LizTD

DD ijust turned 18 and would like to travel to Portugal this summer. I am not okay with her going solo and she is not interested in a family trip (only child wanting to not have parents in tow). Can anyone share experiences with reputable teen travel tour companies? She is not outdoorsy or a museum lover. She likes to explore cities with her camera and get to know people. Thanks.

PalenQ

Contiki is a veteran company offering tours to young people. www.contiki.com.

STA Travel is also a veteran tour operator for college age students: Europe Tours & Trips | STA Travel

Two reputable companies.

janisj

I wouldn't recommend contiki unless one is VERY careful about reviews of the specific tour. Some are great, some are pretty out of control parties.

>>I am not okay with her going solo<<

What are your specific concerns? The straight answer -- unless you are paying for this trip . . . she is an adult and can go wherever/whenever she wants. (

PalenQ

Contiki parties aren?t what they used to be

Contiki as part central may be a thing of the past, at least according to Contiki and this article.

Southam

Has she travelled alone anywhere closer to home? That might be a reassuring test. She will need both self-assurance and problem-solving traits to go anywhere solo. Apparently she doesn't want her friends with her either. Of course she is an adult according to the calendar -- but who is paying? If you, some compromising may reassure both of you.

artsnletters

I'm with janisj - she's an adult. Has she proven herself irresponsible or reckless in the past? If she stays in hostels, she will meet plenty of other 18-year-olds traveling around Europe for companionship and "safety." Europe is much, much, much safer than the US. I am a middle-aged woman and would feel more comfortable roaming around any European city by myself at 1am than I would in my own hometown of 100,000. Violent crime is rare. There is always the possibility of pickpockets (which traveling with a group will not prevent), but it is simple to take precautions so that she needn't worry about these either.

Perhaps sending her for a trial solo weekend in another US city for a few days would make you feel better? But as I said, she will be more at risk there than she will be in Portugal.

I took a Contiki trip way back when I was in that age bracket, and there was a great deal of very heavy drinking that went on. She is of legal drinking age in Europe, so if that is her inclination, she'll be able to do it whether she's with a group or not.

PalenQ

Yes, if she wants to go on her own don't be worrited about anything - hostels and youth hotels are great meeting places - trains are very easy to use and English is spoken widely, especially at tourist venues. And she may well meet others to travel with at hostels. Get a copy of Let's Go Europe (www/letsgo.com) for her as it is written by students for their age group with superlative critical coverage of hostels, which can all be booked in advance at www.hostelworld.com and Hostels.com - Great deals on hostels anywhere! and other sites or directly online. Thus everything can be nailed down before she leaves.

And IMO traveling on your own at that age to me was a real learning experience- kind of a survival guide at times coping in a foreign countrty when things don't go as planned, etc. I always said I learned more life skills on my first trip to Europe about her age than I learned in 4 years of college.

So, consider her personal growth and maturation as a valuable aspect of going on your own rather than just just following a group tour where everything is orechestrated for you and you just have to go with the flow.

If she does do a tour maybe she if she wants to also travel indepently after traveling with the tour. Tours that age group are TMK largely female but in hostels she'll meet more guys and not just Americans but folks from all over the world.

Kathie

Given the reviews I have read of Contiki and STA, I think she would be better off traveling on her own.

thursdaysd

I agree that she should be fine in Portugal on her own, and that Contiki sounds like a bad idea. If she wants a tour, she might look at Intrepid:

https://www.intrepidtravel.com/us/portugal

They are not aimed at any specific age group, but tend younger than many tour companies, and allow for plenty of independent time. Gadventures is supposed to be similar but I haven't traveled with them (actually, it's been quite a while since I traveled with Intrepid, I prefer to go solo).

She's old enough to go off to college on her own, right? So why not Portugal?

