17 solo in Europe?

The first time I went to Europe I was 19 and it was part of my university. I was part of a larger group and that helped. I was there for two terms--January through June--and we had a lot of room for travel with classes that met Monday-noon Thursday, ten days off in the middle of each term and three weeks off between terms. This was pre-cell phones. My parents sent me off with a list of European contacts that my parents had from business and family. I also had a letter introducing me and providing contact info for my Dad home and business. Granted it's easier today, but having local people to call on eased my parents' minds.

So, when I first got there, my initial weekend trips were with fellow students and one that was a group skiing adventure in Austria. In the first term, did a solo journey to Strasbourg where I met up with a high school friend's former roommate. I was fun to meet her and see Strasbourg, but I was really glad it was only a week end as it soon became clear that she was into a bit more risky behavior than I was. My big trip was to Greece where I was planning to meet up with friends. Our plans went awry and I ended up traveling alone. I did call on the Greek contact from my parents and that helped. But, I have to say it was a bit scary for a while. I used that experience to travel alone to France, where like you I had some French from HS, but not much. I stayed strictly in hostels where I met people.

I have to say that I was two years older than you when I did this. I had been away to college for a year and a term. I had done a weekend to Chicago and a few other week end trips on my own. Granted I did not have the cell phone advantage.

So, my question to you, is, have you traveled anywhere on your own? Did you plan it yourself? I think that you're a little late to be planning a trip to Europe for this summer. Here's one compromise to consider. Go to the course and then travel for a week or ten days afterwards on your own. By then you'll have confidence in your language. You will probably will have been able to do week end trips to gain experience. If you want to just go to Europe this summer, you need to do more planning. Where are you going? How are you going to travel? Where will you stay? What do you want to see?

I hope others have more suggestions. I want you to travel in Europe by yourself, but I know at 17 I would not have been ready. At 19, I had the best time ever. BTW you should look for what Andy Steves is doing with weekend trips for college students.

My choices (and I am old and jaded, but I remember what I did in my youth).
1) Trip with one or two friends / acquaintances.
2) Trip on your own.
3) A tour.

A tour will make you feel boxed in. Unless you can get a special young peoples tour, you will feel boxed in, staying too long in places that don't interest you and too short in places that do.

If you know enough French to "get by" the best way to learn is to use it in France. People trying their best to speak French will get a lot better reception than people shouting in English. And, if you are touring Europe there is a lot more than just France.

"Learning a language, or seeing Europe with a tour" - no contest, get out there.

Do your preparation first, make sure you have some idea where you will stay and a budget for it. But, be prapeared to chnage things as you go along.

Being under 18 alone without any adult responsible for your welfare in the country will most likely raise a flag at immigration. A reputable language school ought to be able to provide the necessary in loco parentis arrangements.

The daughter of good friends, at aged 17, had saved and planned for about 4 weeks solo in Europe when she graduated from high school and before the Fall term of college in California. She had a passport, her parents' permission, and, I believe, a notarized letter stating such permission. And she had family friends that she would stay with in several locations.
Long story short, when she exited the plane in Dublin she was not allowed to leave the airport without adults willing to "sponsor" her and guarantee her behavior. It seems that Ireland has issues with under age girls (don't know about boys) coming into the country for the sex industry.
My friends wound up sending her 21 year old brother to "chaperone" her during her time in Ireland and then the Mom joined her for the remainder of her trip in Germany and Austria (I believe.)
This was not the independent travel that she had dreamed of, to say the least, altho' she did have a pretty good time anyway.
I realize that this is not a direct answer to your question, but something to keep in mind ...
All the best.

Another problem you may have at 17 is that many hostels require you be 18 or with an adult. i would wait till you were 18. I was 19 my first time in Europe and had a great time.
Wendy

Hello,

Thanks so much for the quick replies :) Your trip sounds really fun :)

I have been to Ottawa with a school trip, but it was pretty structured, except for I was the only one who wanted to go skating on the canal (-20, no wonder) so I just went by myself, that was the highlight :P It was a bilingual trip, so the kids from Quebec did appreciate when the anglophones attempted to speak French :) I also have been around Vancouver for day trips by myself, once with a friend from Germany, (We realized the importance of actually planning where we are going/what we are doing instead of aimlessly wandering around), and that's about it. Travelling around after the program would be a good option too :)

I actually have a tour "lined up", I just need to commit to it, it's for 17-20 year olds and specifically geared towards gap year students. It's fast paced, but it covers a lot of area and instead of buses they use trains. My cousin, who has been to Europe on a tour and as an au pair, says to start with a tour because it gives a good idea of how the trains work, how to get around, etc. Yet my other cousin went with her boyfriend and said she liked that they could do whatever they wanted. She also had some pretty crazy stories of when she stayed in hostels :P

I realize that 18 would be a much better age (darn December birthdays!) Just getting prepared for that is what I am planning for :)

Most tour companies will not sign you on solo until age 18, including Contiki.

