<p>Clandark…did you do your trip in TWO weeks? That is what the OP is proposing. </p>
<p>My kids were very well traveled by the time they graduated from high school. Both had traveled abroad, and not with us (parents) but with somewhat supervised groups. Both were very independent and, like oldfort’s kids, knew what to do if flights got canceled, luggage lost, etc.</p>
<p>I would have considered a trip to one, or maybe two destinations abroad…preferably one. But a train trip to multiple cities and camping around Europe in a two week time period…sorry…the answer would have been NO.</p>
<p>Why can’t the OP pick a destination in Europe and totally explore THAT city? And then maybe take a local train to another city or two…but just for day trips. Those local trains are FAR less expensive than a Eurail pass.</p>
<p>No, we had over six weeks. As I said in my first post, the OP will likely be tired and stressed all the time if they do their proposed itinerary in two weeks. </p>
<p>Exploring one city is definitely also an option, and in many ways is probably preferable. But it’s a totally different experience than the wanderlust experience that people wanting to do this kind of trip often hope to have. </p>
<p>I agree…but frankly, they are 18 year olds with a full life ahead of them for,that wanderlust. If they have only TWO weeks, they really don’t have time for wanderlust. </p>
<p>Sit down with your travel pal, and work up a budget. Check the cost of hotels as well as hostels. Happykid spent three weeks in Europe traveling with two pals after their second year of college. They found that with three travelers, they could stay at nice small hotels (almost always with breakfast included) for less money each in better locations than the hostels in the cities that they visited. They used Google maps and booking.com to choose places to stay.</p>
<p>One of the moms who has extensive experience as a Boy Scout leader made them do the kind of security and safety research on each city that she would have to do for a Boy Scout field trip: Where is the US consulate? Where is the hospital? Where is the police station? What are some key phrases in the local language to use to get help? She wouldn’t OK the trip until the three of them had made a formal presentation with all of the details for the whole route. </p>
<p>Because they had a bunch of theater tickets booked in advance (two theater tech majors, one very theater-tolerant history major), rail tickets and hotel reservations ended up being booked in advance as well. They also got the good “cancel for any reason” travel insurance which fortunately no one needed to use.</p>
<p>LOL she had a summer job to go straight to after HS graduation, and a summer internship after the first year of college. The summer after sophomore year was as soon as she could squeeze in anything for fun.</p>
<p>I do think that some recent HS grads are ready for a solo trip like the OP describes, but if the OP and companion can’t put together something more specific than “Oh, I think we’ll get Eurail passes, and maybe go to these five cities.” and it is already June, then maybe they should start planning now for a trip next year. It could be just a girl thing, but Happykid and pals came up with the original concept of the trip a full year before their ultimate departure date, and spent that year refining the places to be visited, route to be taken, and budget limits. And they came home with cash in their pockets having managed to stay within their budget - wow!</p>
<p>I’m European, and I can say, as others have said above, with common sense, this is definitely safe. I’ve visited all of these cities, and have had no problems. Whether you should jam as many cities into 2 weeks time is another story.</p>
<p>
With the exception of Munich-Milan, I do not believe there are night trains on any of these routes.</p>
<p>I also should point out, unless you have a very compelling reason, Milan is far from the most architecturally or historically interesting Italian city. For a first trip, you’d be better off visiting Florence, or Venice, or Rome.</p>
<p>I backpacked through Europe as a 19 year old and let my 18 year old travel to Europe for a music festival. You’ve gotten some good advice here. </p>
<p>Something I as a parent would deem essential to know is how reliable your travel partner is. One of the reasons I let my son go on his trip was that he was going with two friends I trusted. My son had a ton of travel experience but he still needed companions who would unfailingly watch his back. Your friend might be the greatest person on the planet, but can you depend on him/her not to get wasted in a bar? Ditch you for a pretty girl/guy offering their bed? Take off on you when you’ve spent so much time in close quarters that you’re sick to death of each other? Blow half of the budget on expensive meals, leaving you with funds that will only cover a fleabag in a bad part of town? Traveling together can be stressful and stress can sometimes bring out the worst in people. I would want to know that no matter how difficult things got you and your friend would stick together.</p>
<p>My sister went off when she graduated and when I graduated, we went to England together. Sure, we have relatives there, but for the most part, we were together. That was the hard part - being with my sister for 4 weeks. 35 years later, we actually get along pretty well :)</p>
<p>I’d probably pick at most 2 cities and stay there, getting to know the area. It’s a lot harder than you’d think to move around constantly - packing, unpacking, getting on the train, finding the hostel, etc. There aren’t as many night trains as there used to be due to so many high speed routes. Eurail isn’t always a good deal, either. Buying point-to-point tickets 3 months out can be a lot cheaper. You can take day trips out of a major city and enjoy yourself walking around. For example, Strasbourg is around 3 hours or less on the fast train from Paris. </p>
<p>With a year’s worth of planning, it can be done. 2 weeks is a nice amount of time for an initial trip. You’ll get good travel experience and probably still be friends afterwards. </p>
<p>As other posters said, look on Lonely Planet (Thorn Tree forums) and Lets Go (that was our go-to all those years ago). Rick Steves used to be more youth-oriented, but is now more adult. That said, his site gives lots of good info on less expensive places to stay as well as train travel. </p>
<p>watch out for your data plans, they charge by the usage there, and if you have normally updating email you can end up with a huge charge. Call your service and find out the best way to handle it BEFORE you go. You will at minimum not want your email ‘pushing’ setting on.</p>
<p>It can be unsafe, but it can be a ton of fun. The Eurail pass… if you can get a first class it is way worth it imho. You can sleep on the train then (not a sleeper car but a compartment) if you are desperate for a place to stay. </p>
<p>Check in with your family often, and have a back up plan for absolute emergencies (you can have money sent to American Express offices, is just one of them). Remember if something really terrible happens that that is why we have embassies (well one of the reasons). When my aunt and uncle and I went to Hong Kong and he died there, that was the only way I was able to figure out what to do with mortuaries and on and on. Not that you will need THAT service, I truly hope, but they were useful when I was younger and our passports were stolen, to get us back into the country as well. Just have them in the back of your mind for that sort of official emergency.</p>
<p>Have fun!</p>
<p>what @fireandrain11 says is absolutely key though. Can you handle yourself in an unfamiliar city? Language isn’t going to be the hard part. But if you don’t know what feels safe and what doesn’t in a large city, that suggests need for more caution and a well planned trip.</p>
<p>My kids have travelled quite extensively all over Europe (even as teenagers) and, IMO, you just need some common sense. </p>
<p>A couple tips:
Use a debit/ATM card to get cash. Make sure you let your bank know which countries you will be in.
