Brexit Considerations for a European Motorhome Tour
First published 11 Nov 2018, updated 7 Apr 2019, 15 Dec 2020 and 27 Dec 2020.
Unless you’ve been living in a remote campsite in the high mountains, with your phone buried under a rock, you’ll probably have noticed the UK has left the EU and the transition period is about to expire on 31 Dec 2020. At the time of writing negotiations on ‘a deal’ have finally concluded, although it’s yet to ne ratified by both sides. Given the fact we’re in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, motorhome travel outside the UK is clearly going to be curtailed for many of us for the time being anyway. Hopefully the deployment of vaccines and other measures will give us all the confidence to travel more freely in the spring and summer of 2021.
We’re updating this post as we become aware of the latest impact of Brexit on motorhome touring within the EU countries. If you don’t want to spend time reading the whole post, here’s a brief summary of what we’re keeping an eye on (mostly sourced from the UK Government’s official website). Note that you can sign-up for email updates to the official advice as and when more information is available. This post assumes you are a UK passport holder and resident in the UK.
- Check your passports have both (a) at least 6 months left and (b) are also less than 10 years old. The government has created an online passport checker tool to ensure your documents are valid for travel.
- If you intend to travel with a pet dog or cat, you can still do so without quarantine in 2021. However, UK-issued EU Pet Passports will become invalid (if you live in Northern Ireland you’ll be able to get a new UK Pet Passport) and instead you’ll need to visit your vet and get an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) which covers up to five pets. This will limited trips outside the UK to 4 months (it might be possible to get a new AHC outside the UK to extend this time, or obtain a new EU pet passport outside the UK – we don’t know). Tapeworm treatments on returning to the UK are still needed. For reference there are guidance notes on the AHC for vets here.
- You won’t need a visa to travel to Europe, but be aware that you can only legally stay in the 26 Schengen countries for 90 days in any 180 days. If you plan several trips into and out of Europe, the EU’s short stay visa calculator is helpful to ensure you don’t illegally overstay.
- You may need to show an onward or return ticket when entering the EU, or prove you have the funds for your stay. It appears that simply showing a valid credit card would be enough to satisfy this requirement.
- The EHIC (card) will remain valid until it expires. The EHIC allowed UK citizens you to get state health cover in EU countries, and covered pre-existing conditions. The government’s advice is to still get travel insurance and ensure it covers all activities you plan to take part in, and covers any existing conditions you have. In the UK the EHIC will be replaced with the Global Health Insurance Card (the GHIC), which will still cover pre-existing conditions, although there are scant details on how it will work, or how to obtain one.
- Ask for a Green Card from your insurer, print it off and carry it with you (online versions are not accepted).
- International Drivers Permits (IDPs) will not be required to drive in EU countries.
- Pop a GB sticker on the back of your van.
- Officially mobile data and call roaming freedom will end on 1 Jan 2021. However, several operators have already stated they’ll not increase charges again for calls and data in the EU, and we’ve had no indication from our SIM provider they plan to change our unlimited-abroad deal.
- Limits on duty-free personal imports of alcohol, tobacco etc will be re-introduced: 4 litres of spirits or 9 litres of sparkling wine, 18 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer and 200 cigarettes. If you exceed any of these limits you pay tax on everything you’ve imported.
- And finally, you can’t take meat or dairy products from the UK into the EU.
If you spot anything inaccurate or missing below, feel free to tell us using the comments section, that would be very helpful. We appreciate there are both strong political and ethical viewpoints wrapped up around Brexit and travel during a pandemic, but please can we ask everyone keeps comments purely factual – we won’t approve any which aren’t.
OK, let’s go.
COVID-19
Although (mostly) not directly related to Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic is adding complexity to travel into continental Europe:
- UK citizens will potentially be barred from non-essential travel into the EU from 1 Jan 2021.
- Travel insurance remains available, even for countries which the UK foreign office advises against travelling to, although healthcare costs for COVID-19 specifically might not be included.