Your very best bet would be to go as part of a youth program, like a 'study abroad' or language immersion program - or the tour that you identified. I left on a youth exchange program to the Philippines when I was your age and it equipped me well for my future travels. The experience also guided my study and career choices afterwards.

You may want to consider a French-language study program in Quebec for this summer... It would be on the other side of the country, but more reassuringly on the same continent! ;-)

I would take the tour that you have lined up. I traveled by myself for about a month after college and found it difficult to find people to eat meals with. I think you will have more fun with your peers.

Go for the tour. Then once you're in college find programs that will let you go back and study there. You will love it.

Pam

Reach out directly to rick steves staff and ask for their help.

Hello JJ. Are you a citizen of, and resident in the United States of America ?
I say : go to Europe. Choose either
A - The group tour with people your age (if you can afford to pay for it).
or B - Travel in Europe independantly. If the Hostels in Europe will not let you in because your age is younger than 18, have overnight accommodations at hotels. At each big city that you will be in, go to a Tourist Information office to get a free map of the city, and current information about museums and palaces and ... (times when they open and close, ...). For any person travelling independently (not in a tour group), his or her first trip to Europe, I recommend not travelling to very many destinations in Europe. I think it is best to stay at London 5 nights or more. (go on day trips via trains from London). And stay at Paris 6 nights or more. (go on day trips via trains from Paris). And be in Germany many nights, if you can afford it.
I think learning to talk in the French language fluently is not important. You will not need to know any European language. At Europe, if you can not sleep in hostels, try to sleep in a hotel that is located near a hostel. At a time when the hostel is open and young adult persons are there, you could visit the hostel, talk to young adults (in the English language), they might ask you to do local sight seeing with them, and eat lunch with them. Do not ride in a rental car with people who you do not know. Because your age is 17, carrying a notarized letter written by your father or mother stating that you have his or her permission to travel solo in Great Britain and Europe may be a good idea. If you decide to travel to England and France and Germany, I recommend : read parts of each book "Rick Steves' ENGLAND" and "Rick Steves' France" and "Rick Steves' Germany". And if you also have a strong desire to travel in Italy, read parts of the book "Rick Steves' ITALY". I do not recommend reading the book "Let's Go : EUROPE" (recent edition). That book is not good, it is not helpful. It is inferior and funky. When you arrive at London, buy an Oyster pass for riding in the London Underground trains. Riding in the London Underground trains for going to museums and other places is easy. A London Underground ("Tube") station is located at the British Museum. And you could easily walk from the St. Paul's station of London Underground to the Museum of London. (I liked the Museum of London, very much). At Paris, I guess you could be in a tour group for doing sightseeing in Paris. At Rome, and at any place in Italy, you will not need to be in a tour group. In Italy plan for plenty of time for transportation. For example, at a village in the Cinque Terre, a train that you wish to ride in might not be there at the scheduled time. You would get in a train there, one hour later. And in Italy, all train departures might be cancelled one entire day because of a transportation workers' strike. I recommend : go to Europe before you will be in a World History or Europe History course at a college or university. And go to France before you will be in a French language course at a college or university. I am much older than you. I went on seven vacation trips to Europe. The summer when my age was 17, I was a passenger (unaccompanied) in an airplane of an airline.

JJ,

Here are a couple of Threads along the same topic.....

• https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/17-year-old-son-traveling-alone

I'm not sure where you're flying from, but this item from Air Canada is probably similar with other airlines.....

• http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/before/youngtravellers/minors.html (I believe American Airlines has similar rules)

My thoughts on the subject.....

It's very difficult to offer an opinion on whether you should travel solo to Europe at 17, as I have no idea of your level of maturity or how well you might be able to handle that (especially if problems occur). Waiting until you're 18 might be a better idea, but you could perhaps do a "test run" if you have the funds, and take a short trip to somewhere like Montreal or Quebec City, where you can not only practice your French but also test how well you handle solo travel.

Another benefit of waiting until you're 18 is that you'll be able to stay in Hostels. This quote is from the HI Boston Hostel, but I believe the rules are the same at many others.....

"HI-Boston is open to guests of all ages. Guests under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Groups with guests under 18 years, booked through HI-Boston’s group sales department, must be accompanied by a chaperone."

