Summer holiday ideas for young teenage girls (with parents in tow)

[JeremyD]

My new(ish) partner and I want to take our first holiday this August (yes, sadly we have to go away at peak time!) with her two teenage daughters.

As it will be the first time the four of us have been away together it is really important to my partner and I that it's a success - i.e. the girls enjoy it - oh, and we are short of cash...!

The girls are 11 and 14 years old. They are not sporty or active. Their idea of a good time seems to be MSN (online instant messaging), music, videos, crafty things, friends - and Shopping - especially clothes!! (Big time!).

Their Mum and I just want them to have a good time... although we'd quite like some sun, sea and sand... Sadly the younger daughter cannot swim due to a minor disability and the whole family get sunburnt easily... although the two happy holidays they had (pre me being around) were in Spain so I guess they do like some sun... And I think Mum would enjoy the shopping too!

None of us want a loud, lively night life!

I'd like some interest / sights / history - but I think I'd be alone in doing much of that so that's not a "must have".

Any ideas, please?
UK or near-ish Europe please.

[kate1976]

Have a look on www.expedia.co.uk although you do tend to have a destination in mind when on that site!

I'm off to a Wales holiday camp this year, I remember being a teenager and loving the whole caravan/holiday camp experience! so maybe that could be a cheap and cheerful idea for you!

If you can afford it (maybe look online for offers) Eurodisney is a good choice!

Good luck in finding a holiday and I hope you all have a wonderful time!

[morg_monster]

I would suggest devon and cornwall. It is a lovely place to spend a week. There is lots to do, eg the Eden project, Lands end, as well as loads of beautiful beaches (lots of them calm and with shallows for paddling and rock pools) and gorgeous countryside. Plenty of national trust places as well. The weather should be decent, and it will be busy - but then you'll get that wherever you go! If you want to keep costs down you could hire a static caravan in a couple of places for the week. At the bigger holiday parks, if thats your cup of tea, there will be plenty to keep the girls occupied, or there's hotels, or even a big tent if you feel up to it!

You could travel down by train or you could drive down (beware of the inevitable traffic jams down there in August), and split the journey if needs be by spending a night somewhere on the way - there's a big outlet mall in Swindon! Most of the towns in the SW have plenty of little touristy shops selling all kinds of knick knacks, as well as surf theme clothing etcetera.

My favourite places in the south-west are St. Ives, Padstow and Bude. Newquay is fun for a day but by night full of stags and hens and underage kids trying to get into bars, I wouldn't stay there. Have a look on line for some tourist information to get an idea about the different towns and all the countryside in between.

[Sparkles3]

Might be worth considering Center Parcs although that can be quite expensive in the height of the hols! But it has just about anything you could ever want to do (admittedly at extra cost) and would perhaps provide the security element that you could do things separately, meeting for lunch etc. No sea or sand (except in the toddlers area of the swimming pool!) and certainly no guaranteed sun, but a really great holiday in my opinion for a 'mixed' group such as yourselves. www.centerparcs.co.uk The basic accommodation (Comfort) is perfectly acceptable but does not generally have a dishwasher - this is the most relevant difference between the accommodation to me! It is generally located a little further from the main centres though.

As money is an issue, do you collect the Tesco clubcard vouchers - with them being worth 4 times the shop value, they can make a really big dent in the price of holidays and can be used for various hols in UK or abroad (including Eurodisney) and exchanged for AirMiles to help towards flights.

Hope you find something great!

[JeremyD]

Thanks Kate, Morg_Monster and Sparkles3.

All of your ideas are appreciated, although they are pretty much the ones I had already....

Trouble is the girls have "pooh poohed" caravans or tents.

They have done Devon and Cornwall - and hated the travelling...

I fancy CenterParcs, especially the one near Penrith / Keswick - but they've done the one in Sherwood Forest (pre me being arounfd) and didn't enjoy it (eh..???)

Eurodisney would be the best bet... but I can almost guarantee we can't afford it in August...!? :-((

Thanks again!