- We need to comply with travel restrictions both within the UK and our destination country(s). In Spain for example non-essential travel between regions and even between towns has been heavily restricted in 2020 (in law, if not actually enforced with widespread roadblocks), although has remained possible to drive back to a primary residence in the UK throughout the pandemic.
- Some countries require a negative PCR (or other) test taken within a pre-defined period (72 hours for Spain). You’ll need to buy this privately, not use the NHS testing service.
- Some countries require you to complete a ‘locator’ form which self-certifies you don’t have COVID symptoms/haven’t been in contact with anyone who has the disease and indicating how they can contact you.
- Countries all have differing rules over quarantining on arrival, installing contact tracing apps, wearing facemasks, night-time or weekend curfews, how many people you can meet with and where and so on.
Schengen and the 90 in 180 Days Rule
From 1 Jan 2021 UK citizens will lose our freedom of movement rights in the EU. Unless we formally become resident in an EU country, we’ll need to restrict our time in the ‘Schengen Countries’ to 90 days in any 180. If we exceed this limit we’ll be subject to a warning, fine or even being deported and banned from re-entry to the Schengen Area for a period of time. This system already applies to non-EU travellers from Australia, the USA, New Zealand and so on, and checks are already in place at borders on entry and exit from the Schengen Area (an example: Linda of The Chouters is a US citizen and although she’s married to an EU citizen was recently fined for exceeding the 90 day limit and threatened with being deported). The system only needs to be modified to include UK passport holders.
The Schengen Area is illustrated below. As you can see, the UK and Ireland are outside the Schengen Area, as are Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Morocco, Turkey, Serbia and some other Balkan countries. This means tours over 3 months are still possible for UK citizens and residents, by spending enough time in these ‘waiting’ countries, although obtaining UK-issued insurance for these countries can be awkward, and ‘border insurance’ is expensive and third-party only. We’ve written a longer post about Schengen and the 90 day rule here, and an entire book about touring Morocco by motorhome.
Motorhome Insurance and Green Cards
A Green Card isn’t itself an insurance policy, but is a physical document which is provided by your insurer to prove you have the legal minimum level of insurance to drive in the countries listed on the Green Card document (details about WikiPedia here). It doesn’t prove you have comprehensive insurance, so if you want the same level of insurance abroad as you have in the UK, you still need to ensure you arrange this with your insurer and check your policy wording to be sure you can make a claim for your own vehicle if in an accident abroad.
While the UK remains a member of the EU, you don’t need a Green Card to travel to the EEA countries plus Serbia, Switzerland and Andorra. If the UK leaves without a deal, you will need a Green Card to drive in these countries. They’re free for these countries, but word is insurers might take up to a month to issue them.
If you plan to travel outside of these countries (to Morocco, Bosnia or Turkey for example), then your insurer may refuse to issue a Green Card or charge you for it. Also, if your insurance policy expires while you’re away, you’ll need to arrange for the document to be posted to you somewhere abroad when you renew.
Breakdown Insurance
Our motorhome insurance policy includes European AA breakdown cover. We also have a separate breakdown policy with the ‘German version’ of the AA, called ADAC (this option is no longer available non-German applicants, nothing to do with Brexit). Our expectation is that these policies will remain valid after Brexit, as we’ve not been advised otherwise.
Travel Insurance
We buy travel insurance for our tours abroad. The main reason for this is to avoid potentially very high medical costs for emergency repatriation to the UK, or for emergency private treatment abroad. We don’t see this need changing post Brexit, and will continue to ensure we’re covered.
Thanks to The Motoroamers for this additional information on travel insurance:
“It’s worth mentioning on health insurance, all UK suppliers will only insure you for a capped period and you must have been resident in UK for 6 months prior to policy inception. Big Cat, True Traveller & World Nomad etc will insure without this restriction.”
