My daughter has the privilege of going on a 10 day or so trip with a school club this summer in Late June/ early July, and no one else in our immediate family has been to where she is headed, or Europe at all for that matter, so I am looking for some advice from travel savvy Dopers.
The tour is primarily guided, with most of the time spent hitting the typical Italian landmarks in Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Venice, then traveling through Austria to Munich for a day or two. breakfast and dinner are provided, but there is a lunch break daily to explore a bit and eat local. Frankly, this is the time I worry about most, since a 17 year old left to her own devices is a bit of a tricky prospect.
At this point, Mrs. S. and I are seeking advice on how to keep her generally safe, but also allow her to make the most of her experience. My thought on lunch is to take the Tony Bourdain method and try to find out where the locals go and go there, but not knowing the cities and the seedier parts she may venture into worries me a little.
We are trying not to be worried parents, but our little girl is turning into a beautiful young miss, and really hasn’t been away from us for more than a weekend at a time before, so it’s tough. So well traveled Dopers, what should she and we know before she heads out?
First, make her watch “Taken” (Liam Neeson). Not so much about the rescuing part, but there are some good lessons about “if someone’s being too nice, it may not be sincere”.
For the Vatican: let her know to be respectful, and to dress conservatively (no bare shoulders, no shorts). On my last visit they seemed to be a bit more lax about this, but St. Peter’s is a church afterall.
In general, travel in groups (I suspect this will be the case with school kids anyway). There is more “strength” and vigilance in numbers.
Warn her about pickpockets - she will be going to popular tourist locales, and she’ll stick out as a tourist like a sore thumb. Fortunately it is also “known” that most kids don’t have much money
Europe is a great experience to show people how different the rest of the world is, and therefore warn her NOT to expect things to be like in America (and to not complain when they’re not to her liking - don’t be an “ugly American”). Starting with language. English is spoken a lot, but still can’t be “expected”.
At the risk of sounding stupid (which I’m good at :p, and you probably already know this anyway) if she’s taking a credit card be sure to call the company beforehand and let them know it’s going to be used in Europe on those dates since it won’t be considered normal activity on the card. Otherwise, they’ll block it’s use because they think it’s been stolen. We found this out the hard way when our son went to Italy some years ago.
BTW, he said there’s free cheese and wine at different shops and the malls so if they get caught up shopping they could nibble the local fare then, too.
In general she will be as safe there as she is at home, random events are random events in all cities.
Because she will be and look like a tourist there are some special steps she should take. Try and look at maps and her phone while inside buildings, not on the sidewalk. Don’t carry your phone in your hand they’re often stolen. Tiny purse, preferably cross body and with reinforced straps (see pacsafe) Also, my daughter complained constantly about the Italian attitude towards women. Pats on the ass are not unexpected and pinches are also likely, particularly in crowds.
Learn a few words of italian before she goes and most people will put themselves way out to help her. My daughters favorite story is of the woman who closed her shop to make sure she was able to find the hotel that she was looking for. Walked her right to the door.
She should research before she goes and be prepared for those plans to change on the fly. It would be great if she knows ahead of time what the tour will cover so she can decide what else she wants to see.
Pack light. That’s a lot of stops and a lot of packing/unpacking/hauling luggage. She’ll be grateful to have less to carry. Try everything. 10 days is short enough that she can probably skip everything she would eat at home, try new and wonderful things and change her tastes forever. I’m over 40 and our trip to Italy has made the purchase of several ingredients much more expensive than it was before
The Italian men can be rather forthright in their admiration for pretty young girls. Not in a dangerous way, but they think nothing of whistling, tooting their horns or shouting ‘ciao bella’ across the street. When I first visited Italy (at age 17, on a school trip to Florence) I even had police men wolf whistle me from their police car.
I think it would be worth warning her about this, and to advise her to avoid responding in any way as they can be rather persistent. IGNORE is the best policy.
Watch out for pickpockets, particularly on transport and crowded touristy places. Wear a money belt.
You said she was going over with a “school group.” Is this something formalized, like a school-sponsored “Senior Trip” where they have tour-guides/chaperones around all the time, or is it something she’s doing with a group of friends?
