Increasingly considered a rite of passage for young people today, traveling abroad while a teenager is a transformative experience that can leave a lifelong impact. With increased popularity comes increased program options! Today it seems like there is a myriad of awesome options for teens—like you!—to go abroad whether it is homestay programs, gap years or even full academic year exchange programs.
Regardless of what you are looking for, there are teen tours and meaningful travel adventures out there for you! Don’t believe us? Read on. <3
The most popular types of teen tours
Choosing the right cultural exchange program for you can be challenging and we want to lay out all the options for you to help you narrow down the search. Here are eight of the most popular types of teen tour options to choose from.
1. Service Trips for Teenagers
Doing volunteer work in your home community is a common way to distinguish yourself on college application, but service learning trips are an even better way to stand out! Service trips abroad are a unique way to experience life abroad while giving back to the local community. Ranging anywhere from one week to three months, volunteer abroad opportunities for teenagers are flexible and short-term so you can easily build an itinerary that works for your schedule. Service trips are perfect for student groups, such as a school or church group, and can easily fit within a summer schedule. Volunteering abroad also offers you the opportunity to make an impact!
- Popular service trip destinations: Australia, India or South Africa
- Recommended program: Greenheart Travel’s Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center Project
- Browse ALL service trips for teenagers
2. Experiential Learning/Cultural Immersion
Not quite sure what an experiential learning experience is? Have no fear, GoAbroad is here to help! Experiential learning programs are pretty simple actually. They are just what the name says—an experience to learn about a different culture. If you're seeking an eye-opening experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life, then a cultural immersion experience is perfect for you! You will come home from an experiential learning program with a broader point of view, more confidence, and a greater sense of independence. These teen tours will drop you into life abroad so you can truly experience and immerse yourself into the culture of your destination.
- Popular cultural immersion destinations: China, Western Europe, and Morocco
- Recommended program: Travel for Teens South Africa Service, Adventure and Safari
- Browse ALL experiential learning trips for teenagers
3. Homestay Programs for High School Students
Make the most of your educational experience abroad by living with a homestay family! Living with a host family abroad is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the foreign language of your choice, where you’ll get an up-close view of life and culture abroad, teaching you lots about yourself and the world around you. With these teen tours, host families are carefully vetted to ensure a safe placement so you can rest easy knowing that you’ll be placed with a wonderful family. Lengths of stay range anywhere from a few weeks to a full year, ensuring that you’ll be an expert in the local language by the end of your stay. You’ll also come home with a second family abroad! Depending on which language you study, there are a variety of placement options around the world.
- Popular homestay destinations: Finland, South Korea, and Spain
- Recommended program: YFU’s Homestay Study Abroad in Japan
- See ALL homestay trips for teenagers
4. Gap Year Tours
If you are looking for the perfect combination of wanderlust fulfillment and purpose-driven travel, then a gap year is just the program for you! Gap years are typically considered as a year off between high school and college, but you could also choose a shorter length or take a gap year in the middle of your university career. Regardless of when you go, a gap year tour is a healthy break from the monotony of your academic schedule and can give you the time and clarity you need to help figure out what you are passionate about. Gap years typically compromise of volunteer work, but they might also include an internship or work abroad component. You’ll gain valuable skills and experiences to nurture personal development and get you on the path to success. Be like Malia Obama and take a gap year!
- Popular gap year destinations: Argentina, Australia, or Western Europe
- Recommended program: Thinking Beyond Borders Global Leader Gap Year
- See ALL gap year tours for teens
5. High School Exchange Years
One of the oldest teen tour options available is a traditional foreign exchange program. There is nothing quite like uprooting your life, routine, and familiarity by living abroad to put into perspective the challenges and successes of your own high school experience. High school abroad exchange programs help you realize valuable lessons about yourself and your home culture through full language and culture immersion. It is still exceedingly rare for high school students to study abroad for a whole year, making exchange year programs an effective way to distinguish yourself on future job or college applications. While programs will vary in their structure and itinerary of exchange programs, there are many high school abroad programs abroad to choose from.