Christina

oh, please, this idea that 18 year olds are "paying for it themself" is ridiculous. NO 18 year old can afford to do that. If they can, mommy and daddy are bankrolling the rest of their lifestyle, you can bet no 18 yr old has a job that covers their housing, food, car, insurance, utilities and tuition. It is a farce when kids that age claim they are paying for it themself when it means they get to spend every bit of money they earn on vacations and their parents pay for the rest of their life.

There are some volunteer trips that you could look into, even though some have a stipend. here are some examples

https://www.volunteerhq.org/volunteer-in-portugal

ImpacTrip | Responsible Travel Experiences in Portugal

https://ubelong.org/volunteer-abroad/lisbon-portugal/

janisj

>>NO 18 year old can afford to do that. <<

You have said that before. I've known LOTS of 18 yo's who can and do pay for travel. Do you think parents always pay for those spring break trips?

Volunteer travel is fine . . . However if the OP/daughter are American, many of those 'volunteer' travel opportunities aren't allowed under Schengen rules. It is considered work.

PalenQ

Paying for a cheap spring break trip is peauts vs paying for any European trip - minimum of thousands of dollars - few if any 18 yr-olds can afford to pay for that.

xcountry

Of course it’s possible she is not travelling alone. No wait. That’s very unlikely. So forget that.

thursdaysd

Oh, I don't know. Fly WOW and Easyjet/Ryanair. Stay in a hostel or AitBnB room or couchsurf. Picnic. And it's not as if Portugal is a particularly expensive country.

PalenQ

Expenses depend on how long she is going for - summer is nebulous but figure even with hostels and eating out of supermarkets with museum fees and travel expenses let's say $ 70-80/day minimum -if going to cafes and out at night much more and if hotels (doubt if mum would be comfy with couch surfing!) much more. Air Fare in summer $700 minimum - what do Ryan Air and WOW charge from U.S. to Lisbon?

Yes not thousands but say $3,000 probably and few 18 yr olds have that much money, at least ones I know. And if going on a group tour about the same or more.

thursdaysd

Lonely Planet figures you can do Portugal on less than 60 USD a day.

Flying WOW from EWR to LGW leaving late June returning early July is $560. LGW to Lisbon and back on Easyjet for the relevant dates is another $140, but flying later and playing around with dates and airports would undoubtedly get that down.

There is no evidence as yet for how long a trip this would be. A tour would probably be a week, or two at the most. I don't see why a teen who had been working and saving could not afford this trip.

PalenQ

Yes if she does not have to save for college expenses perhaps but most parents would probably pay for such a trip as a graduation from h.s. gift if teen is saving for college expenses as most teens working I know way they are doing.

I guess point is that if 18 yr-old is paying for own trip she should be able to go on own if want -if parent paying parent may only pay for a group trip, for the security, etc that such a trip offers vs (irrational) fears of daughter going alone at that age.

LizTD

So funny. DD is so responsible and interested in going that she is mapping an itinerary to present to parents (who are paying) to make her case. So jury will convene soon. I moved out at 18 (and she knows it) but now I am the mom. Reckoning - in a good way. Thx for this!!

LizTD

Plus she told me that she had saved $1020 over the past 2 years sitting for kids after school (she counted it) so has "skin in the game." We trust her judgment, she is a good person who has worked hard in high school, and I think needed validation that a petite pretty 5 foot 2 inch 18 year old who loves meeting people and chats with strangers easily would not become a target for predators if traveling on her own. Really, this straight-talk-"snap out of it" advice is why I value the Fodors community so greatly. THANK YOU!!

PalenQ

So she's good to go on own? Again she can pre-book all hostels (hotels are isolating) and trains or planes in advance and just have to show up - public transit it superb - most cities like Lisbon these days have lots of hostels and not just the HI-hostels (official youth hostels of Hostelling International - once the only hostels years ago - now many private and city-run hostels and youth hotels - Let's Go Europe or in her case Let's Go Portugal has great reviews - try to book one in city center- HI-hostels often in remote areas harder to get to.

Is she only interested in Portugal - easy to combine a bit of Spain too - like Seville area -could fly into Lisbon and out of Madrid, etc.