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Hi All, I am a UK Citizen & recently I've got an overwhelming urge to get in my car & drive, taking in as much of europe as possible. At…

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ONLINE

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:45:06 +0000

Hi All,

I am a UK Citizen & recently I've got an overwhelming urge to get in my car & drive, taking in as much of europe as possible.

At this time I am planning to visit the following countries (probably in this order)...

France
Belgium
Holland
Germany
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Hungary
Croatia
Slovenia
Italy
Spain

Now, am I right in thinking that for countries like France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy & Spain I can travel freely on a Schengen visa? And when applying for this, as I dont have a mainstay country I apply to France as this will be the first stop on my travels? If I'm incorrect, please advise!

My next question is for the countries that are not on the Schengen (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia), do I require seperate visa's for each of those countries?

My stay in each country wont be long just long enough to see some stuff, meet some people & soak up some of the sights! I plan to stop at campsites where possible in an attempt to keep costs down.

My only other extravagence will probably to take in a football match or two.

If you think I have missed anything out or not taken into consideration please advise on those issues too!

Many Thanks in advance for any advice/help you can offer.

1

anonymous

ONLINE

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:10:34 +0000

I dont understand. Why do you need visa if you are UK citizen. If you have British passport you dont need any visa to the EU. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia entered to the Schengen area last year Croatia is out side of it.

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2

ONLINE

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:31:35 +0000

As #1 said, you don't require visas for ANY of these countries if you are travelling with a UK passport. The only effect Schengen v non-Schengen will have on you is that when crossing borders within Schengen you quite likely won't see any border checks at all; at other borders you will have to show your passport. The only way you'd need a visa is if you stray into somewhere like Russia, Belarus, or Turkey, which would require an unlikely sequence of wrong turnings!

It sounds like you may have been reading websites aimed at people from outside the EU, who do have to worry about such things as Schengen visas.

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3

ONLINE

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:09:08 +0000

Hi both, thanks for that. I think you may be right & have totally missed the bit where it said about non EU people & just assumed it was for all! Doh! Its been a long day already! Haha!

So just to confirm I can travel freely into all of these countries without too much drama (barring a massive wrong turn into Russia. haha)?

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4

ONLINE

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:48:56 +0000

Exactly.

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5

ONLINE

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:16:20 +0000

Thankyou all, you've been most helpful!

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6

ONLINE

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:50:45 +0000

you come from britain and you dont know that you can travel freely across europe? sorry,but where have you been living all these years? in the forest?

second, you should look at the map if you plan to travel in europe. if youd take a wrong turn youd hardly end up in russia..your choice would be one of the following:
serbia,romania,poland,ukraine,BIH.

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7

ONLINE

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:51:03 +0000

unless you have a flying car of course:)

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8

ONLINE

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:24:03 +0000

Given your not having known about Schengen, I have to wonder if you know about car insurance. You need to check what countries you are insured for and for how long. Most UK car insurance will not cover you for more than 30 days on the continent and some of the countries you list may not be covered at all.

The same applies to breakdown insurance.

I must also wonder if you realize you need travel/medical insurance.

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