How old do you have to be to go on holiday without an adult?

Here in the states, you have to be 18 to rent a hotel room, 25 to rent a car, and I’m not sure about flying.

Ultimately, I think it depends on when your parents feel is the right age to let you go.

You can go on holiday at any age your parents allow you to. However, as cprevite says, you are not going to be able to get a hotel room or a car, unless you are a certain age and have a credit card.

I am guessing from your use of the word holiday, rather than vacation, that are you in the UK. I think,if you are a teenager, that taking the train and staying in a hostel would be your best bet. I am also assuming that your parents are in agreement with this!

Be careful. There are people who prey on teenagers on their own.

Hostels can be a very safe place to stay as a young person. You can join hostel associations for discounts and the like. Train travel would be most common, I guess, if you want to get from England to Scotland. Search the hostels at the destinations you are considering and see if you need to be travelling with an 18 year old or if it is OK with a couple underage kids.

This one: http://scotlandstophostels.com/edinburgh/castle-rock-hostel/ for example states that any guests under the age of 18 has to be approved by the manager…. So, I suggest finding an older friend or relative to go with.

I would think Ireland and Scotland it might be 16 if the education is similar to how I understand England to be. The way I remember it some students are done with school, graduated, at 16, so I would think that makes them legal adults? I’m American so I am not expert on the topic. As long as one of you is 18, I think even in America you would have no problem getting a hotel room in the name of the 18 year old, but you would have trouble renting a car.

What I would do is have a notarized letter from the parents of the 16 year old that the he/she has permission to travel with the you, and just have that with me in case anyone asks for it.

Also, contact the hotel you plan to stay, and you can ask them directly the minimum age to check in and stay at the hotel.

Two words: Natalee Holloway

There is no set rule or law governing air travel for minors. But all airlines have their own rules and regulations regarding it (which can differ for each airlines). In most cases, children under 5 are not allowed to travel unaccompanied. 5 -7 can travel but only non stop flights. 8 -14 can travel on non stop or connecting flights. 15 – 17 have an option of choosing to fly as or not as Unaccompanied Minor (UMNR).

In your case, since you are 15 and will be 16, you are fine to fly wherever you want. However, you may run into other troubles on your vacation. Most hotels do not allow anyone under 18 to stay by themselves. Some even require a person to be 21. If you flying international, you might have more trouble at immigration & customs. They will ask more questions to a group of teenagers traveling unaccompanied than other people.

I will recommend to preplanned everything in detail. Even though most European countries do not require pre approved visa (they give it on arrival to American Citizen). But you and your friends should arrange for it from the consulate you are visiting in advance, and as well inform the consulate with your intentions and purpose of visiting.

Book all the hotel rooms in advance. Let them speak to your parents, let them fax a consent letter to hotels if required. Same goes for airlines.

Keep all the US consulates & Embassies addresses, phone # and email address in all the countries you plan to visit. Just in case, if you or your friends get stuck somewhere or get into some trouble, they will rescue you.

Yes, you should be above 18.