Internet and Mobile Roaming Costs
From 1 Jan 2021, telecommunications companies like Three, EE and Vodafone will be able to legally charge higher fees for using a UK-issued SIM for mobile calls, texts and data in the EU (subject to UK-imposed legal limits). That doesn’t mean that they will do, however, and the main providers have made statements saying they don’t intend to increase costs according to this BBC article from Oct 2020:
“The four main operators in the UK … said they did not plan to reintroduce roaming charges.”
The ‘PETS’ Pet Passport Travel Scheme
We’re no longer travelling with a dog, after Charlie passed away in 2018. If you do plan to travel in the EU with your pet dog or cat from 2021 onwards, then you can still do so without quarantining them on re-entry to Great Britain. However, UK-issued EU Pet Passports will become invalid for travel to the EU (unless you live in Northern Ireland), and instead you’ll need to obtain Animal Health Certificates (AHCs) each time you go to the EU. Although the government web page hasn’t yet been updated, the fact the UK has been granted Part 2 Listed status by the EU is made clear on this official APHA Briefing Note. This means:
You must check your vet can issue AHCs, and when you go to get them take proof of:
- your pet’s microchipping date
- your pet’s vaccination history
- a successful rabies antibody blood test result
Your pet’s AHC will be valid for:
- 10 days after the date of issue for entry into the EU
- onward travel within the EU for 4 months after the date of issue
- re-entry to Great Britain for 4 months after the date of issue
Clearly this means tours over 4 months won’t be possible if you have pets you want to bring back to the UK. We’ve heard some discussion about working around this by obtaining a new EU Pet Passport in France, Spain or one of the other EU countries. We don’t know the implications of this, and would again suggest chatting with your UK vet to understand how this would work.
Customs Controls
At present, you can legally bring back large amounts of alcohol, tobacco and other goods from the EU into the UK, as long as it’s for personal use. It’s not clear what happens to these imports in the case the UK leaves with a deal. If the UK leaves without a deal, this Independent article states that the old limits will be re-introduced immediately. It makes sense to check the latest situation before you drive back into the UK loaded down with French vino, just in case you get stopped by customs and fall foul of any new law.
Visas and ETIAS
UK citizens won’t need a visa to visit EU countries. However, from the end of 2022 we’ll need to apply for ETIAS Schengen Visa Waivers before travelling to the EU.
Passport Validity
The UK foreign office has already stated that passports need a minimum of 6 months validity before travelling to the EU, and must be less than 10 years old. Our passports both have a few years validity on them.
I **think** that’s it. Please feel free to pop any (non-political remember!) thoughts in the comments section below.
Cheers, Jay
Hi Guys can i just ask what health insurance you both currently use, as i haven’t seen much around that covers you for more than 60 days,
lind regards Linda
Hi Linda we went with Blue Bear. They were great. Got insurance for a year. My partner is 69 and many insurers wont insure anyone over 65 for that length of time. Friends recommended them. One of their party was recovering from cancer when they used them and that’s usually a pretty sticky one with insurers too. Haven’t needed to use them so no idea what they are like when you need them, but i got a good feeling when speaking to them.
Hi Fiona
Thanks for the info, we are 53 and 59 both with high blood pressure just want to make sure we get the best possible cover at the best possible price, have a feeling the blood pressure will slowly go down once we are touring as lived in a van for 18 month whilst building our present house and never felt as free, so can’t wait to start our own adventure
kind regards Linda
How about a Carnet de Passages en Douane ?
Hi Dave
As I understand it, there aren’t any countries which require a CDP in Europe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnet_de_Passages_en_Douane). As I understand it (forgive me if I’m totally wrong), Brexit won’t have any impact on this?
Cheers, Jay
The .gov.uk site iro pet travel is unclear and contradictory especially iro duration of travel and documentation on return from the eu; so not very helpful for those of us who have pets and travel to Europe. The 4 months your touch upon, will kick in on 29th November if there is a ‘no deal’ Brexit, yet I don’t imagine we will have an answer on deal or no deal by the end of this month!
