It's fine for him to travel solo but he will need a work visa to work in Greece...

Ps: at 18 he is considered an adult, there is absolutely no reason why he wouldn't be able to do this. As long as he uses common sense he will be fine and doesnt require your permission to travel in Europe. Many Europeans travel solo earlier than that and if he is currently living in Europe with you he should know how to conduct himself here. Tell him to get some guidebooks and give you a plan so you know what he is doing. Email and mobile phones will let him stay in contact. Many people leave home to study at big city universities at 17 or 18 even in the US and Canada.

Greece is absolutely safe, the financial crisis has nothing to do with the safety in this country.
Corfu is a wonderful island that i am sure your son will enjoy...
I am originally from the city of Corfu

US citizens are not allowed to work in Greece, and obtaining a work visa for 1 month won't be possible i am afraid.
I can imagine that your son will work illegally, without being registered.. ( many foreigners are doing that)
Will you feel comfortable with that?
Has your son arranged all the details with the owner of the hostel? Working for room and board is not allowed, the hostel owner is obliged to pay your son a salary, which cannot be less than a certain amount per month. (there is an official minimum salary in Greece, i can't remember how much it is right now. )
Room and board is provided anyway in most cases, so working without being paid would be unacceptable in my opinion.

From Sofia he would have to take a bus to Thessaloniki and from there another bus to Corfu.

He won't have any problems with the language in Corfu, most people speak English, and some even German, Spanish is not spoken at all...

You haven't told us when he will be traveling to Greece...

As for the financial crisis in Greece, please have a look at the following official video clip of the Region of Crete..

This will give you the answer of what visitors are experiencing in Greece this year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj06RMIo_Cc

Jamikins- Thanks for your reply. I know my son is old enough to do it on his own but since he lives in our house and we are footing the bill (he would have been off at college in the states but decided to do a gap year and travel and can't work here for money), he does listen to our advice I am mostly looking for advice about general safety for traveling in these areas for someone with limited life experience. I turned to these forums because many of you have traveled extensively in these areas. I am especially interested in things he should be aware of and or not miss.

Clausar-I will talk to him about the work for room and board situation. I was under the impression that it was legal.

I absolutely agree with Jamikins.
I haven't been to Boulgaria, so I can not provide first hand experience, but I know many people who have, and their experience is that at least on the beaten path it is a safe country and not extremely hard to navigate/make travel arrangement.
Greece was always and still is, a very tourism oriented country, and crisis or not, visitors always face a friendly attitude and great hospitality. He will be fine communicating in English, unless he end up on a tiny village up on the mountains inhabited by 100 years' old people. Even then there is chance someone will know English or a smile and body language will do his job.
That said, I need to clarify a couple of things.
First of all, Greece is a Eurozone country. Many young people tend to believe that they can make it through on an extremely low budget, in their mind it is like sort of a South-East Asian country. Well, this is not true. You can not live by 5 euro a day, and hostels is not a popular concept in Greece. The usual cheap accommodation option is rooms to let, and those often cost at least 25 euro a night. Campings are not so common as someone would thing, especially in Northern Greece, and when there is one, it fills up quickly in season. Yes, a pita gyros or a pastry can cost a couple of euros, but no one can live decently for weeks only on that. A decent tavern meal (tap water, a Greek salad, a cheap main course) will cost around 12-15 euro. On my experience shopping from grossery/supermarkets and cooking your own meal, can cost no less than 30-50 euro a week.
Second important point is that been American, without a working visa, he can not work legaly in Greece. You mention working for a month in a hostel in Corfu, so I guess he might have arrange this in advance. Working under the table is not unheard off, it is not advisable either though. If his boss just decides he doesn't want to pay him, then your son would be able to do...absolutely nothing about it. If he is under-payed or in general what they agreed doesn't happen, ditto. Legal or not, no matter how expensive life in Greece is, wages in tourism industry were always low, and common practice is that people do not get even one day off during summer season, while they work many more hours per day that they should, with no extra payment. I work in this industry and I know what I am talking about. Note that according to the new IMF/EU laws, wages for anyone under 25 year old and no offical work experience is 510 euro "mixed". This means that after the various amounts they keep for insurance etc, you officially get around 420-450 euro in hand per month, for (supposedly) 8 hours work per day. Recently there is supposed to be a new agreement among hotel owners and hotel employees, that minimum wages are back to 2008 levels, on 750 euro/month.This doesn't happen in practice of course, and we are talking about locals that are supposed to work officially and know the ins and outs of local laws and local customs. Working illegally, salaries are even lower and working conditions poorer. It is not like you work in a hotel/hostel and you do vacation. This is work. HARD work! People working in hospitality industry are struggling to survive here!
Lastly, be aware that nowdays often employers do not offer food and accommodation as they used to. If they do, accommodation is often shabby, shared with 2-3 other people and food when available is not exactly first quality. A decent tiny apartment on an island cost no less than 250 euro/month, electricity and water bill is additional extra, and of course it is hard to rent an apartment only for a month.
In general I would say to your son to go for it, but to have a large amount as a back-up that would keep him going if work...doesn't work out! lol

