<p>What is the legal drinking age in various European countries - UK, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Denmark? What about Spain?</p>
<p>Please this is informational only!</p>
<p>In Germany, it’s 16.</p>
<p>Italy is 16.</p>
<p>It’s 16 in France but I remember being given watered wine on special occasions when I was a child. Also drinking beer as a 6 year old.</p>
<p>Uk- 18 (10 char)</p>
<p>I believe you can drink at any age–as long as you are with your parents. Our son once ordered a soda that had a name like a beer --and was served a beer. He was 15 at the time–but we were at the table.</p>
<p>Your parents can’t get you into an R-16 movie–but they can authorize a whiskey, haha.</p>
<p>Spain - 18.</p>
<p>and in Germany, it is extremely rare for anyone to be “carded” unless they’re acting up. They view it that if someone looks close to legal, and isn’t causing trouble, then most consider it ok.</p>
<p>The age at which you can purchase alcohol [I’m assuming this is what you are asking] varies throughout the EU. I’ll list those that I know for sure.</p>
<p>In Germany (and in Austria) you are allowed to drink Beer, Wine, or Cider if you are 16+. But you are not allowed to drink spirits until you are 18. However, what younghoss is generally true unless you are visiting a touristy place–like an Irish bar for example.</p>
<p>Spain is similar to Germany but I believe the law is < 20% ABV for under 16 instead of just Beer, Wine, and Cider.</p>
<p>In the UK, the drinking age is 18–no exceptions. However, you will find tons of chavs/neds swinging down bucky and 3L bottles of strongbow. The UK is fairly strict about carding, but certainly not as bad as the US.</p>
<p>Italy is 16.</p>
<p>Hungary is 18.</p>
<p>Enforcement varies by region/person.</p>
<p>The waiter at the restaurant at the Tate Modern museum in London asked S if he wanted wine with his lunch. S was 15 at the time, but we were with him.</p>
<p>My friends and I (we were all 17) ordered a rum and coke with lunch at a resturant in London with no problems.</p>
<p>We also purchased a lot of alcohol in Italy with no questions asked. </p>
<p>I have a feeing that Europe is pretty relaxed about this stuff.</p>
<p>
ROTFL!</p>
<p>noct speaks the King’s English! T’anks frrr da!</p>
<p>OP – drinking age is as stated by noct, but I have never heard of any person of any age ever being carded in Europe, if that is your subtext. Extra-legal drinking is widely practiced at Oktoberfest, restaurants in Italy or France, and pubs in the UK. Driving age is generally 18, and it is expensive to learn, so DWI incidents are rare. I have never heard of a European youngster dying of alcohol poisoning (although I’m sure it happens), and the kids that I know of that have wound up in European emergency rooms are by and large American (parties at my kids’ schools, for example).</p>
<p>More info than you wanted, right?</p>
<p>Wine and beer are very inexpensive in Germany–really about the same as soft drinks. In the small town where I live, I’ve noticed a lot more heavy drinking by German teens than I remember when I visited the area fifteen years ago.</p>
<p>Kind of related, the driving age is 18, and that is only after a rather expensive and thorough private driving school course that runs several thousand euro, so at least 16-17 year olds aren’t drinking and driving.</p>
<p>When I lived in England in the late 70s, there were still milk deliveries. Different tops for different types of milk. We visited friends in Munich. They had beer delivery instead of milk delivery. You could leave out beer that did not meet your standards and those bottles would be replaced free of charge.</p>
<p><a href=“http://studenttravel.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=studenttravel&cdn=travel&tm=10&gps=231_320_1276_628&f=20&su=p531.31.152.ip_p532.6.150.ip_p531.29.420.ip_p284.8.150.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/YoungPeoplesDrinking/AgeLawsTable/tabid/219/Default.aspx[/url]”>http://studenttravel.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=studenttravel&cdn=travel&tm=10&gps=231_320_1276_628&f=20&su=p531.31.152.ip_p532.6.150.ip_p531.29.420.ip_p284.8.150.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/YoungPeoplesDrinking/AgeLawsTable/tabid/219/Default.aspx</a></p>
<p>Thanks, with special thanks to Motherof2</p>
<p>We were at a winery in Italy in 2002, and the opportunity to taste was offered to all the children, ages 11-15.</p>
<p>we are considering a trip of Europe celebrating our kids’ grad from high school and college, so only our son would not be legal here in the states, I wondered if there was anywhere in Europe he would not be legal. Possibly not in the UK if we went in the early summer, but he would be with us, and only a couple of weeks short of his birthday - thanks.</p>
<p>My S (age 20) just returned from a trip to the Mediterranaen (Turkey, Greece, Italy). Husband asked him what the drinking age was over there. S replied that it appeared to him if you were tall enough to see over the bar and had the money , you would be served!</p>
<p>Topic is always intriguing to me. Interesting that most countries in Europe have very strict rules–and a much higher standard than the U.S.–regarding irresponsible use of alcohol. Younger people are served, but the ‘hammer’ comes down if somebody is found to be driving under the influence, for example. Their definition of ‘under the influence’ is quite different than our standard. We slap the hand of the young drinker, but are much more tolerant of irresponsibility. Seems we have it all wrong here in the US. Can anybody address EU laws regarding irresponsible use of alcohol? Seems that I remember the French definition of ‘legal intoxication’ is far less tolerant than our standard .08 to .10…</p>
<p>Although they drink at a younger age in Europe than here, I believe that they get their drivers licenses at an older age than here. When my daughter was 16 1/2, she went to a summer immersion program in Spain where many of the other students were European (Swiss, French, German, English, and other countries) and they were very impressed that she had her license because they don’t drive that young. Also, in Europe, more people walk and use public transportation than here, so it is not as necessary to drive. Those factors probably help to make teenagers being allowed to drink much less of a problem than it is here.</p>
<p>This was interesting:</p>
<p><a href=“Ed Reither, Drug and Alcohol Counselor and Founder of DUI.com”>Ed Reither, Drug and Alcohol Counselor and Founder of DUI.com;
<p>From the article for Beil:
</p>
<p>MotherOfTwo, your last sentence is probably only true in terms of incidents of drink-driving, DWIs or DUIs whatever the term. In terms of teens being allowed to drink, some teen friends of my kids do drink to excess on occasion – but this behavior is mostly seen in Americans new to Europe who find the novelty of alcohol…intoxicating.</p>
<p>All this has been debated on cc before. Maybe someone can find the thread about American vs. European attitutes to teen drinking?</p>