Hi Martin
Yep – it seems very unlikely the UK will end up being an unlisted third country, but who knows – it’s the worse case and if you want to travel with your pet next year it makes a lot of sense to go see your vets. I’d hope they’ve had time now to read through the government’s docs and work out what advice to give. Ours has written to us to ask us to talk to them ASAP if we were planning to travel with a pet.
Cheers, best of luck and happy travels, Jay
Hi guys. Good to read of your plans. Interesting summary of issues. My particular concern with Brexit and my planned for longer term trips in Europe is the very real possibility of only being allowed to remain in the Schengen Area for 90 days out of 180 – most of what I call “Europe”. The (very) basic research I have done suggests that in a worst case “no deal Brexit” we might need to apply for temporary residence in the first (or a chosen early stop off) EU country which would then (if granted, no guarantees) give you freedom to travel within Schengen for the length of the residency (up to one year). It’s all worryingly uncertain at the minute…
Hi Jonathan
Yep, the Schengen Area restriction is definitely something we’re keeping a close eye on. We’re very lucky in that we’ve completed some long tours of Europe already, so could handle 3 month stays before returning to the UK, or heading out of the EU to Morocco or Turkey for example (like some travellers from outside Europe do – Australians and New Zealanders already have this problem I think), for three months at a time to stay within the law. We’ve not looked into temporary residence, so can’t comment on that approach, but there **might** be implications for income tax, state pension payments etc – just a thought?
Cheers, Jay
Hi J&J
Can’t wait to see where you end up going this time and to follow your travel blog.
We’re about to start a 4 month visit to France, Spain and Portugal, incorporating a couple of House Sits along the way. However we’re strugging to find sensibly priced medical insurance to cover anything that the EHIC will not. I know that you guys always do a deep dive into the choices you make for everything you do, so I know that anything you’ve chosen will always be thoroughly researched and worthy of strong consideration by others. Could I please ask who it is that you use. There are hundreds of offerings out there and it’s a bit of piranha pool. We’ve had quotes ranging from £200 to £2000. I’m just over 60 and my wife a bit younger, but there’s not that much wrong with us.
Any pointers would be most welcome.
All the very best to you both.
Regards
Nick & Maggie
Hi Nick and Maggie
For longer-term tours, we’ve used Alpha Insurance in the past – http://www.alphatravelinsurance.co.uk – buying one of their backpacker policies. The one we got covered us for 24 months, but limited the number of times we could return to the UK and the number of days we could be here – two trips home of max 21 days each. We’ll need to buy a new policy before our next trip and are hoping we know whether EHIC is likely to remain in force by then, so we’re better informed when reading the policy wording/deciding what excess to pay and so on.
Good luck, good to hear you’re both in good health and happy travels! Jay
Hi Jay
Thanks for that. Unfortunately Alpha don’t like to insure people over the age of 55 going touring for more than 31 days. The Caravan and Motorhome Club want nearly £700. The search goes on.
Cheers
Nick & Maggie
Right-o, good luck guys. Jay
Have you thought of using bank insurance and paying an excess to extend the trip duration. We opened a bank account with Nationwide for the travel insurance and the excess was about £150 for 8-week trips. Monthly fee £13. You just need to speak to their insurers before opening the account.
Hi
We have just arrived in Spain and will be touring Portugal too. We are both 60+. The best travel medical insurance I found was the one I get with my monthly fee via Halifax. I upgraded the basic to include 93 day stay, small fee to avoid any excess. My husbands minor health issues added about £42 compared to £192 quoted by another insurer. It also covers us for winter sports, either can use the cover independently and is worldwide multi trip. I’m happy!
I have not taken out long stay for Europe but we normally spend 6 months of the year in the US and have used Holidaysafe. They offer long stay worldwide policies for people up to 75
If the IDP’s are required you will have to return to the UK to attend in person to get them.
