Travel to Schengen Countries

The FCDO is currently updating it's travel advice for visitors and advises that you must check that your passport is stamped if you enter or exit the Schengen area as a visitor. Border guards will use passport stamps to check you’re complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area and if relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport, border guards will presume that you have overstayed your visa-free limit. You can show evidence of when and where you entered or exited any of the countries in the border-free Schengen zone and ask the border guards to add this date and location in your passport. The FCDO also warns travellers to Schengen countries that they may also have to show border officials a return or onward ticket, as well as to illustrate you have “enough money for your stay”. The 26 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. UK nationals who are resident in a Schengen country should not have their passport stamped.