I type slowly lol
Cross-posting with Clausar and averyone!

Oh and he will be traveling mid-Septemer to the end of October.

Thanks mariha2912 for your detailed reply.

Anyone traveled to Bulgaria recently?

Mid-Sept to end of Oct is the tail end of tourist season in Greece, has he arranged his work on Corfu yet? My impression is that people are hired for the season so I think if he hasnt it will be very difficult to get a job at the end of the season as things are closing up. Not even taking into account the work visa issue...

As for safety - we visited Athens, Naxos and Nafplion last Sept and found it to be perfectly safe. Out Head of Legal just spent two weeks on Corfu and had a great time. I dont thin the islands are that impacted by protests etc and the only violence I believe has been in the main square in Athens and you can just avoid that areas.

In two weeks we are going to the Dodecondese Islands for two weeks sailing and are not concerned at all.

I think the biggest impact of the crisis he will note is the ability to get a job, especially without a visa.

I havent been to Bulgaria so hopefully someone else can chime in.

Hope this helps!

Given the employment situation in Greece do you really think it is fair for your son to take a job there, especially illegally?

As far as travelling goes he will be fine. My son travelled through Bulgaria and Croatia when he was 18 with no problems. OK that was 12 years ago now, but he survived, no mobile phone to contact us if he needed us either. He speaks English Dutch and French and managed just fine.

hetismij2

Taking a job during the crisia is not a subject, there are about 1,5 Mi foreign workers in Greece right now.
I would be more worried about working illegally....

I have been many times to Sofia and i found it to be a very safe city.. But i was on business there, staying in 5 star hotels, meeting business partners...

Sofia is a city with a small centre, there weren't much to see there, so i guess that your son will only use it as a transit point.

I was in Bulgaria about a month ago. Veliko Tarnovo, Belogradchik, Sofia and Plovdiv. Wonderful, all of them. Relatively tourist-free though they are trying to get their tourist industry up and running. Sofia feels very Balkan. Tell your son to be careful not to get ripped off by the taxi drivers there, though how to do that I don't know. . Maybe avoid taxis altogether.
It's one of the European countries where English is less spoken, but having said that, I had no problem with language at all.
There are plenty of young backpackers around, an 18 year old guy will have no problems if he uses his common sense.

I was in Bulgaria last year (Plovdiv and Rodopa mountains and villages). It is a fantastic place and met only friendly people, it is also incredibly cheap in comparison to Greece, wheer I was this year (Samos).

Oh, and learn to read Cyrillic to read the signs. Doesn't take long. Though most of them are in Roman script too. Yes, friendly people and cheap prices.

Thanks for your replies! He is all set to go now in Sept!

I would highly recommend taking a look at Macedonia on the way to Greece. Click on my name for my "B" trip reports on the area.