As the 1968 Convention EU countries version isn’t available until 1 February 2019 you will be long gone. Worth everyone who intends to travel either side of the end of March 2019 to keep a sharp eye out.
A little info. We picked up our 1949 version a couple of weeks ago. The Crown Post Office had forms printed by the AA and were simple to fill in. If the person behind the counter hadn’t wanted to talk and ask questions about places to travel to for 15 minutes it would have been all done in 5 minutes, quite painless and a pleasant experience.
We’ve picked up this not so useful (2 EU countries covered?) IDP as we may be able to wave it about and blag it if we are stopped before we can get the 1968 one. At £5.50 each we think it’s worth it.
Well done and thank you on trying to tackle this critical subject, you are innovators as usual.
Errrmmmm!!! Thanks Jamie, bit worrying about the 1968 IDP but I’ve just done some digging and **I think** the 1 Feb date is when the number of POs offering IDPs increases from 89 to 2500 (http://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/driving-abroad/idp-country-list)? It looks like the Nottingham city centre branch already sells them, so we’ll wait until Jan and head down there mid week if it looks likely we’ll need ’em. Gimme a shout if you have better info? Cheers, Jay
Hi jay, we have the tunnel booked to come back to uk on 29 March 2019 with two dogs. Whats your thoughts on driving licence and pet passports for us?
Hi Anthony. As far as I know the UK will leave the EU at 11pm French time on 29 Mar 2019. If you return before then my assumption is everything will remain as it is today. After that time, we’ll switch to whatever new agreement(s) are in place. Cheers, happy travels, Jay
Agree that the Governments guidelines do not show when the 1968 IDP is available (or are deliberately vague?) but this page from the RAC states the 1 February 2019 from the expanded number of Post offices.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-abroad/international-driving-permits-and-brexit/
Hope the RAC and I’m wrong as it would make life easier for frequent EU drivers.
Hmmmm, looks like you’re bang on Jamie – the 1968 IDP doesn’t appear to be available until 1 Feb. I’ve updated the blog post, thanks very much for the heads-up. Cheers from sunny Nottingham, Jay
Good luck to all travellers i am thinkg to buy a caravan and living 6 monthes all round the eu.
Any one can tell me ! Where which page i can buy reasnoble condition campervan any country in eu
Thanks for your coorparations
Rudy australia
Thanks for posting this, it covers all the things that have been on our minds too.
Yes I too would like to say thanks for all the research you’ve done, I’m going to print off this blog for ready reference! Thanks again –
You’re welcome Susan. Hopefully things will turn out to be much simpler than all of this! Cheers, Jay
I read recently that Spain are ying to pass a law that will alliw us to still use EHIC cards and also that France and Germany may also do this.
Jay, super helpful article in that it at least raises the questions, most of which we hadn’t even considered, even though clearly the answers are not as yet forthcoming. Will be watching the process involved with keen interest for our upcoming trip to UK then Europe next April.
I hope the pet situation is not as difficult as feared. As you well know, no other country in Europe, other than the UK, ever asks to see the pet passport or any other pet documents. Speaking to a Belgian vet practising in France a month ago he said theoretically dogs and cats documents should be inspected beteween France an Belgium, because Belgium requires a rabies vaccination and France not ( or vice versa), but no one ever checks because there is no effective border between the countries any more. So it would be ironic, in the extreme, if France started checking animals from the UK, one of the few countries in Europe free of Rabies, when it allows free entry from all other neighbouring countries, most of which have endemic rabies!
We (the UK) aren’t alone in asking to see the Pet Passport Tim – Finland and Norway also (technically) want to see it too to check for worming treatment. Neither actually stopped us and checked though – the UK is certainly the most diligent in these checks IMHO. Spain also checked it when we returned from Morocco, and Poland when we crossed from Ukraine. Both of those were coming into the EU from outside it though. Yep – we hope pet travel remains as simple as it it now – fingers crossed. Cheers, Jay
Hi All
Not really worried about anything concerning Britexit.
