and iPhones, not bothering us at all. Unfortunately, we've also been on one where young kids were out of control and made us miserable. (Of course, I'm sure yours fall into the "joy" category!)

This is great advice. Thank you very much. I appreciate the other point of view about how they would appeal to the other travelers. I didn't realize it was such a group experience. Good to know

 

[BonnD]

We went on the Italy trip last year. There were about 20 kids on our tour, ranging in ages from about 7-17. The Italy trip is a LOT of walking and a lot of history, too. You get breaks, and they do fun things for the kids, but it can be a couple of long days (even for the adults!). It's a great way to see the sights of Italy, but it can be a little much for kids who need to run around or don't do well in museums and churches and things like that. We saw the gamut of kids in our group. The youngest on our trip loved it, but her cousin, who was just a few months older, couldn't handle it and seemed miserable the whole time. Like Cousin Orville said, different personalities.

That makes a lot of sense. The walking....that might get them....at least my 5 y/o.