I don't know if a notarized letter from parents will suffice, but best to get that sorted prior to the trip so that you're not left sitting on the street or having to pay for a hotel at higher cost.

Good luck!

I think you found an ideal solution in that tour for young people. That would allow you to visit Europe and have someone handle the logistics for you. You could learn from seeing how they arrange things. It would also mean you'd have ready-made companions. (It's also very late to be planning a solo trip for this summer – joining a prearranged tour will eliminate that issue.)

In addition, I believe that you'd have significant challenges traveling solo. For example, I don't believe it's possible for a 17-year-old to check into either a hostel or hotel without an adult -- There could be significant insurance and/or liability issues in a renting a room to an unaccompanied minor. Also, if you were on your own in a large new city, would you know what to do if your wallet/money/credit cards/passport vanished, or if the last bus of the evening didn't show up and you were far from your lodging, or if you found yourself in a situation or place that felt unsafe, etc. I'm not trying to make Europe seem really unsafe (it isn't) or to belittle your judgment or travel skills. However, the unexpected happens, and it can it can be difficult to know how to deal with it in a different culture. Experience traveling to Europe with a group (or to major North American cities on your own) will allow you to refine your skills for coping with the unexpected.

Whatever you do, I hope you have a wonderful summer. And traveling is one of the best ways to spend the time.

Hi JJ. The tour actually sounds good. You're with a group of people your own age so you've got built-in companions, with enough flexibility so you aren't "stuck" with an incompatible travel buddy. Fast-paced means you'll get a taste of lots of places, so when you go back you'll have a pretty good idea of what interests you more. You'll pick up a lot of travel skills, especially since you're not going to be "isolated" on a big tour bus. If you can "separate from the herd" on the train, you will have opportunities to talk to locals and other tourists on those long journeys. Sounds like a win, win choice to me.

Normally, for a younger person willing to be a tad adventerous, I'd say go alone. But being 17 may raise some legal issues. So in this case a tour would be good, with the idea that you will come back either solo or with a few friends sometime before you finish college. I think independent travel is so important, so don't let the tour be your only experience.

Another option is to find a language school in France (going as a student with a school all lined up shouldn't cause difficulty, but check with the school), then take your weekends to go exploring anywhere you can.

I went to Europe for the first time during the summer after my freshman year of college. I was 18 and it was a choral tour of Scandanavia. It really whetted my appetite for more so I signed up for a study-abroad program my junior year. After that I started going alone or with friends and have continued to travel to Europe ever since.
My son is 17 and wanted to walk the Coast-to-Coast path across England this summer but the logistics of doing it alone as a 17 year old makes it difficult for a variety of reasons, as some of the above posters have mentioned. If you wait a year it will be much less complicated and fraught with unknowns.
I vote for taking the tour, getting an overview of Europe so you can get an idea of where you want to return to, and be patient with traveling solo. It's more difficult than it seems to travel by yourself and I think you will be less stressed if you have been there at least once and get the lay of the land before tackling it alone.
Since you are just beginning college I suggest you also investigate semester or year-long study abroad programs through your university...these are fantastic for really immersing yourself.
Good luck!

I'll just pile on the other responses. I was going to say, go on your own, but then I saw the issues being under 18 could raise, including the fact that you may be told one thing before you get to a place ("of course we will allow you to check in by yourself") and another when you actually get there ("since you're under 18, we can't allow you to check in by yourself!"). This kind of thing can ruin a trip at any age; if you can't find a hotel or hostel that will let you stay, you'd be stuck.

So, take the tour, and look at it as a great learning experience for future travel, as well as a fun experience in itself and a way to meet lots of other people. Then, in a year or two when you're more "elderly," you can go anywhere you want on your own, or even take another tour - it's your choice.

I wish I could have traveled at your age!

If you have the tour lined up and all the paperwork says you can go at 17, then I would continue with that plan. The tour means that important logistical issues like train tickets and hotel reservations are handled for you, as well as built-in buddies and a support system. Some tours may not include much group sightseeing (or some may not include much free time), but you probably will have some personal time and sightseeing decisions to make. This office doesn't have any advice on specific tour companies per age group.

For your next trip, researching destinations, sightseeing options, and logistics is more important than studying languages. Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door (also excerpted in the Travel Tips section of this site) and his guidebooks for each country are great places to start. I planned for six months for my first trip to Great Britain at age 25 (after completing four solo trips in the USA). After that, each year's planning got a bit easier and more efficient. Studying French is a long-term skill, and demonstrates your commitment, but doesn't help you much in Budapest; in reality, you can get by using English and a few key phrases of each local language.

See also:

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/comparing-tours

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/bus-tour-selfdefense