We are also leaving in January/February and will not take any other precautions than we have done for the last Ten years.
If anything happens we will deal with it.
You can overthink situations.
As for wine import we will bring back our usual stash to last 6/9 months and not worry about it.
The only criteria is the weight in the van , but Jan can always get the train home!
Hi – thank you so much for this really useful post. I have shared it with my travelling friends.
As you say, it is very difficult to know how Brexit will go, but it pays to be prepared.
We tour Europe with five dogs and are flabbergasted that travelling to the EU from the UK, a country that is famously rabies-free might require the rabies titer test, which takes up to four months to complete.
Having just managed to find a way to live our dreams by touring Europe in our caravan, we are devastated to see the possibility of a maximum 90-day stay. This could scupper our plans for an extended tour of the Baltics next year!
I don’t know if you have seen this, but this is an EU paper which outlines some of the possibilities which may come to pass with Brexit. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/brexit_files/info_site/travelling.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3lHyLPjX3bTV1v9QrbFjpd__b8CYqfFQWSl2vN9g0hZDbDzDORaOdnxeM
Hi Jackie
That’s a really useful document, thank you! Hopefully the four month Pet Passport timeline will not end up applying to the UK, it doesn’t make any sense like you’ve said. As for the 90 day in 180 day limit though, as far as I can tell that will apply under the current proposals, unless we become residents of an EU member state, which isn’t something we’re wanting to do.
Cheers, Jason
I’m going to play safe! I’m not booking any ferries until after 29th March 2019 and if we don’t like what we see we’ll do a Tour of Britain! Keep up the good work with the info.
replied on your much earlier thread on this topic.I’m a Guernseyman, a Donkey as we are nicknamed.
Guernsey is not in the EU. We are classified as, I think, associate members due to being a Crown Dependency. We have some benefits of the EU but not all.
The following occurred about 20+ years ago, the rules may have changed since then.
A fair few of the local motorhomers and caravanners kept their vehicles stored in various Garages Mort near St Malo.
As we don’t have VAT here the warehouses and garages where the motorhomes were stored were raided and any owners and storers who couldn’t supply necessary documentation received very hefty fines as the motorhomes were treated as non EU and had been kept in France for too long.
Hopefully something will be sorted out but if not things could get sticky!
J&J,
Great read as ever I was surprised about the Chouters having an issue as they are married. The europa.eu site is very clear about the fact that the certified partners, civil partnerships, married etc. have the same rights as their EU members as long as they travel together.
This will sound picky but please don’t refer to Ireland as Eire it is very odd. It is quite historically offensive. You would not refer to any other country in its language you call Croatia as Croatia. I accept Eire means Ireland in Irish but we all speak English!
I know it’s picky but it is a Mail/Telegraph put down.
Hopefully we will see you again soon in Spain.
Best David and Karen
Hi guys
I was surprised too – could have been the border official not interpreting the rules – they claimed she needed residency in an EU country. Linda did say she would have contested it if they’d tried to deport her. The point was more that the 90 day rule is actively policed.
Thanks for the heads up re: Eire/Ireland. I’d no idea and really don’t want to cause any offence, please accept my apologies for my ignorance (sincerely).
Cheers, yep, fingers crossed we can all get back to sunny Spain, have a great Xmas. 👍 Cheers, Jay
Hi guys and thanks for the updates. Looking at the gov website about taking food into Europe. You cannot take in meat or dairy products, so no more filling the freezer with bacon or taking a chunk of cheddar.
As motorhomers we need to be careful. Take care. Marie
Thanks Marie, good point, I’ll add this to the post. Jay
I have to say we were fairly shocked at the Slovenian border when the guard insisted I had overstayed, we’ve been traveling fulltime since early 2019! What made it all the more confusing is that she said I could travel with Steven, but that I first had to establish residency somewhere in the EU. Residency assumes you will be living in that country for at least six months out of the year, so I don’t see how that would work! Residency would really curtain our fulltime travels! We’re not really sure how to handle this going forward, because even though we disagree with the border guard, they have all the power and we have none.
