Is 17 too young to travel alone?

No I don't think that is too young, for the person you describe. Plenty of teenagers go around Europe on their own.

Sounds fine to me, for as suze said. "the person you describe"

The only problem that might arise is some hostels do not allow anybody under 18 without a guardian. If he just graduated it would be a great time. If he is just now becoming a senior why not wait until he graduates and is 18?

I'd love to do the same for my 17 y.o. senior, but he is SO not ready. Sounds like yours it, though.

You know him best. If mine was ready, I'd let him go in a heartbeat.

Just take some basic precautions, such as:
Cell phone so he can contact you and you him.
Access to credit/debit card.
Reserving at least the first and the last night in Europe.
A copy of youth-oriented guidebook like RG or Lets Go. There is a single-volume Europe edition.
You may need to furnish a letter (from both parents) authorizing him to travel. Without it he may not even be allowed to leave US.
Good insurance cover, including medical and evacuation.
Ask him to read up on street scene of the cities he hopes to visit. Take local advice (e.g. from hostel staff) about no-go areas.

My daughter went to Europe as a 17 year old high school graduate. She was with friends though, all of whom were also recent graduates but were already 18. On the plus side, she got into some sights free or reduced cost because she was under 18. On the con, she couldn't get into some clubs that were 18 & up. And she also commented that, though they had a GREAT time, she almost wished they had gone 1 year later. This was because many of the other travelers that they met in the hostels were college kids. They had had at least one year under their belt of being on their own and my daughter said she felt this difference quite a bit. But at least she had friends with her, so she wasn't "lonely". I only mention this because you say he would go alone - but boys are different than girls and might not mind as much.

thanks so far everyone. I will check on the minimum age at some hostels. Otherwise maybe some B'Bs might take him. I know girls want and need to have friends with them, but he is really more of a loner, though outgoing.

A lot of places won't allow someone to register that age (hotels or other kinds of accommodations, etc.).

It sounds like he could handle it if he really wants to do it, although I think doing it at an older age would be more enjoyable and easier for lots of reasons. I think a lot of kids that age, male or female, would not want to be doing that on their own, even if if they were capable, though. It isn't clear if he wants to do this or if this is something you are going to "surprise" him with. I wouldn't do the latter, as if he doesn't want to do it, you can embarrass him or make him do something he doesn't want to do.

As someone who went to France for the summer at 17 as a rising senior (staying with a family and traveling with them)--here is something else for your son to consider: Although I loved my experience, it made my senior year in High School very challenging in unexpected ways. In France, I fell into a lovely cafe culture and whereas European teens generally dive into juicy topics like politics, history, and philosophy, American teens, not so much. When I returned home, I found that this experience put me out-of-sync with my peers at a time I very much wanted to be "part of" as a senior.

In retrospect I wish that I had either stayed on in France for my senior year (which was an option that I didn't give much thought to at the time) or gone a year or two later when the re-entry wouldn't have been so challenging--more of my peers would have similar experiences.

My second thought is that completely solo and unstructured travel is tough--a life transformer if you are ready for it, and possibly lonely/scary if you're not. And I'm not sure that being a loner and independent at home is enough to tell up front which is which.

I'd suggest having an open conversation about pros and cons of going this year vs. next and also considering other, more structured options. These would be much more independent than traveling with parents, and yet not as completely on your own as an unstructured solo trip. How about a few weeks at a European language school (which would have a traveling component generally on weekends) and a chance to meet peers with whom to travel afterwards? Summer AP history course in Europe sponsored by an American school? Summer stay with a family? Organized teen travel with an agency/organization? Service trip in Europe?

I've traveled a lot, and many times alone. Traveling alone does have it's pros and cons. One con is that there are times when you REALLY wish you weren't alone. I think at that age it would be better and more fun to travel with one really good friend.

I don't think age is really the problem or solution. It is really about how a person acts and their understanding of various situations.

Has he ever been in a solo situation before, for an extended period of time? If not, then I think I'd try out a more local trip first to see how it works.

How does he interact with completely new environments and people? That is an advantage that college kids have, they move into a dorm and have to make it on their own.

He can be very mature, but if he's never been in a solo or completely new environment, with no support structure to fall back on, then it could be rough. On the other hand, it may be just what he would like.

Um - because most people graduate from high school at 17 - not 18. And the person described seems perfectly capable of traveling on his own. People grow up at different rates and not all teens are kept small children by their parents.

And really,, is going to europe (when you've been several times before) any more challenging - or tempting - than going off to college.

The school I went to pulled a lot of students from NYC high schools - which at that time pushed bright students ahead so they graduated at 16 instead of 17. So weh ad quite a few 16 year old freshman - and some of them - esp boys - were quite immature - but many were perfectly functional completely on their own.

