Interesting/Fun Cities to take Teens

[Gumbo4x4]

I think suburbanites almost always feel that way about the central city, at least around older/poorer cities. It is a product of hearing all the "if it bleeds, it leads" stories on the local news. But most of those things are happening in parts of the city where tourists would never venture. I grew up in an inner-ring Detroit suburb and now in the rural-exurban fringe, and we know people who have NEVER set foot in the city because of their perception of the crime rates. But most of that crime takes place in a handful of deeply impoverished neighborhoods, many of which saw their local police precincts shuttered due to budget cuts; crime rates in the downtown and midtown areas are modest and police presence is visible and pro-active.

We spent three days in Memphis, including two evenings in the city, and I never felt unsafe even as a woman traveling solo with a child.

St Louis gets a similar rap because the city limits are quite small and most of the "bad" neighborhoods are inside the limits while all the suburbs are outside the limits. It skews the average quite a bit. But, the majority of issues are in a handful of easily avoided (and obviously rundown) neighborhoods.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I have considered Upper Peninsula, Michigan.
DH mother had a summer home in Arizona when she was alive.

We have talked about attending the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta but the kids high school is really strict on missed days. When we went to Vegas one of DD teacher was really wanting to give her a zero for assignments she missed on those days a "family vacation."

My DH lived in South Dakota and New Mexico before we met (among other places).

Obviously a bit of a drive from FL, but NM & SD would both rank pretty high on my list of Summer destinations.

 

[holden]

I recommend Colorado Springs/Denver. There is so much to do! We enjoyed white water rafting down the Arkansas River, the cog railway to Pike's Peak, Seven Falls, Hidee Gold Mine, Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods and more! Stay at The Broadmoor.

 

[asta]

A lot of good recommendations in previous posts and you have already visited many locations. I don’t know the exact ages of your teens but you might want to consider some college towns even if they are not high on their list of where they are thinking of going. You could really get the feel of the areas surrounding campus and maybe experience some type of athletic or other event. Older teens might think these types of activity are more interesting than touristy things.

Other than that my sports nut husband could design any vacation around attending a sporting event of some type.

 

[NinaBella]

A lot of good recommendations in previous posts and you have already visited many locations. I don’t know the exact ages of your teens but you might want to consider some college towns even if they are not high on their list of where they are thinking of going. You could really get the feel of the areas surrounding campus and maybe experience some type of athletic or other event. Older teens might think these types of activity are more interesting than touristy things.

Other than that my sports nut husband could design any vacation around attending a sporting event of some type.

DS is 16 and DD 15. They will attend a Florida college under Florida Bright Future scholarships, Post 9/11 GI bill, and VA benefits (I am rated 100% disabled veteran) so no need to look out of state when we have good choices here. We live a short drive from University of South Florida. I would like my son to consider University of Tampa but he is also considering University of Central Florida. My daughter is already decided on USF. If they choose USF we can get a housing exemption for them to live at home (based on our driving distance) versus the mandatory freshman requirement of living in the dorms.

We Mentioned Full Sail University (Winter Park, FL) to DS but he hasn’t shown interest although he is into technology and coding.

My husband and son were in Austin last summer and liked at University if Texas campus. He has also been to University of Tennessee when he visited my dad. He is okay staying local.

My son loves hockey. We looked at tickets in Vegas but the hockey tickets there were much more expensive than what we pay in Tampa.

 

[asta]

One other thing that comes to mind but would require flying is the Grand Canyon. We visited this last summer and it is beyond spectacular.

 

[asta]

DS is 16 and DS 15. They will attend a Florida college under Florida Bright Future scholarships, Post 9/11 GI bill, and VA benefits (I am rated 100% disabled veteran) so no need to look out of state when we have good choices here. We live a short drive from University of South Florida. I would like my son to consider University of Tampa but he is also considering University of Central Florida. My daughter is already decided on USF. If they choose USF we can get a housing exemption for them to live at home (base on our driving distance) versus the mandatory freshman requirement of living in the dorms.

We Mentioned Full Sail University (Orlando) to DS but he hasn’t shown interest although he is into technology and coding.

My husband and son were in Austin last summer and liked at University if Texas campus. He has also been to University of Tennessee when he visited my dad. He is okay staying local.

My son loves hockey. We looked at tickets in Vegas but the hockey tickets there were much more expensive than what we pay in Tampa.

With the way Tampa is playing you might have some fun cities to visit come Stanley Cup time. Tickets will be expensive but we learned last year how much fun it is going to playoff hockey (go Preds!).

 

[MamaLema]

I am considering it since we can drive there. DH was saying other than right in Times Square/Central Park he didn't feel there was much else to do

I took my teen to NYC for a week. We walked 26,000 steps a day and ran out of time to see the Statue of Liberty.

