Many summer teen tours to Italy are designed as backpacking trips for teens seeking an alternative, more rugged and outdoorsy approach to the country. These programs typically limit enrollment to smaller groups, so the participating teens can truly bond as new friends over the course of their Italian adventures. These trips vary in length (anywhere between two weeks and two months) as well as in the scope of the travel entailed (some focus on one or two Italian cities, while others span much of the country). Backpacking Italian teen tours provide teens with a singular, off-the-beaten-path Italian experience. Of course, these trips include typical sightseeing tourist destinations, but they also feature a genuine Italian cultural immersion and spirit of spontaneous and authentic adventure not as prominent in more traditional teen tours. (See Reference 2.)
For teens wanting to participate in meaningful community service as part of their Italian travel experience, there are many teen tour programs in Italy, organized at least in part as charitable missions. Some of these trips put participating teens in various Italian villages and towns, where they live for the summer while helping to improve and beautify aging community centers and neighborhoods. Others feature community service as one component of a comprehensive Italian touring journey; teens spend a portion of their trip performing and accomplishing a particular community service project in one location, and the remainder on a more conventional tour through the famous Italian cities and destinations.
Finally, for teens interested in having the most authentic Italian experience and actively learning the language, a study abroad homestay teen tour is the optimal choice. Multiple programs offer teens the opportunity to spend the summer in the home of a native Italian family in a city of their choosing; in this home context, teens are motivated to speak the language in a variety of situations every day, while also directly experiencing the Italian cultural lifestyle and quickly gaining confidence in their ability to communicate effectively. Most of these programs combine the homestay aspect of the trip with language seminars and other Italian culture courses (such as art history and cooking) taught at local universities, as well as organized teen travel to choice destinations throughout the country on weekends. (See Reference 4.)
