My 18 year old son and a friend will be in Hamburg the end of July for about 20 days for work and fun. He has never been to Europe. What does he need to know? Food, safety, long term lodging, what is a must see. He willalso travelto London during this time. Will this be Difficult? He needs some practical advice. Thanks

<He has never been to Europe. What does he need to know?>

He needs to know how to do some research on his own.

Seriously, this is such a vague question. Have him check out some guide books, or the destinations link above and then ask specific questions.

- German food is good. Lots of pork.
- I would not consider 20 days long term lodging especially if some of this time will be in London.
- The flight to London will only be difficult if he is actually doing the flying.

!8 year olds have a habit of surviving in ways not contemplated by their mother.

Don't worry, he will turn up in one piece at the end of the 20 days,

Harzer

Two eighteen year olds ought to have a good time in Hamburg, and, when they get home, I bet they won't tell their mothers the half of it!

I somehow suspect that if your son is the one who suggested Hamburg then he and his friend have already done all sorts of research.

Have you asked him what he already DOES know and received something more than a shrug of the shoulders in return?

I suspect you may have less to worry about, if you really are worried, than you might think.

The replies to this request for advice illustrate one of my pet peeves about some posters on this board, in that they offer advice not asked for (i.e., whether it is appropriate for a parent to do travel research for a child, whether the child will have a good time in the absence of a parent's help, etc.)

Not one of the posts so far offer any solid advice to the OP's questions. Can we get off that line of responses and offer something helpful?

Unfortunately, Robin, I've never visited Hamburg and so can't offer any help ábout that specific area. However, rest assured that Germany is generally a very safe country, probably one of the safest in Europe.

Check out www.ryanair.com for flights between Hamburg and London. I'm seeing a virtual giveaway in fares for the end of July.

Hopefully, you'll hear from some Hamburg groupies here on Fodors with suggestions to answer your other questions. However, what an 18-year- old might want to see and do will likely be different than it might be for us old codgers.

Mary Fran,
The posters on this issue have figured out that if an 18 year old kid, presumably computer-literate, wanted information from folks here about Hamburg, HE would have asked for it, not his mother. Our guess (and do you want to tell us we're wrong?) is that he and his friend already know what they want to see and do in Hamburg, and they're certainly NOT going to tell their mothers, before or after!

Many of us on Fodors, myself included, are happy to offer our experience to any and all who ask for help for themselves.

I don't find it worthwhile to offer advice to a 3rd party - never any feedback from the person who is travelling be it someone's friend, child, parent, etc. Same rule applies in my day to day life as well, not just here on Fodors.

An adult male travelling to Germany for work and fun is welcome to come here to ask for specific help.

Granted, this thread isn't as bad as the one where a mother wanted to plan her 28yr old daughters honeymoon itinerary, day by day, site by site.

If they can vote at 18, they certainly should be able to figure out how to find information for Hamburg on their own.

Curious

Safety in general is not an issue in Hamburg. I would, however, give a heads-up for portions of the St. Georg district (adjacent to Central Station's Northern side). The parts of St. Georg East of Lange Reihe St. (Steindamm et. al.) are a bit rough, and the center of drug addicts in Hamburg.

For food, there is about the widest variety in Germany, as Hamburg is a thriving port city with immigrants from all over the world with almost every region imaginable represented by at least one restaurant. Local cuisine involves quite a bit of fresh and high quality seafood.

Travel to London is extremely easy. Both airports are well connected and lots of Hamburgians (including myself) prefer London Heathrow as a hub for transatlantic flights over Frankfurt. Lufthansa offers EUR 99.00 flights ("BetterFly" campaign) on almost any flight they feature, provided you book far enough in advance.
Alternatively Air Berlin has often very cheap flights, too.

Must sees and dos: Tour of the port, St. Michael's church, Hagenbeck Zoo, Captain's houses along Strandweg, Alster Lakes (being in the city center they actually hard to avoid), cheap booze on the Reeperbahn and around, Herbertstr. (he'll find out why ), visit to the Hafen City (Europe's biggest urbanization site currently under construction), Miniatur Wunderland (a really noteworthy model railway museum, allegedly the world's biggest), Chilehaus, Elbchaussee, ...

When my sons were that age (one a couple of years older) they traveled together to Germany. I gave them them Rick Steves book on Germany, youth hostel memberships, and made sure they had their passports. And then I put them on the plane and told them to have a great time and be safe. They did and they were.

hsv made some great suggestions. But everyone here is correct---he should be doing his own research.