Carry a small amount of cash in your wallet/purse, but keep the bulk of it in a money belt that you wear under your clothes (yes it will get sweaty, but better sweaty money than no money!)
Beware of pickpockets, and “hit and run” thieves - iphones are a big target right now. The thieves will ride up to you on a scooter or bike and just snatch it out of your hand. This happens even in the middle of London.
Make sure your phone is unlocked and then buy a new SIM card in each country. SIM cards, including data, are usually pretty cheap in Europe.
Be wary about hostels. Some are fine, but others are really dodgy. Try to find online reviews of the ones you want to stay at. And remember that many hostels have separate dorms for men and women. So if you are traveling with opposite sex, you might want to find hostels that have private room or mixed dorms.
Bring a lock to use in hostels. Most will give you a locker- USE IT! And sleep with your money belt on.
Be careful when leaving clubs and bars at night. Never walk alone. Stay in populated areas.
Get an international student card- ISIC- before you leave home. It will give you many discounts.</p>
<p>My D and her best friend (another female) did this summer after HS graduation. No troubles at all. They are both travel savvy but common sense is all that is required. They Eurorail passed for 30 days with only a departing flight in Paris they had to adhere to. They did not need to get new sim cards in each country in western europe - just waited to hit Wifi spots to message and post pics. They stayed in hostels - very good plan - met a ton of other kids and it’s cheap but they did have to make reservations for the hostels in each city before they got there - took a credit card deposit to book them online.</p>
<p>They did this: fly into London, Amsterdam (via ferry), Heidelberg (super fun college town), Prague, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Nice, Barcelona, Paris.</p>
<p>My husband immigrated to the USA from Europe at age 18…that being said , he would not support our daughter if she wanted to backpack around Europe when she turns 18. I personally don’t think at 18 , one has the level of maturity to travel like this .
My husband has been traveling back and forth for the last 30 years and last year , he was robbed. This happened right in the airport in Copenhagen ( along with 10 others from his flight ) It was a nightmare to get a passport again for him to travel home , most of the leg work done by me here at home. I learned a lot about the response from embassies how little they really are there for their citizens, or their knowledge of how to handle a situation such as this. I got more help from our bank that we have a credit card with than anyone in the multiple government agencies I reached out to .
The law enforcement in both Denmark and Sweden were not very helpful at all . That is something that you should consider , IMO.
As a side note, there is a lot to see in this amazing country of ours !</p>
<p>Remember that rates of violence and crime are MUCH higher in the US than Western Europe. Just be smart, don’t drink too much and you should be fine as long as you respect differences in culture and make an effort with the language. I went to Europe to study at 16 and I was by myself exploring a lot ( I was in Paris). I also travelled back and forth between France, the US and Australia alone. Now I am about to come to the US to travel around with a friend for a month before starting college. I know we will be fine - but I feel much more confident having travelled alone before. I’m much more nervous about safety coming to the US than I was going to Europe</p>
<p>US citizens need passports replaced all the time while abroad. How could an embassy not know how to “handle a situation such as this” when they probably do it daily?</p>
<p>When D1 was senior in high school, a guy friend invited her to go to Paris to see a concert. I said no. D1 told me her friend was going by himself and she wished we would let her do more things on her own. I was a bit surprised the parents would let him go. In speaking with the mother, she said Dad happened to have a business trip in Paris around the time of concert. They won’t be staying at the same hotel because the son wanted to do it on his own.</p>
<p>My daughter went with two female friends to London and Paris after graduation-they stayed in hostels, and didn’t really have any problems. They had a good, detailed plan in advance–I think that’s the key.</p>
<p>My daughter did this with a friend for a month after her first year of college. It was fine. Their budget was really tight; I think in retrospect she might have preferred to wait until she had a few hundred dollars more. Not to do expensive things; just not to devote so much energy to minimizing things like food.</p>
<p>We worried some, of course, but fundamentally we were pretty sure she could handle herself, and she could.</p>
<p>We frequently run into European kids doing this between high school and college, both travelling in the U.S. and travelling abroad.</p>