<<A 10 pm curfew is ridiculus>>

I think some people are being harsh about the curfew thing. Once Rosie and friends get there they can reevaluate and adjust once they see how things are going and if they feel like it. It doesn't hurt to start out like this and then have open discussions. I'd rather see this then the group starting out saying they will be out partying all night, especially if some in the group might be so inclined. Maybe they feel more comfortable laying the groundwork like this with the group and weeding out any potentially heavy partiers who might not fit in with the type of vacation the rest of the group wants.

Better to be conservative and loosen the rules as you go than to go all out at first and let it turn into something which they won't want to discuss later!

Where I live in the Netherlands it is perfectly normal to greet strangers - it is a small town thing.
I am quite sure New Yorkers don't do it, any more than parisians or Londoners do.
Don't worry about that sort of thing. The world isn't nearly as bad as some people would have you believe.
My nephew survived crossing the US on Greyhound buses at age 18 on his own. I am quite sure a group of you can survive Europe, provided the group dynamics are right and you are all perpared to give a lttle, and to no be too uptight about things, especially staying out after 10! You will just be starting to eat at ten in Spain!

I spent five weeks traveling with a girlfriend in Europe after our first year of college - we had a GREAT time. I have talked to many college students doing similar since. Europe is FULL of European college students (and plenty of Americans, Aussies, Kiwis etc) doing these kinds of trips in the summer. It will be a great adventure. Have fun. Use good judgment

Hi Rosie,

My initial reaction to your post was one of laughter and thinking ('wow american kids are WEIRD',(that list of 'rules') but that's a rather unkind kneejerk reaction to someone who is a) young and b)presumably from a rather conservative background?

Anyway, your teachers are morons. Sorry to disallusion you but yes, teachers can be morons. But you Rosie, were smart enough to question what they said and also think about what your parents and other adults were saying.

You and your friends will have a fantastic time. I promise you, you won't get kidnapped. You need to be sensible of your safety and basically your rules are about that, with the experience and points of view you have now. My main concern is that you might find them a bit unrealistic and silly once you get here, the rules break down, and you end up as a group throwing out the baby with the bathwater, as it were.

pubs/bars,- ok, why the ban on that? It's legal in Europe and can be a lot of fun, especially as a way of meeting other young people on holiday. There's a huuuuuge difference between going to a bar at the start of a night out, or having a lunchtime pint in a pub over lunch, or just going and drinking soft drinks if you all prefer and getting drunk/in trouble. Unless you all have some religious/moral objection, there's no need to ban this and it could cause bad feeling in the group if some want to and the others tell them off/judge them/try to stop them.

spending time with strangers - part of the fun of being on holiday is meeting and chatting with other people. Again, there's a difference between having a conversation in a public place and going off with someone. The first is good, the second not smart.

sharing taxis - doesn't really happen to be honest with you, especially if you are in a group anyway you'll need all the seats. The only time I've ever been asked to share a taxi is in Greece when the driver stopped to pick up a little old lady who flagged him down and insisted on giving her a lift (on my tab!) to do an errand. they love their little old ladies in Greece.
a curfew no later than 10 - why? You will miss out on so much and evenings aren't particularly riskier than any other time? This is the 'rule' that probably has struck us all as the oddest. In a lot of Europe this is still very early and you'll see local families with young children out and about much later than this for dinner, for example. Making this a 'rule' and you are asking for trouble when most of your group start breaking it. Please don't do this. It will ruin your holiday and is honestly quite bizarre to do this.
never splitting into groups smaller than 3 nor without a guy's company. - hmm, ok if you feel happier this way - I'd think it's more sensible to have a rule that no-one is left alone/goes off alone, so you are at least always in pairs. the guys company - again, this is not really necessary, your biggest risks are pickpockets and they won't care about this. On other worries, are you too afraid to go out of your home without male company? It's really no different. I can see this again causing problems. What if two of you girls want to go shoe shopping or something. The poor guy dragged along by force to chaperone you is going to hate you for wasting his precious holiday time on this. Or you won't be allowed to go.