 

[MamaLema]

I have no idea why you'd have no interest in Chicago?

I was wondering the same. Our teens really enjoyed Chicago.

 

[NYCgrrl]

What are your family members' interests? Architecture, sports, art museums,......the list is interminable.
That is where I would go next.

LOL!
Lived in NYC for most of my life. Much to do outside of Time Square (not a hangout for many NYCers) and Central Park

 

[NinaBella]

With the way Tampa is playing you might have some fun cities to visit come Stanley Cup time. Tickets will be expensive but we learned last year how much fun it is going to playoff hockey (go Preds!).

As we are on the boards my daughter is sitting in a box seat at the NHL All Star game. All three of my boys are jealous. One of her close friend's dad got them free box seats. My three boys are here watching on T.V. with us. We do get tickets every now and then for a game.

I have two older boys ages 25 and 23 but they are not in this travel plan as they both work full-time and didn't want to take off work to go to Vegas with us, so I just don't plan for them to go in the future either.

ETA: After she came home she said it wasn't box seats but Chase Club seats and they had a TON of free food. It's hilarious that of my four kids the one that cares the least about hockey got free Chase Club seats. Her brother (the 16 year old who is a hockey fanatic) told me she kept texting him rubbing it in. LOL. I think she liked the free food the best.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I travel quite a bit and honestly, you can find interesting things to do in any medium-sized to large city (and lots of smaller cities/towns too).

My first thought was New York or Washington DC. Both have tons of things to do; you could spend a week in either and not scratch the surface.

For a little closer to home, maybe consider the Williamsburg/ Virginia Beach/ Hampton Roads area of Virginia, including Jamestown and Yorktown if you’re into history.

 

[kimblebee]

Any reason there are no non American cities listed?

There’s a whole world that you can explore since you are up for flying.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Any reason there are no non American cities listed?

There’s a whole world that you can explore since you are up for flying.

I thought she specifically was looking for ideas within driving distance & that she DID have lots of ideas that require flying.

 

[NinaBella]

This cracked me up! I've lived here for decades and still haven't done everything there is to do here.

Well, I havent done everything there is to do in Tampa or any other town I “lived in.” My comment was relative to things we would be interested in. Tourist never “do everything there is to do.”

 

[NinaBella]

Any reason there are no non American cities listed?

There’s a whole world that you can explore since you are up for flying.

Seoul Korea was definetly on the list from the first post. This is a non American city. My oldest is about to go there to visit grandpa and I will probably go with him but the teens still have school.

The reason I did not list more is because as I stated in the first post DH doesn’t want to fly to wherever we choose. The second reason that is I didn’t mention is DH job he has travel restrictions. Third, DH doesn’t want to go to certain areas. For example he would refuse to go to London or Paris right now. He use to live in England as dislikes England anyways. He would say we can go to Paris free (for him) on his next Work trip to Germany (just would have to pay for my ticket. He usually goes during the school year so kids can’t go. Lots of the guys from work take their spouses. Hotel on the company’s dime too.) Third reason has a lot to do with his his job as well. DH does travels overseas for work about once a year (Germany, Egypt, Middle East, etc). He use to travel more but finally they hired a person whose primary job included the travel he use to do.

My older boys keep mentioning Toronto, that could be an option next year. We are going to Detroit in December and always visit DH mothers grave in Belle River, Ontario in each trip.

 

[NinaBella]

One other thing that comes to mind but would require flying is the Grand Canyon. We visited this last summer and it is beyond spectacular.

DH as been there and says it is awesome. I tried and tried to get him to agree to a helicopter tour while we were in Vegas but DH and DS won't consider a helicopter. LOL. There was a bus tour but it was a 14 hour day from our hotel. We did say we want to go to Grand Canyon, but we have to plan a longer trip to fit it in. Since we just spent some time in Las Vegas area exploring their state parks like Valley of Fire and Lake Mead, I don't think we would try Grand Canyon for 2018. I think this might have to a be a trip we do after the kids our out of high school.

So far I think NYC is in the lead.

 

[Skywalker]

I was going to suggest Toronto, or maybe Quebec City / Montreal?

 

[Colleen27]

My older boys keep mentioning Toronto, that could be an option next year. We are going to Detroit in December and always visit DH mothers grave in Belle River, Ontario in each trip.

Toronto is an incredibly fun city. We go every couple-few years because it isn't far from us (we're northeast of Detroit, right on the border - Canada is a short ferry ride away) and we never run out of things to do and see there.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I agree about Toronto. Great city with lots to do. And it has the Hockey Hall of Fame, which your family would love. Would be a long drive from Florida though.