My 21 yo daughter is studying in France and will be returning to the US in a few weeks. She is considering taking a short trip by herself to Marseilles, Nice and Aix--1 day in each city. Up to now, she has traveled with other students, but will be making this trip by herself. I am concerned about the safety issue. Any information, experiences, comments? Thanks.

Dear Mom, your concerns are normal but you say your daughter is studying in France now so one must assume she speaks French and is accustomed to the culture. All travel (and cities) have some risk, but don't you think the benefits are much greater? Set up a daily communication plan with her and rely on her good judgement.

Your daughter will be fine! First of all, as she has been over there for a while, she hopefully already speaks the language pretty well, which helps a lot. Other than that, traveling alone in France is totally fine. . . like traveling alone in the US, only in French and with better pastries for the hungry tourist.

She will enjoy seeing that part of France. I really did.

Unless she's the kind of woman who gets drunk/high and goes home with strange men all the time, she should be ok as long as she takes the "usual" safety precautions...

Hi M,

If nothing has happened to her yet, it is unlikely that anything will.

I wouldn't recommend a city a day.

Ira is correct on all counts. If she's been studying in France she is obviously used to the langauge and culture and should face fewer difficulties than any other woman traveling alone.

Your daughter is a grown woman, and France is at least as safe as the United States.

People who worry about safety outside the U.S. usually watch a lot of television and rarely look up actual objective data, which frightens them (because the news media work very hard to keep everyone frightened all the time). Turning off the television set and cracking open a few books or doing some serious research on the Web can cure this, in time.

My daughter travelled alone in Italy where she had been studying for 6 months and I was much more comfortable with her being alone there than I am when she is alone at night here!