Chill out a bit. We have hundreds of thousands of our own teenagers here in Europe, and thousands and thousands of visiting ones. Don't let silly fears spoil your time here.

<i>All intelligent people make rules regarding their own safety when they travel. They only drop them if they see there is no need for them.</i>

Whilst they drop them if they <i>SEE</i> there no need for them, that isn't the same as dropping them because there is no need for them.

OP and friends will have a great time, they will do stupid things and they will drink too much despite making rules about not doing such. They may even be victims of crime or find themselves in hospital. In short they will be typical teenagers being tourists all around the World - even if they do wear white sneakers.

< I think some people are being harsh about the curfew thing. >

Nope, the curfew thing really is absurd - most theatres (even ones with shows for children) won't finish until 10:00pm and much of what teenagers consider fun (except the drinking bit) doesn't really get started until 10:00pm

True Alan - when my sons were teenagers they didn't even leave for an evening out until 10 pm.

Guess since i started off calling the 10 pm curfew ridiculus I should qualify that a bit,, as point out,, dinner is often not even over till 10! Many restaurants in Paris do not open before 7 or 7:30 , and generally service is very leisurely ( the table is yours for the night, they don't flip ,, so they are in no rush and assume you aren't either). So, really who can go straight to a crowded hotel room to bed right after dinner.
Secondly , some museums are open some nights till 9:30( Orsay and Louvre both are open some evenings) and evenings are a great time to visit,,quieter, and if you consider its a great "non bar, non pub" evening activity.. but what, you can't wander along the Seine a bit and have an ice cream you have to rush back to hotel?

Finally Rosie, the Eiffel Tower does something that is beautiful to see, at 10 pm and every hour on the hour till after midnight, it twinkles,, is fun walk out on to a bridge or anywhere with a view of it and see it twinkle,, you cannot miss that to be in your room!

justinparis - I don't disagree at all about how fun it would be to be out later than 10, and do think they will bend that rule as soon as they are there (or have have probably already done so by now after reading all the comments) but we don't know their background or why they said that, and I thought saying it was 'ridiculous' or some of the other comments without knowing came on a bit strongly, that's all. (I wasn't just commenting on your comment though) You gave them some really good info to help make the decision that works best for them.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle is so beautiful - Rosie, I hope you don't miss that! I had a room where I overlooked the Eiffel Tower and loved lying on the bed to watch (although I started doing that much later than 10 each night )

This sounds like such an exciting trip! Traveling at that age, full of curiosity and independence...I remember doing that!

Another practical point that annhig made above about relative risk: you are probably in far more danger not from malevolent strangers, but when you're just walking along having fun together, absorbed in a group "just look at that" conversation, and possibly stepping out into the road without looking out for traffic - especially in Ireland and the UK, where you won't naturally expect the traffic to be coming the "wrong" (from your point of view) way.

Rosie,
I think that you don’t need to fear too much on account of personal safety. My daughter (she’s 23) has just returned from Europe, visiting Prague, Budapest, Amsterdam, Milan, Venice, Berlin, London, plus a lot of time in Sweden where she was studying. Travelling solo, with no great concerns. (And going by the time of day on her Facebook page, seeing a lot of night life.)

She did encounter theft a couple of times, fortunately no big issues like stolen passports, but she did have a cheap digital camera and her phone stolen. Both times, I might say, due to her being careless. These things happened in London and Malmo, Sweden, and they can happen anywhere.

You are thinking of travelling in a group of five or six, and that is both good and bad. Good, because there’s fun with a bunch of people, difficult because it can take a while to get a group of people moving and into action. Think a bit about that – it can be tough when you are standing around waiting for the last member of the party to get their act together.

If you were my daughter, I’d be saying “go for it”.

Come back here once you’ve got your plans a bit more defined, and you’ll get lots of advice (a lot of it conflicting, I might say).