- Popular exchange destinations: Costa Rica, England, and Japan
- Recommended program: SPI’s Study Abroad in France
- See ALL high school exchange year programs
6. Outdoor Education/Wilderness Camps for Teens
Adventure travel is a type of teen travel that allows young people to explore of the outdoors, get off-the-beaten path, and connect with a country’s wild side. Outdoor education usually involves physically challenging elements and cultural exchange with local communities, but they come in a variety of forms. You can focus on land experiences, water experiences or a combination of the two! Regardless of which you choose, you will get up close and personal with Mother Nature herself on an outdoor education program, but the level of intensity of your experience will depend on which destination you choose for your travel adventure.
- Popular destinations: New Zealand, Spain, and Thailand
- Recommended program: Seamester Transpacific Adventure from Tahiti to Australia
- See ALL outdoor education adventure trips for teenagers
7. Language Immersion Programs for High School Students
How many of you love learning a foreign language, but have only ever done so from a textbook? (slowly raises hand) Learning a foreign language without leaving the comfort of your home country leaves you ill-equipped to communicate abroad because you miss all the cultural context and non-verbal cues that happen when you are immersed in the language. To be truly fluent in a second language, you need to go abroad and learn from native speakers! The location you choose for your language immersion program will obviously dictate which language you wish to learn, but thankfully there are plenty of language immersion programs for high school students.
- Popular language learning destinations: France, Germany, and Mexico
- Recommended program: Nacel’s High School Exchange and Language Immersion in Italy
- See ALL language immersion trips for high school students
8. International Work Experience for Teens
It is never too early to start building your resume and work experience, so why not consider an international work teen tour?!? Interning abroad is similar to study abroad programs in that it gives you valuable insight and perspective about life abroad; but, interning abroad is also more versatile and can directly correlate to your desired career path. Consider an international work experience as an investment in your future! It will continue to pay dividends well into the future, whether it is on college applications, job resumes or even grad school interviews. Work and Intern abroad programs can be searched based on a specific destination, a field of work, a length of stay, or a general region.
- Popular teen work abroad destinations: England, Germany, and Australia
- Recommended program: International Internships in Hong Kong with Intern Group
- See ALL international work experience trips for teenagers
[Want More? Browse ALL Teen Tours Abroad]
Next steps to find teen tours
Don't pack your GoPro juuuust yet. There are a few items on your teen travel abroad to do list you should check off first.
- Decide where to go. Figuring out where to study abroad as a teen isn’t easy. Gorgeous Paris? Somewhere with a beach? Don't let ANYTHING hold you back—choose a place that's right for you.
- Language classes or something more fun and experiential? You don't only have to take classes that pertain to your studies back home (though it never hurts to get more credits towards graduation). Decide if you want to use this time abroad to learn hard skills like Spanish or to develop softer skills, like teamwork and communication through something like a service project.
- Choose from the best high school study abroad programs. Pay attention to past participants’ reviews, program/university reputation, location, and your ease of getting credits. Some schools or providers may even provide contact info for student ambassadors or past international students if you want the REAL dirt. Here’s our guide to choosing between teen travel abroad programs.
- Plan your finances. Sort out funding before you go to afford daily essentials and splurge in travel (in addition to program costs and airfare). Do your research to have an idea of how much your study abroad program will cost. Be sure to check out high school travel scholarships too!
- Talk to your guidance counselor. Getting all your ducks in a row is largely dependent on what your school requires, if anything. Talk to a study abroad advisor or the equivalent at your school to see if there are more choices available to you.
You’re one step closer to that trip of a lifetime
Going abroad as a young person will expose you to things that you never imagined and will open you up to new perspectives and ways of life. Teen tours are a great way to meet new people and expand your horizons, regardless of which of the 8 options above you choose. Traveling the world will leave you with a refreshing outlook about just how big the world is, and how small many of your worries in high school are. You will learn a valuable fact about life—learning and education expands well beyond the walls of a classroom—and will remind you that it is never to early to explore the world.