Hi Linda
I’ve just done some digging on europa.eu and come across directive “Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of EU citizens and their families to move and reside freely within the EU”, accessible here:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=LEGISSUM:l33152&from=EN
Early on in the text it states:
“KEY POINTS
EU citizens with a valid identity card or passport may:
Enter another EU country without requiring an exit or entry visa. Family members who are not nationals of a EU country are not required either an exit or entry visa if they possess a valid residence card.”
Obviously I don’t understand immigration law, but it appears from that statement the immigration official was correct. From what I’ve read of Schengen Visa enforcement, it’s highly variable between countries and some are more ‘on it’ than others (although I guess once you’ve over-stayed a ‘flag’ might have been placed on your passport?). From this superficial analysis, it looks like you’re in the same boat as us British post-Brexit lot, although you have the option to get residence as a non-tax resident in Ireland, maybe?
Good luck, can’t have been fun being stopped like that – those ‘real’ borders always scare me silly. Cheers, Jay
I think that passage is referring to those who need a visa to enter a country. I actually don’t need one. But trust me, this is a rabbit hole and absolutely confusing. If you’re interested, Alan Gow at Travel-Cook-Eat has done a ton of research. The documents he provides at the end of this article are a great resource. https://www.travel-cook-eat.com/schengen-rules/
Right-o, fair enough. Thanks for the link – very good info but I have to admit I gave up after 5 minutes. It seems the rules are open to interpretation for you guys – not being much of a risk-taker I **think** I prefer our position of surety… Good luck with it all, cheers, Jay
Hi Jay….Schengen external borders were opened today. There was also an announcement re pet travel…UK I think will be a list 2 country, therefore needing a health cert from the vet, but uk still trying to negotiate to be a list 1 country….which would basically mean little change from the pet passport system.
We presented our IDP in France when hiring the van…they had no idea what it was and asked for a ‘real’ driving licence!!
Mobiles & Roaming – Have a look at “Those Weirdos” YouTube channel they have just (Dec ’20) produced a video on the above and are saying that the UK mobile companies will limit the roaming period to 62 days. I guess you may need another SIM after that. Worth looking at the video.
Thanks Brian, watched the video, very helpful. As far as I know the EU regs always allowed telcos to monitor use for 4 months and if use abroad exceeded use in the home country (62 days) they could introduce limits. That hasn’t changed but it seems some telcos are starting to enforce the limit. Superdrug haven’t written to us yet about this, and I couldn’t see anything in their Ts and Cs yet. But yes, if you hit the 62 day limit you’ll need multiple SIMs or to buy a local SIM. Sadly the progress in getting low-cost unlimited roaming data appears to have stalled/gone backwards. Thanks for the info mate, happy Christmas, Jay
Hi both.
I have mentioned before that over the years I have had a very cavalier attitude towards the 90 day rule, as travelling on a Kiwi passport and have never had a problem, no one has ever checked the length of my stay. Perhaps my attitude will need to change with the UK leaving the EU, plus my wife is on a UK passport. My vote will be for an extended stay in Croatia in the middle of our next trip, some extremely pleasant places to while away a few weeks/months.
How does it work? Croatia is member of the EU since 2013.
Hi Heide, a country can be in the EU but not in Schengen – the UK was for example (or in Schengen but not the EU, like Norway). As I understand it Croatia wants to be in the Schengen Area but is not yet allowed – presumably they will be allowed in the future. Cheers, Jay
Re pet passports:
I’m currently in Portugal and had no problem swapping my dog’s UK passport for a Portuguese one. I understand that this is also straight-forward and cheap in Spain and France.
Thanks for the article, clear and well-presented.
Happy travels,
Lucinda