Travelling with teens is very different to travelling with young children.

When children are little, everything is new, exciting and magical however once they hit their teenage years, the only way to get their head out of their phone is to explore and let them test the bounds of their independence.

One of the best ways of engaging teens in travel, is to give them an adventure and one of the best places we have found to do this is Snowdonia, North Wales.

We used the Adventure Map app (available on Google Play and App Store) to plan and find exciting things to do during our holiday to North Wales

10 Things to do in Snowdonia with Teens

Mountain Biking

Oneplanet Adventure has something to enjoy for all ages, with a range of man made mountain bike trails for adrenalin seekers of all abilities, trail running and peaceful family walks for younger visitors.

We booked onto an introduction to mountain biking course which took place on a bespoke training track.

The course is a great introduction to mountain biking for beginners or a handy refresher for more experienced riders, with tips and techniques to help get the best performance from your bike.

We then headed off to do the green route, a 5km course developed specifically with families in mind as it avoids major climbs and anything too tricky to navigate for beginners.

White Water Rafting

North Wales is home to the National White Water Centre, set on the natural rapids of the River Tryweryn.

The river is dam controlled which means it has high flows ideal for exhilarating white water activities throughout the year.

The one thing this activity guarantees, is that you will get wet, as there are challenging rapids, boulder gardens and surf waves to contend with, but it is so much fun. We took part in a rafting safari this time as Isaac was under 12, but we have promised the boys we will go again this year to do the full course.

Rock Climbing

The National Outdoor Centre at Plas y Brenin offers climbing, mountain biking, canoeing and hiking experiences for all abilities and is a great introduction to outdoor sports.

Climbing is a great way of building confidence and communication skills and the first thing we had to learn was to belay.

Belaying is a technique used by climbers to exert tension on a climbing rope so that a falling climber does not fall very far.

We spent a morning climbing before heading back to the centre for lunch and then an afternoon on the lake.

Canoeing

The National Outdoor Centre is set next to Llynnau Mymbyr lakes, which is the perfect location to learn how to canoe.

After learning how to paddle and turn, our instructor set up some fun games which helped us practice and hone our skills.

Off course, the teen/tween combination of Kian and Isaac won!!

Rib Ride

For those that like the water but prefer something a bit quicker, Rib Ride on the Menai Straights is an activity that really gets the adrenalin pumping.

There are lots of different adventures to choose from and we chose the Bridges and Swellies family adventure for our first experience which sees you hit around 50mph along the straights.

Our second adventure was strictly one for the teens – Rib Ride Velocity!

This is no ordinary boat, you have to don overalls to protect you from the wind, where this fast moving RIB takes you from zero to around 70 knots (80 mph) on open water.

It was actually a smoother ride than the smaller RIB as it literally skims the water as it is going so fast.

Bouldering

A holiday in the UK will almost always have some rain and the ideal indoor activity is bouldering – where you learn to climb indoors on artificial climbing walls.

Beacon Climbing Centre is the largest indoor climbing centre in North Wales, featuring hundreds of different colour-coded climbs, with easy challenges for anyone new to climbing, through to mega hard climbs designed to test future climbing champions!

Learn to Ride a Segway

Dragon Raiders has a number of outdoor adventures to try and offer Paintball, Segway X2, Quad Bike Trails & Bear Grylls Survival courses, all set in 100 acres of ancient woodland.

You have to take part in a full safety demonstration and try some fun challenges on the small training course before being taken off on a woodland safari.

Ride the world’s fastest Zip Line

Penrhyn Slate Quarry is home to Zip World Velocity 2, the fastest zip line in the world and the longest in Europe.

We have been to Zip World before, riding the Titan zip lines back in 2015, which are the perfect introduction to zip lining in Wales.

Velocity 2 is not only the fastest zip line in the world, with speeds up to 125mph, but it is also the longest in Europe at 1,555 metres long and 500 feet and unlike Zip World Titan, you are in a flying position, rather than seated.

It truly is an exhilarating experience!

Ride the Fforest Coaster

Also part of Zip World is Zip World Fforest, which is packed full of adventures to keep the whole family busy all day.

The Fforest Coaster is the UK’s only alpine coaster of its kind, with a kilometre of gravity driven twists, turns and thrills through their Fforest wonderland.

There are six adventures at Zip World Fforest including bouncing fun on Treetop Nets, zip line and adventure courses high in the trees on Tree Hoppers or Zip Safari, plus you could try Europe’s highest giant swing, Skyride, if you dare!

Learn to Surf

Adventure Parc Snowdonia is a revolutionary world-first inland surf lagoon and the UK’s most compelling outdoor adventure destination for you, your friends and the whole family to enjoy.

They launched six brand-new adventures last year, including Brave The Caves, the UK’s most extreme slides, zip lines, climbing walls and a challenging aerial assault course, plus a soft play area for younger visitors.

Snowdonia is a beautiful place to visit and has a plethora of activities to keep the whole family entertained, from pretty towns to visit, mountains to climb, trains to ride and beaches to walk.

Have you visited North Wales?

Disclaimer: We were guests of Adventure Map for the purpose of a review. All thoughts and opinions are our own

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