{"id":30671,"date":"2020-12-15T11:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T11:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/?p=30671"},"modified":"2021-06-14T11:51:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T10:51:08","slug":"brexit-considerations-for-a-european-motorhome-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/brexit-considerations-for-a-european-motorhome-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Brexit Considerations for a European Motorhome Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First published 11 Nov 2018<\/strong>, updated 7 Apr 2019<\/strong>, 15 Dec 2020<\/strong> and 27 Dec 2020<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>). Note that you can sign-up for email updates<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Check your passports<\/strong> 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<\/a> to ensure your documents are valid for travel.<\/li>
  2. If you intend to travel with a pet dog or cat<\/strong>, 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<\/a>.<\/li>
  3. You won’t need a visa to travel to Europe<\/strong>, but be aware that you can only legally stay in the 26 Schengen countries<\/a> for 90 days in any 180 days<\/strong>. If you plan several trips into and out of Europe, the EU’s short stay visa calculator<\/a> is helpful to ensure you don’t illegally overstay.<\/li>
  4. You may need to show an onward or return ticket<\/strong> when entering the EU, or prove you have the funds<\/strong> for your stay. It appears that simply showing a valid credit card<\/a> would be enough to satisfy this requirement.<\/li>
  5. The EHIC (card) will remain valid until it expires<\/strong>. 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.<\/li>
  6. Ask for a Green Card<\/strong> from your insurer, print it off and carry it with you (online versions are not accepted).<\/li>
  7. International Drivers Permits (IDPs)<\/strong> will not be required to drive in EU countries.<\/li>
  8. Pop a GB sticker<\/strong> on the back of your van.<\/li>
  9. Officially mobile data and call roaming freedom will end<\/strong> 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<\/a>.<\/li>
  10. Limits on duty-free personal imports of alcohol, tobacco<\/strong> 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.<\/li>
  11. And finally, you can’t take meat or dairy products from the UK into the EU<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"Motorhome
    Ju on the Chunnel, so no fear of sea sickness!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    OK, let’s go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    COVID-19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Although (mostly) not directly related to Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic is adding complexity to travel into continental Europe:<\/p>\n\n\n\n