As long as you feel he's prepared and he's confident - why not? You only grow up by stretching - not sitting around in the local pizza joint.

Had you thought about suggesting or arranging an exchange year or a situation with a host family? Because I think 17 is actually quite young to be in a completely new setting, with foreign languages. If something goes pear-shaped is he going to make the right decision under pressure? If he does an exchange year (/month / three months) there is the benefit of structure, responsible adults, and acquiring a new language. I say this particularly as my parents let me travel a lot semi-alone from the age of 16, and while nothing went wrong on home turf, I had a narrow escape at 19 while abroad and travelling alone. Yes, I'm female, but I don't think young men are particularly safe either.

Lavandula

To get some feedback from people IN that age group, check on The Thorn Tree forum at www.lonelyplanet.com. It's from posts there that I know plenty of teenagers somehow go backpacking thru Europe on their own.

I protest the description need and want people around them and boys don't.

That said, I don't know how people on an internet board could possibly know if your son is old enough to travel alone. Just be sure this isn't about you wanting him to be.

Ooops, left out a word: boys.

Boys in lonely places can become crime statistics and have social needs to the seem degree girls do, and girls can be smarter about avoiding danger and be much less emotionally needy than teenaged boys.

I'm sure he'll have a blast. ^You were only thinking of a couple of weeks, not sending him over for months, so I think the lonely/coping/problems mentioned are a bit of an over-reaction.

If he feels confident about it, no problem.

Expect him to party a bit though!

17 is not too young to travel solo, depending on the person. The young man you describe would be fine on his own, with proper precautions. Figure out places to stay that would allow a minor, research the restrictions on him leaving the country alone. I'm assuming English is his first language, does he speak any others fluently/semi-fluently? For most people, I suggest starting in the UK and Ireland as their first trips solo because they can speak the language.

Absolutely send him with a cell phone and plenty of minutes. Make the agreement that he will call you every day or two, minimum. That way you guys will know he's okay, and it'll keep him from getting too lonesome.

Ask him if he wants to go, and let him do the planning to decide where he wants to go while there.

I would suggest he ask a best friend if he wants to go along. Sometimes 2 teenage heads are better than one, but 3 teenage heads are never better than one. So stick to one like minded friend. They can agree to have some free time alone, but if there are problems ,it's probably a good idea to have someone else with you.

treble, from your original post there's no mention if your son wants to go just that you'd like to send him. If your son really wants to do this then I think it's a great idea.

I wouldn't propose this trip as a gift that hasn't been requested though.

Two weeks sounds fine.

Too young? No way!

At 17 I drove alone from San Diego to Cleveland, within an hour of arriving in Cleveland, I was beat up by a gang of Italians in Little Italy.

My car broke down outside of Mt. Sterling, Illinois and without the assistance of the very kind people in town I might never have made it home.

A very rare Southern California tropical storm washed out highway 8 into San Diego but I fortunately ran into a group from my college and shared some floor space in their hotel room in Yuma, Arizona.

I arrived home a couple of weeks later with a turtle I found on the freeway in New Mexico, about 50 cents to my name and 1/4 tank of gas (and couldn't chew well for a couple of weeks).

Why would anyone think 17 is too young to travel alone?

I'm early 50s now and went to Europe at 17. I'm female. I stayed with a family, outside of Copenhagen the first time, for two months, as I was the selected exchange student from my high school. However, the next year, at 18, and all years after that, I went on my own and had my own accommodations along with revisiting the family I'd originally stayed with. We are still very close to this day. My Danish "sister" was just here visiting me 4 years ago.

What I did was rented a room, in a kollegium, in Copenhagen. A kollegium is sort of like a dorm, but it's not connected to any one university. But young, university-aged people live in it. Back then I paid $122. a month, for a room with a bathroom and then there was a kitchen on each of the 10 floors that we all shared and even prepared and ate some meals together. I lived in my kollegium building for 10 years of the 20 years of summers I spent in Copenhagen. I could have stayed in that building longer, but since I was older I felt like moving out after 10 years. For the next 10 years, I stayed with friends.

I, to this day, still have friends who originally lived in that building. They were like family. We became very close knit. Wonderful experiences. They would even invite me to their family's summer houses and even take me along on family trips. I was the only American in the building of over 300 young people and back then they were really excited and wanted to practice their English and all.