My daughter did Italy/Greece through People to People International, and it was great. If it’s a tour group of students like that, there will be very little opportunity to try new things - most of the tour is pre-determined, as the groups negotiate group prices with restaurants beforehand.
Everything was very safe and organized, with lots of opportunity within the activity for exploration and fun. The only thing we messed up was the cell service - make sure you get full details on exactly who/what/where/when/why for your daughter. We called and got a special rate which was within budget for the trip, but due to a setting on my daughter’s phone, we got a $350+ phone bill in the first two days. Thankfully, AT&T forgave the bill and told us the proper setting (something about roaming, but I forgot what it was).
Chances are, she’ll be going with friends to eat lunch, and based on my experience in Rome and Florence, most of the big tourist draws are in relatively safe areas; you can wander the area around the Pantheon/Piazza Navona/Trevi Fountain and just look for a restaurant without any real worry, even late at night. Same thing goes for the area in Florence roughly centered on the Duomo and piazza della signoria.
Specific Italy tips I’ve learned after a few trips:
When holding up fingers to a barman in a noisy cafe to order coffees, pastries, etc, remember that the thumb is #1. So if you hold up your thumb & first finger you’ll get two of what you’re ordering. If you do it American style and hold up your first and second fingers, you’ll sometimes end up with 3. We learned this after a couple of days of getting 3 espressi or cornetti instead of 2, and had to retrain ourselves.
Counter prices are lower than table prices at cafes - if you order at the counter and eat/drink at the standup bar or takeout, it’s one price. If you want to sit at a table it’s a higher price. But the table is yours for basically as long as you want it. Get a table at one of the cafes at Piazza Navona, drink a couple of coffees and have a roll or piece of cake and you can people watch for a long time. So relaxing and civilized!
Crossing the street in Rome. Roman drivers are aggressive and I have never figured out the rules of the road. So I just find a little old lady and cross the street with her. Little old Roman ladies are fearless! And fearsome. Don’t piss them off.
I have found that the only way to cross the street in Rome is just to step off the curb and start walking. They will stop for you. If you are religious, a prayer may help.
As far as theft prevention is concerned, buy her an around-the-neck wallet, the kind with an uncuttable cord. Yes, I learned this the hard way.
And I also recommend a good pair of Merrell hiking shoes.
I’ve never mustered the courage! However, if we go to Rome together I’ll gratefully let you make the leap of faith and I will scurry along in your wake.
In general, Italy is as safe, if not safer than the USA so if she uses common sense and is in a group, she’ll be fine. I can understand your worry, but there really is very little need.
One piece of kind of mean-spirited advice is that big tips are not generally expected. Don’t ever tip at a bar. At a restaurant they usually charge “coperto”, a small fee of about 1.50 to 3 euro to cover bread and other costs. You don’t need to tip a lot over this and in fact if you don’t tip at all, no one will be greatly insulted. At least not in the north. In the south I think people tip a little more, but it’s still nothing like the USA. If you tip an American amount, people will take you for a fool.
I don’t have any advice really, except not to worry. I was from a small village in rural Ontario and I spent the year I was 17 in Europe as an exchange student. She will be fine. Tell her to make good choices, try things, and have a buddy. Ten days isn’t that long.
My trick for crossing streets was to try to follow a nun.
My other rule was to eat gelato once a day.
I traveled in Italy independently at 18, with my 16 year old best friend. It’s not particularly dangerous, but some street smarts go a long way. Pickpockets and petty scammers are the main worry.
Lunch will be fine. She’ll almost certainly end up in a group and go to an obvious place.
Get her a copy of the Italy Lonely Planet. Learning to use one is a good skill.
I also strongly agree with packing light. If you can afford a gift, get her a good travel backpack (talk to someone at REI to choose one, and get a smaller one. They’ve bloated them up lately, and smaller is better.) she will be dancing freely over the cobblestones while everyone else is wrestling with their roll aboards (which are really only well suited to business travel). 15 years and 23 countries later, I still use the Eagle Creek pack I got for high school graduation regularly.
