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Travel Information Europe
Practical hints when moving around Europe
Source: European Commission
Europe is the most visited tourist destination in the world, with four EU countries ranked among the world’s top six destinations. The great majority of visitors come from within Europe. Travellers are attracted by Europe’s great natural beauty, from mountain grandeur to rocky coastlines and sandy beaches, from lush green pastures to arid plains, from lakes and forests to arctic tundra.
 The wealth of Europe’s historic heritage is evident everywhere: prehistoric cave paintings, Greek and Roman antiquities, Viking and Moorish influences, medieval fortresses, renaissance palaces and baroque churches, and much more besides. There are winter and summer sports to be tried, vibrant modern cities to be explored, art and music to be enjoyed, all complemented by fine food, wine and beer.
An exciting new dimension has been added for travellers in Europe with 10 countries from central, eastern and southern Europe joining the European Union on 1 May 2004. The external borders of the EU have stretched eastwards to include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia and southwards to embrace Malta and Cyprus. This has increased the land area by over 23% and the population by 75 million and has added a rich mixture of history and culture.
Travelling around the EU has become progressively easier over the years with the removal of most passport and baggage formalities and with the introduction of the euro in 15 EU countries. This makes life much easier for travellers who can now compare prices directly and no longer have the cost and inconvenience of exchanging money within the euro zone. The expansion of the EU’s single market with the arrival of the 10 new countries will bring even wider choice and lower prices for all of us.
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For EU citizens
Passport or identity card
Young couple with a map © Van Parys Media There are no longer any frontier controls at the borders between 22 EU countries. This is thanks to the Schengen agreement which is part of EU law. The Schengen rules remove all internal border controls but put in place effective controls at the external borders of the EU and introduce a common visa policy. The full Schengen members are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden (but not Ireland and the United Kingdom) plus Iceland and Norway (which are not EU members).
Cyprus which joined the EU in 2004 and Bulgaria and Romania which joined in 2007 do not yet fully participate in Schengen. You will therefore need a valid passport or ID card to travel to those countries and to Ireland and the United Kingdom.
When entering or leaving the EU at the external borders you will need a valid passport or an ID card.When entering or leaving the EU at the external borders you will need a valid passport or an ID card. You may, of course, need your passport when leaving the EU in order to enter the country of your destination.
It is best to have your passport or ID card when travelling in the EU because you may be required to prove your identity. If public order or national security so require, checks at the internal borders may be carried out for limited periods.
Make sure that any children travelling with you either have their own passport or ID card or are registered on your passport.
Agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland enable their nationals to be treated in the same way as EU citizens and to travel with just an ID card or passport in the EU.
More information on the free movement of people within the EU.
Visa
You will not need a visa for travelling within the EU.
For non-EU citizens
Passport
You will need a valid passport.
Visa
There are 28 countries whose nationals do not need a visa to visit the EU for three months or less. These include Croatia (but not Turkey, which are both candidates for EU membership) as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. The list of countries whose nationals require visas to travel to the United Kingdom or Ireland differs slightly from other EU countries. If in doubt, check with the nearest consulate of any EU country.
If your visa is from a country fully applying the Schengen rules, it automatically allows you to travel to the other Schengen countries as well. Moreover, if you have a valid residence permit from one of those Schengen countries, it is equivalent to a visa. You may need a national visa to visit non-Schengen countries.
Border officials in EU countries may ask for other supporting documents such as an invitation letter, proof of lodging, return or round-trip ticket. For the precise requirements contact the local consular services of the EU country in question.
More information about travel rights for non-EU citizens and visa requirements, including a list of countries whose nationals require a visa for travelling in the EU.
Insurance documents
Do not forget your travel, health and car insurance documents. |
Money
The euro
The euro is the legal tender for more than 315 million people in 15 EU countries. The symbol for the euro is €.
The euro notes are identical in all countries but each country issues its own coins with one common side and one side displaying a distinctive national emblem. All the notes and coins can be used in all EU countries that have adopted the euro, including many of their overseas entities, such as the Azores, the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City have adopted the euro as their national currency which also gives them the right to issue a certain number of euro coins with their own national sides. A number of territories and countries use the euro as their de facto currency such as Andorra, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom do not currently use the euro. Cyprus and Malta joined the euro area in January 2008 and the nine other countries that have entered the EU since 2004 are committed to adopting the euro when they are ready.
More info at the website of the European Commission:
europa.eu |
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