Many of the students leave during the summer, but still have to pay the rent. So, they rent out their rooms. I was in Copenhagen for usually 11 weeks straight. The rentals were usually until around the last week of August when students would start coming back. I'd then move out and move in with some friends for about a week, at the end of summer. I would usually fly back to L.A. in September. My parents would always say that they didn't mind me going out and exploring the world, but to just be home before UCLA started up, around mid-September, as they had paid my tuition , and I absolutely HAD to be back for the first day of class. The other rule was to stay out of trouble, which I did.

The kollegium rooms were also rented out for shorter stays as there were a few young people there, from mostly EU countries, staying for shorter amounts of time.

I would use my kollegium residence as my base. I couldn't imagine being, on the road, non-stop. I'd throw most of my stuff in my room and then take a smaller suitcase and go out, using my 3-month Eurail pass, and then return back to the kollegium. I'd take several short trips away from Copenhagen every summer.

So, if your son could find a kollegium, then maybe he could stay a month. I also enrolled myself into Danish-language courses, back then, as I had 11 weeks away at a time. I took intensive Danish language courses that rotated about every 3 weeks. So, after one 3-week course, I could take off and travel a bit, and then return and start up another 3-week course if I wanted to. I became quite fluent over the summers which helped greatly in communicating with older people and small children who usually couldn't speak English.

I think it's great letting your son go off to Europe, at 17. I'm glad I had such liberal parents. And I first went off in the early 70s, so some folks thought my parents were a bit off. But, we had friends who had been traveling off to places like Nigeria and Ghana since the 60s, so it seemed pretty normal to us. Smiles.

My sisters and I were brought up with the saying, "There's more going on out there in the world than what's happening in our backyard". One of my sisters even went off to Nigeria, for 6 weeks, alone to explore. That was a rough trip, but she lived to tell the story and is still in contact with a family that took her in when she got stranded. They even moved here to L.A. several years ago. She was in her 20s when she went on that solo journey.

So, it's been a great 30-plus years of roaming around the world alone and on all continents many times over as I'm usually gone 1-3 times a year. Having the experience of traveling and alone and having to plan all of my own vacations really taught some great life skills and has developed me into the person I am today along with viewing the world in a differnt way that many others view it.

I know your son will have some great experiences along with some bad ones, but that's part of life. My mom always said it's about how one handles the bad experiences that gets one through them. Happy Travels!

PS...And remember my sister and I were doing these travels/journeys long before cell phones/ computers/ ATM machines, etc came along, and we came out fine. I've been in Africa 4 times, but 2 of those times were long before cells phones and computers. We just had to think on our toes more and do our own problem solving as we couldn't so easily just call home to the parents....like when I was nearly out of money at the end of a trip and had to fly back to L.A. from Brussels. I had taken the train from Copenhagen back to Brussels, but had to arrive the day before I was to fly back to L.A, due to the train scheduling.

There wasn't enough money left for a hotel, so I remembered a monastery I had visited, with a Belgian friend of mine. He had introduced me to the head monk/Father(?) there. So, I called the head monk/Father from the Brussels train station and he told me to take a cab to the monastery and that he'd pay for it. I was then put up for a night at the monastery. That way I didn't have to sleep at the airport. It was a GREAT experience at the monastery. I had a huge room and a nice bathroom. The monk/Father gave up his room to me.

I stood in the so-called food line, with the monks, and got my food and ate at the long tables with the them. After dinner, we sat in a sitting room and discussed all types of topics and I had soda and they had Stella Artois. I still smile when I think about the great time spent there. Happy Travels!

Depends on the kid, and only you and he know what he can handle. My daughter was perfectly fine traveling around Europe n her own at 16 and 17. My son, not.

THanks to all who responded, I think we will wait til next summer to avoid any age issues, and let him mature a bit more. He is going to a couple college camps (music)in the states, so he will be able to get away... And we will still have time to do a family trip as well, before long those will be passe'! If he begged I would let him go, but since he is not...maybe he is not ready...anyway if parents watch the movie "Taken" you would never send your child over!

I also graduated high school at 17 and was certainly capable of traveling Europe at that age, but if he's traveling with a lot of other 18-year-olds and won't be able to get into a lot of places, I really would wait. Being unable to get into certain places or be allowed certain things for age just sucks. You sound confident that he has the maturity to travel and I totally believe you, but when others don't because of a mere date, it'll be hard on him anyways.

I really find some presumptive values going on here -- that if someone doesn't want to travel around Europe alone, there is something wrong with them. Some people NEVER will be "ready" for this as they simply prefer to travel with others. It isn't simply that the kid is defective and too young, some people never will want to do that. It appears this was really the parents idea, though, and I think a music camp is preferable myself, I would have loved to go to a music camp (like Interlaken). I still would, actually, and know some for adults. Some people just are more sociable or want to experience things with others, or have others for company.