ChatterBank0 min ago
Going on holiday with no adults
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Me and a group of mates are going on holiday next year to spain. Most of us will be 16 but some of us will be 15. Will we be able to travel there and stay in a destination that will allow us to be on our own with no adults...?
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(2-part post):
It's probably not impossible but it's going to be very difficult.
Travel agents and package holiday operators won't normally accept bookings from people who're under 18, because you need to be that age before you can enter into a legal contract (which is what a holiday booking is). Even married couples, who're 16 or 17 years of age, can experience difficulties in booking holidays.
It's theoretically possible to book package holidays if you can persuade a parent (or any other adult) to act as a guarantor but, in practice, most companies simply have a blanket rule which will prevent you from travelling with them
Your best chance of arranging a holiday is to put your own package together. Most budget airlines would permit you to travel. On Ryanair, for example, the 16-year-olds could fly without restrictions but the 15-year-olds would need to have a parent travel to the airport with them, and remain at the airport until the flight has departed:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=c hd&quest=uam
(NB: Don't change your destination from Spain to Portugal because, as that link shows, you'd almost certainly be prevented from entering Portugal).
It's probably not impossible but it's going to be very difficult.
Travel agents and package holiday operators won't normally accept bookings from people who're under 18, because you need to be that age before you can enter into a legal contract (which is what a holiday booking is). Even married couples, who're 16 or 17 years of age, can experience difficulties in booking holidays.
It's theoretically possible to book package holidays if you can persuade a parent (or any other adult) to act as a guarantor but, in practice, most companies simply have a blanket rule which will prevent you from travelling with them
Your best chance of arranging a holiday is to put your own package together. Most budget airlines would permit you to travel. On Ryanair, for example, the 16-year-olds could fly without restrictions but the 15-year-olds would need to have a parent travel to the airport with them, and remain at the airport until the flight has departed:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=c hd&quest=uam
(NB: Don't change your destination from Spain to Portugal because, as that link shows, you'd almost certainly be prevented from entering Portugal).
Transfers from the airport to your accommodation shouldn't present any problems because bus and taxi drivers will normally convey anyone who's got the fare for the journey.
That leaves the really tricky bit, i.e. the accommodation. As someone who spent 15 years teaching your age-group, I'm fully aware that the vast majority of 15- & 16-year-olds are pleasant, sensible and responsible people. Equally, if you've seen some of your friends after they've got hold of rather too much alcohol, I'm sure that you can see that hoteliers would be extremely wary of allowing an unaccompanied group of teenagers to stay in their hotel.
Your best bet might be to look for hostel accommodation. Many (probably most) hostels are geared towards the needs of younger people, so they might be less concerned about the youthfulness of your group. This is the best website, that I know of, for finding cheap hostels:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
Chris
That leaves the really tricky bit, i.e. the accommodation. As someone who spent 15 years teaching your age-group, I'm fully aware that the vast majority of 15- & 16-year-olds are pleasant, sensible and responsible people. Equally, if you've seen some of your friends after they've got hold of rather too much alcohol, I'm sure that you can see that hoteliers would be extremely wary of allowing an unaccompanied group of teenagers to stay in their hotel.
Your best bet might be to look for hostel accommodation. Many (probably most) hostels are geared towards the needs of younger people, so they might be less concerned about the youthfulness of your group. This is the best website, that I know of, for finding cheap hostels:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
Chris
Agree with Chris. Hostel/camping trips'd more suited to your age group.
I used to travel abroad with friends from the age of 13, but there were some older people in the group, and we didn't take the usual package holidays such as you see being offered by the 18-30 tour groups.
Why not take an adventure holiday which's specifically designed for your ages, and leave the so-called "fun" ones for another 2 or 3 years.
I used to travel abroad with friends from the age of 13, but there were some older people in the group, and we didn't take the usual package holidays such as you see being offered by the 18-30 tour groups.
Why not take an adventure holiday which's specifically designed for your ages, and leave the so-called "fun" ones for another 2 or 3 years.
Have all your parents agreed to this? As a parent of a 16 and a 14 year old I'd certainly not allow them to go abroad with just a group of similar aged mates with no parents at all to accompany them. There's just so much that can go wrong, and I'm not sure that 15 and 16 year olds, no matter how mature they think they are, would be able to cope if something happened.
There's the alcohol problem to start with, too much drink, someone with alcohol poisoning, someone else choking on their own vomit and everyone else too drunk to notice. And don't even get me started on drugs!!!!
Okay - so what if you don't drink? There's still things that can go wrong - someone can get ill or have an accident*, all your money is stolen (or spent in the first two days!) and you wouldn't have a credit card between you as you need to be 18 to have one, shall I go on?
Why not go camping, say within an hours drive of your homes so that someone can reach you quickly if need be?
Sorry to be such a killjoy.
My brothers step daughter broke her back falling off one of those bucking bronco 'rides' whilst on holiday in Tenerife - and the friend she was with didn't really know what to do, it was 2 days before she even phoned the girls mother - and they were 20.
There's the alcohol problem to start with, too much drink, someone with alcohol poisoning, someone else choking on their own vomit and everyone else too drunk to notice. And don't even get me started on drugs!!!!
Okay - so what if you don't drink? There's still things that can go wrong - someone can get ill or have an accident*, all your money is stolen (or spent in the first two days!) and you wouldn't have a credit card between you as you need to be 18 to have one, shall I go on?
Why not go camping, say within an hours drive of your homes so that someone can reach you quickly if need be?
Sorry to be such a killjoy.
My brothers step daughter broke her back falling off one of those bucking bronco 'rides' whilst on holiday in Tenerife - and the friend she was with didn't really know what to do, it was 2 days before she even phoned the girls mother - and they were 20.
My first 'parent-free' holiday but with my friends was to Newquay when we were 15/16 and we had a great time. We had to get written permission from our parents to stay at a guest house but travelling by coach was fine. We didn't go abroad until we were 18 mainly cos our parents wouldn't allow us before that age and neither would any of the travel agents we tried!
You would probably have quite a few problems in Spain too as generally speaking parents there do not allow their children anywhere near as much freedom as British youngsters have! I've lived in Southern Spain for amny yeras and my neighbours early had a fit when my then aged 23yrs grand-daughter and her fiancee came to stay without her parents!!!!!!!!!!!
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