We did not set out to become a family that plans holidays around basketball. It happened one camp at a time, and by now we have taken our two boys to play in Catalonia, Wisconsin, California and Italy, and watched basketball in a few more places than that.
This is not a list of cities with teams in them. It is the places we have actually been, with what they cost, what the boys got out of them, and the ones I would not book again.
The short version
- A week of camp abroad costs more than the flights to get there. Our Milwaukee camp was €645.89 for both boys, and that is normal for a US camp.
- Camps beat games. A single NBA ticket is gone in three hours. A week of camp changes how they play.
- Book the hotel around the camp, not the city. Ten minutes’ drive and a pool is worth more than a central location.
- Europe is far better value than the US for the same coaching hours.
- The kids need one non-basketball day in the middle or the week stops being a holiday.
Quick picks: where to stay in Los Angeles with kids
Best Western Westminster Inn – our base for eight nights in Orange County. Free hot breakfast, an outdoor pool and free parking, 9 miles from Huntington Beach. Unglamorous, and a fraction of what the same room costs downtown.
Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Monica – three blocks from the pier and right beside the Metro E line, so you get the beach and the city with no hire car. Free hot breakfast, a rooftop pool and suites with room for four. We didn’t stay, but it’s where I’d book a first trip.
The Biltmore Los Angeles – the 1923 landmark on Pershing Square where the Academy Awards were founded, with the Metro across the road. We got it at a trade rate plus a 50% promotion, so always check for an offer before you assume it’s out of reach.
Affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Two of these three are hotels we stayed in ourselves.
Barcelona, Spain — the home baseline
We live here, so Barcelona is the one I can be most useful about and the one I am least impressed by as a “destination”.
FC Barcelona’s basketball team plays at the Palau Blaugrana, next to Camp Nou. Tickets are a fraction of football prices and the arena is small enough that a child can actually see what is happening — which, for a first live game, matters far more than the standard of play. Euroleague nights are the ones to aim for.
What Barcelona is genuinely excellent for is summer camps. The city runs them at every level, including club-affiliated ones, and they are cheap by international standards. If you are coming from elsewhere in Europe and want a first camp abroad without a long flight, this is the easiest version of it.
Related: Barcelona with kids
Milwaukee, Wisconsin — the one that cost the most and delivered the most
In July 2025 we flew to Chicago, drove to Wisconsin, and put both boys into a basketball camp outside Milwaukee for a week.
The camp was €645.89 for the two of them. That is the real number, paid in July 2025.
What I would tell another parent: base yourself near the camp, not in the city. We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites in Brookfield, about ten minutes’ drive away, and the two things that made the week work were not basketball at all — a proper included breakfast, and two indoor pools the boys went straight into after training. A tired ten-year-old who has been on court all day does not want a downtown hotel. He wants water and food.
You need a car. We rented one for the seven Milwaukee nights and it was not optional.
Related: our full Chicago and Milwaukee cost breakdown
Los Angeles, California — the Lakers camp
We have written this one up separately, so here I will just say where it fits: LA is the aspirational trip on this list. It is the one the boys talk about, and it is the one where the basketball and the holiday sit most easily together, because Los Angeles has enough else going on that a non-camp day is never a problem.
Full review: Los Angeles Lakers camp for kids
Catalonia — the Šarūnas Jasikevičius camp at Seva
The most serious coaching either of them has had, and forty-five minutes from home.
Seva is in the Catalan interior, and the camp runs residentially with families staying at Hotel Montanyà nearby. What makes a camp like this different from a municipal summer course is that the coaching is structured around actual development rather than keeping children occupied, and the boys came back playing differently.
Puigcerdà, Pyrenees — basketball as the reason to go somewhere
Not a camp. A tournament weekend in the mountains, and the reason it is on this list is that it is the cheapest version of basketball travel there is: you are going anyway because there is a game, and the place turns out to be worth the trip.
If you have a child in a club, this is the format most families overlook. The fixture list is already a travel itinerary.
Related: a weekend in Puigcerdà
Pesaro and Serbia — the European tournament circuit
Both boys have played tournaments in Italy and Serbia, and these are the trips that changed how I think about the whole thing.
European youth basketball has a tournament culture that simply does not exist in the same way elsewhere: multi-day events, teams from a dozen countries, and costs that are a fraction of the US equivalent. If your child is in a club with any ambition, the tournaments will find you.
Osaka, Japan — not a camp, but the best basketball afternoon we have had
Japan is on this list for an entirely different reason.
Round1 is a chain of indoor sports complexes, and the Spo-Cha option gives you unlimited access to basketball courts, batting cages and about thirty other things for a fixed time block. For a basketball-playing child in a country where you cannot easily just find a court, it is the answer — and in July, when Osaka runs at 33°C, an air-conditioned building full of sport is worth more than any sight in the city.
Full guide: Round1 Osaka: Spo-Cha vs arcade, prices and tips
What we have learned about booking basketball travel
Camps cost more than you expect and the flights are not the expensive part. Budget the camp first and work backwards.
Pick the hotel for the camp, not the city. Breakfast included, a pool, and a short drive. In that order.
Ask what the coach-to-player ratio is. It is the only question that reliably separates a development camp from an expensive holiday club.
Check what happens to siblings. If one child is in camp and the other is not, you have a week to fill for them. This is the thing that quietly ruins trips.
Build in one day with no basketball in it. By day four somebody needs a pool, a museum or a beach, and if you have not planned it you will spend that day arguing.
Book the flights before the camp confirms — carefully. Popular camps fill early and flights rise, but a camp that cancels leaves you with tickets. We book flights once the camp deposit is paid, not before.
Which one would I send you to?
First camp abroad, coming from Europe: Catalonia. Short flight, real coaching, and you can stay nearby rather than sending them away.
Best value: the European tournament circuit, if your child is in a club. You are paying for accommodation and not much else.
The trip they will remember: Los Angeles.
The one I would think hardest about: the US camps generally. They are excellent and they are expensive, and the same money buys more coaching hours in Europe. Ours was worth it — but I would not pretend the maths is obvious.
FAQ
How much does a basketball camp abroad cost for kids?
Our week-long camp near Milwaukee cost €645.89 for two children in July 2025, which is typical for a United States camp. European camps generally deliver more coaching hours for the same money, and tournament trips within Europe are cheaper again because you are mostly paying for accommodation.
Is it worth taking children to an NBA or Euroleague game?
A live game is a three-hour experience and a camp is a week that changes how they play, so if you are choosing, choose the camp. That said, a Euroleague game at a smaller arena like the Palau Blaugrana is a better first live game for a child than a large NBA arena, because they can actually follow what is happening on court.
What should you look for when booking a youth basketball camp?
Ask the coach-to-player ratio first — it is the clearest signal of whether a camp develops players or simply occupies them. Then check what happens to siblings who are not attending, because an unoccupied brother or sister is what quietly ruins the week.
Where should you stay during a basketball camp?
Near the camp rather than in the city, with breakfast included and a pool if possible. We stayed about ten minutes’ drive from our Milwaukee camp, and the pool and the breakfast mattered more to how the week went than anything about the location.
Do you need a car for a basketball camp trip?
In the United States, almost always. We rented a car for the seven nights in Wisconsin and it was not optional. In Europe it depends entirely on whether the camp is residential or commutable by public transport.
Can you play basketball with kids in Japan?
Yes, at Round1, a chain of indoor sports complexes whose Spo-Cha option includes unlimited access to basketball courts for a fixed time block. It is the easiest way to find a court in Japan as a visitor, and in summer an air-conditioned building full of sport is worth more than most sights.
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