Backpacking — blog — Southern Belle Nomad

Disclaimer: This post is meant to be as informative as possible, but I am only human. Correctly dealing with border patrol is pretty important, so please check local embassies' websites for the most up-to-date information.

The Basics: Your American Visa in Europe

With a valid American passport, you are allowed to enter the Schengen Zone for a total of 90 days within a 180 day period. In laymen’s terms, you are allowed to spend a total of 3 months in the Schengen Zone every 6 months. Your visa does not “reset” if you go outside the Schengen Zone, it resets 6 months after you first enter the Schengen Zone.

The Schengen Zone vs the European Union

What is the Schengen Zone, you ask? Correct question. I didn’t know what it was until half-way through my first month of backpacking—please don’t be terribly naïve like me. Or do. It can be fun sometimes.

The Schengen Zone refers to those European countries who have agreed to abolish passport and/or border patrol, meaning you can move between these countries freely once you enter the Schengen Zone. If the world were simple, the Schengen Zone would be the same as the European Union. It, my friend, is not.

Some countries are considered part of the European Union, but not the Schengen Zone. England, until recently (RIP Brexit), was one, along with Ireland, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria. Other countries are in the Schengen Zone, but not the European Union. These include Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Long story short, if you want to travel for more than 3 months in Europe, you must split your time up between the Schengen Zone and non-Schengen Zone unless you want an illegal immigrant passport stamp. I recommend playing, but not with border patrol.

For all its confusion, the Schengen Zone is actually awesome because it allows you to hop around European countries for longer than 3 months if you like. It's always my goal to stay here as long as I can because I love to travel, but also because flights back to the USA are so expensive. You go, Schengen Zone!

I’ve created the most basic map to give you a general idea of how all this looks visually.

*If you're interested in an EU vs Schengen Zone vs Non-Schengen zone map, you can find tons of these venn diagram types all over the web.*

Think of the big blue Schengen Zone as its own giant country with the same exact border protection laws.

Every country outside the Schengen Zone (like the UK, Ireland, or anywhere else for that matter) has its own border protection protocol. Luckily, most of these countries work the same way as the Schengen Zone: you don't need to apply for a tourist visa; you only need your passport.

An Example

You could spend 3 weeks in France, 2 weeks in Germany, 1 week in Belgium, one 1 in the Netherlands, 2 weeks in Italy, 2 weeks in Spain and 1 week in Portugal. This would total 3 months in the Schengen Zone.

You could then spend 4 weeks in the UK, 1 week in Ireland, 2 weeks in Croatia, 2 weeks in Bosnia, 1 week in Serbia, 1 week in Bulgaria, and 1 week in Macedonia. This would total 3 months outside the Schengen Zone. You've now hit 6 months.

At this point, you could legally return to the Schengen Zone for another three months.

This is a very simple example and these locations don't have to be in order. You can hop in and out any time you like; just be sure to keep track of your days.

Pro Tips

If you do travel in and out of the Schengen Zone frequently (like I do), keep notes of your days in a calendar.

Any day you've spent inside the Schengen Zone counts as an entire day starting at hour 00:00. So, if you leave Germany at 6:00 AM on a Tuesday to go to Croatia, that Tuesday still counts as a day within the Schengen Zone.

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