16 year olds wanting to go on holiday alone

[GrumioEstEbrius]

MY DD and three of her friends want to go on a holiday to celebrate the end of GCSEs. Just for 3 or 4 days, but alone with no adults. When I was their age lots of teens used to go inter-railing around Europe during the post-GCSE summer (DH did this and a couple of my mates from school did it too) but this no longer seems to be a thing for kids this age now.

So their options are to camp, static caravan or AirBNB in the UK.

My issue though is that do any campsites / rentals allow unsupervised 16 year olds?

Does anyone have any good suggestions as to what they could do? CentreParcs maybe?

At 16 their options would be to have friends stay over at one of the houses.

they may want to go away by themselves, but it would not be happening. End of.

Er no!

I am a liberal parent but I would not let my 16 yos go off on their own. Tent or caravan with responsible adult on same site.

It you go on campsites.co.uk they have a filter for Unaccompanied Under 18s - www.campsites.co.uk/search/campsites-for-under-18s

I went away loads at 16 (around 2010 so not that long ago!) to festivals and stayed in friends holiday houses unaccompanied. We stayed together and were always sensible.

YHA.

Lots of youth hostels have rooms and are v nice.

Not a chance.
I would try to work out a compromise where they had an adult camping /caravanning nearby.

Ooooh YHA - had forgotten about that. They did their DofE together and loved the hiking so they could do that.

I was going to say yha, book somewhere with an exclusive room just for them for additional piece of mind

@fyn DD1 did exactly this as one of her friends had a holiday flat in Bournemouth, but that's not an option for DD2.

I'm interested that a lot of posters would not do this without any supervision at all. I guess a lot depends on the nature of the kids involved. These are very sensible girls.

They're all 'sensible' until they're not.

16 is too young IMO

I seem to remember that YHA dorms are still closed, but there ought to be rooms for 2-6 (often ensuite).

I think the hostels are about the only places that allow unsupervised under 18's.

Childhoods have changed, haven't they! I have fond memories of hiking to a nearby YHA for the night and coming home on the train/bus. Presumably one of us would phone our parents to say that we'd arrived (but I don't remember doing this).

At 15/16 mine spent five days walking an established route and wild camping then got the train home, but I don’t know if wild camping is allowed outside Scotland.

Interesting because last year two people I know let their children travel at that age, one to Spain with friends and another on her own to Russia. With a group maybe but not alone.

UK would be fine. YHA they can hire rooms or bell tents etc. They have to be 16 and over and have photographic ID.

My ds and friends went to a hostel in Cornwall at 16. I spoke to the manager and the left our contact details. They had a great time.

This thread is quite sad. I was travelling to France on my own a few months passed 16, others doing inter rail & more.

DD & a small handful of her friends stayed in an AirBnB for 2 nights, ordered pizza & chatted all night. I knew her & her friends could be trusted & the owner of the AirBnB had sensible teens herself, so was quite happy for them to stay there alone so long as they had our contact details.

It really depends on your kids, but it can be done & not be a disaster

I know a lot of 16 year olds who went to festivals like Boardmasters straight after their GCSEs ....I'm thankful that mine never wanted to as that would scare the crap out of me TBH. I've been to enough festivals in my time (aged 20+) to know I wouldn't want a 16 year old going.

Another friends daughter went with friends to a seafront Premier Inn for a few nights and one set of parents stayed in the same place so there was a contact/help if they needed it.

My dcs did that through the YHA.
campsites are often not keen in under 18yo, let alone a group of them. But they’ll have no issue with the Youth Hostel.

They can get a ‘family room’ (room of 4) too. A bit more expensive but they won’t be disturbed. Many of them are in towns, others in the middle of countryside. I’m sure they can find something nice :)

Let them go on their own. I can't believe how many people think an adult should stay nearby. Better still, you go away and let them stay at home without you

At 16 I went youth hostelling with friends for a few nights hiking from one place to another. It's good for young people to do stuff like this and learn to be independent. It meant that at 17/18 I was ready to go further afield.

Btw, my dcs did that with no supervision at all.

once was the two of them together (16 and 17yo). The other was a group of 3 friends, all 16yo. They went for a 4 days walk, carrying all the stuff with them (one night in one YHA, one night in another).

If you are confident your dc is up to it, I’d leave them btw.

DD went to Newquay with her friends after GCSEs, this was very much a regular destination 15 years ago although my younger DC didn't do it.Reading was also a post GCSE trip .

Communication is important but yes, I would let my 16 year old go away for a few days with her friends as long as they checked in every day and I knew the details of their plan.

Mine went to festivals after their GCSES. It was a worry but a rite of passage. I went on a package holiday to Spain for a fortnight when I was 16 with friends

Reading or Leeds festivals are popular post GCSE trips here.

I’m surprised that a lot of posters are saying no way! Quite a few head off abroad.

I went a YHA / walking holiday from Crianlarich to Skye with 4 friends ( boys and girls) after GCSEs ....had a fantastic time and have so many memories from that holiday...spent weeks planning the itinerary which was part of the fun
I'd been away several times with camps/ hillwalking etc so was fairly self reliant anyway but it fuelled my love of travel
my dcs have also developed a love of adventure and travel and have travelled extensively and independently since 17 yrs, travelling to Europe, S America and SE Asia ( and have also worked abroad) ...travel feeds the soul

@NormalForNuneaton My youngest DD went to Boardmasters with her friends last summer when she was 16 (and we live a bloody long way from Cornwall, so I couldn't just have picked her up if there had been a problem). I just had to try not to think about it. She had a brilliant time. And I can't even say she's a sensible girl, because she isn't.