I took a 6-day road trip with 4 teenagers. We spent over $5,000, and I learned to feed everyone before they were hungry.

The author took her three kids and one boyfriend on a family road trip.

When I picture a road trip, I see images of two carefree people in a convertible traversing Route 66. There are no kids in the picture, and I’m not even sure there is luggage. It feels so easy and inexpensive. A road trip with kids, however, is a different experience, especially when those kids are teenagers.

Still, I decided our family would hit the road for a vacation. The travelers were my husband, my three kids, ages 15, 17, and 19, and one boyfriend, age 19. We had taken road trips before, but with the kids being older, there were no more child discounts, kids’ meals, or minivans. Plus, we needed multiple hotel rooms. This made it pricier, but I’m so glad we did it.

We decided to travel around Niagara Falls on both sides, Canada and the US. Here’s everything we did and how much it cost us.

I had to pay for some things up front

We started with the unexpected expense of a rental car because my car was acting up, plus gas for the week. We stayed at the Sheraton Fallsview in Canada for the location and rooftop pool, which was a big hit. For our time in New York, we rented an Airbnb on a working cattle farm for some quiet nature time and a kitchen

We drove from Connecticut to Canada on our first day

After a quick breakfast at home, we set out for our destination, stopping at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse for lunch, which everyone loved and cost $129.08 for the whole group.

We continued to Niagara Falls State Park in New York and Cave of the Winds. This was the perfect intro to build excitement for the Falls. We grabbed a take-out dinner at the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the night.

On our second day, we visited Niagra Falls

This was our busy sightseeing day. We started early with a light breakfast at Tim Hortons — because when in Canada — and walked to the Niagara Parks Power Station, followed by Journey Behind the Falls.

Everyone loved the tunnel at the Power Station but the Journey Behind the Falls was too busy with less impressive views. We ate decent fast food at the Table Rock Cafe before heading to the Hornblower Boat Ride, a memorable experience. Overall, getting an early start helped us avoid crowds and long lines.

After grabbing some snacks we took a break and swam at the hotel. Then we went out for a special dinner at the Skyon Tower — which was one of our biggest expenses at over $400 total — and it was one of everyone’s favorite parts of the trip. It was worth the high price tag for the views and the food. Plus, if you go near the fireworks time you get an amazing view.

On our third day, we drove to New York

After such a busy day, everyone was ready to relax. We got a hearty diner breakfast at the Flying Saucer and took a leisurely ride to Niagra on the Lake, stopping at a coffee shop and a farm stand. Next we drove to our Airbnb in Savona, NY, getting KFC lunch on the way and groceries. That night, we had a simple dinner and relaxed at the house.

We hung out in Corning, NY, the next day

After making breakfast, we went to the Corning Glass Museum and took a glassblowing class. It was $300 for the group and I wasn’t sure the teens would enjoy this, but everyone had a great time and took home a memorable souvenir. We grabbed sandwiches at the Old World Cafe and later got ice cream at Dippity Do Dahs. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, fishing, and making dinner at the house.

We then went to Watkins Glen State Park

This was our least expensive day. We made breakfast at the house and went for a farm tour with the owners, visiting their cows and riding in their utility vehicle. This was a free bonus with our reservation. After lunch at the house, we set out for a late afternoon visit to Watkins Glen State Park to avoid the crowds. We all had a great time, even when it started raining. We brought Chinese take-out back to the house for dinner and spent the evening fishing and watching movies.

We were all ready to head home by day 6

Everyone was about ready to head home, so we had a quick breakfast and packed up. We stopped for snacks before setting out, and I let the kids buy their own candy for the rest of the ride. Then, it was a quick lunch at Wendy’s on the way home.

We spent over $5,000

Road-tripping with teens is a different experience, but it was worth it.

There’s a lot of perks to taking a road trip with teens. Notably, teens can go longer between bathroom breaks plus they entertain themselves on the ride. One thing that helped was buying most tickets ahead to make everything go smoothly with little delay. Plus, I didn’t have to think about what I needed to purchase. I could just show the barcode and have fun.

This is the breakdown of where we spent our money:

Travel: $ 952.31

Lodging: $ 2,008.95

Food: $ 1,312.18

Entertainment/Activities: $ 936.24

For a total of $ 5,209.68.

Overall, I knew not everyone would love everything about the trip. A few things that made the trip successful: everyone was fed before they were starving, I chose activities so everyone had something they’d enjoy, and we balanced sightseeing with downtime.

Our trip may not have been a carefree convertible ride, but it was a road trip we will all remember. And that’s what truly matters.