My son and girlfriend (20's) will be backpacking through certain countries of Europe and living cheaply in hotels when they can for one month. How safe is it for an American couple?

I don't know your son, but if he has common sense and does safe things he'll be fine. This has nothing to do with Europe as opposed to any other place, but when a person is in a new place (any place) that they don't know they just need to use a bit extra common sense. If you are wandering around and suddenly a place doesn't looks so good, turn around.

Pretty safe (nothing, be it in Europe or America or elsewhere, can be guaranteed to be 100% safe).

The fact that they are American is not material.

Use common sense and it is safer than in your home town, whatever that may be.

I was going to partially fund my 18-year old daughter's trips this summer as a graduation present but she couldn't find a friend with the resources to accompany her.

Even my very protective wife was comfortable with her and a friend traveling alone in Europe. I can't speak for more than Germany, Austria, and Switzerland but I feel they are actually much safer than many neighborhoods in the USA.

Do some on-line research into crime statistics for the countries they wish to visit.

MvK

Wouldn't that be like asking how safe would it be to backpack thru the US? Some people do it and never encounter a problem, others may fall into the wrong hands. If, as others say, that use commen sense and trust gut instincts they'll probably do ok but it's about luck and hopefully not being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's fine. Use common sense. Our 20-year-old has been there for three months with nary a problem. We sent our 17 and 18 year olds by themselves to visit her and, again, no problem (but loads of funny, funny stories as they explored other cultures!).

Just be alert and be smart.

<<< How safe is Europe for young Americans? >>>

Given recent events a lot safer than than at home

very. enough said.

I'm in my 20s and have been in the UK for almost 2 years with no major issues. I've also done lots of traveling - mostly alone - and also had no problems. I may have felt a tad unsafe at times, but this has been very, very rare and mostly due to my paranoia.

Safer than almost any place in the US.

As long as they don;t hang around deserted alleys at 3 am after imbibing too much they should be fine. (This assumes they have basic common sense about themselves and their belongings. And if they don't - this will help them develop it real fast!)

(My younger step-daughter - 18 - and two friends spent 5 weeks doing the same last summer - and had no problems at all.

Caveat: They're all NYC kids - and NOT naive.)

As others have said - safer than in most US cities.

But no one has added - much less safe than 10 or 20 years ago.

A little street smarts will go a long way. A truly naive young kid would have been OK 20 years ago. The world is a rougher place today, but the average young person is more aware.

backpacking through Europe (or Asia Africa, Australia etc) is a right of passage for European youngsters - there are hordes of them on the move every year. Very few come to any harm, and of those that do come a cropper it's usually their own fault (commonly involving booze and drugs and that teenage belief in their own immortality).

Nothing is completely safe, but this is as safe as it gets. Don't worry - they'll have a blast.

2.364 USA Tourists died abroad in the period 2004-2006. The source neglects to clarify that data. Assume three years. The major cause of death was an automobile/motor vehicle accident! 741 people died! Assume that 15,000,000 Americans went abroad in each of the three years. Chances of a death are almost zero. Many of these accidents occur in Mexico by motorcycle users. Your son and girlfriend will be relatively safe. Absolutely safe, no.