4 months in Europe: What am I not going to realize till I'm there?

[Doug64]

garthb
One question that I'm now somewhat concerned about--the Schengen area only allows for 90 days of travel within a 6 month period, i.e., I couldn't just exit and re-enter the next day. To those of you who have done longer trips in the zone, how did you bypass this requirement? I can't find anything from googling about it

We could not find a way around the 90 day limit in the Schengen zone. Our original plan was also for 4 months, but 3 months ended up working well for us anyway. We thought about trying to get a visa for a longer stay in one of the countries, Norway, but that turned into a real fiasco. If you can get a 4 month visa in the country you enter and leave Europe from, it should not matter where you travel to during that period. I'm not sure that will work, because we were not successful in getting a long-term visa. It seems that the countries we tried to get a long-term visa from were reluctant to give them for "holidays".

I am also curious if anyone has been successful. Good luck.

[Rowan]

I thought you were allowed 180 days to visit. Things may have changed since then, but when my wife first came to the UK on a tourist visa (she wasn't my wife at the time) she was allowed 180 days.

The way I read it is this:

You are permitted to remain in the Schengen Zone for 90 days out of 180. In other words, you might visit France to 20 days, pop over to England for 20 days, then go on to Denmark for 40 days, proceed on to Germany for 30, and then... you have to leave the zone and not come back in again for another 70 days (ie, you time in the Schengen Zone totalled 90 days, and the 180-day period started when you landed in France).

Britain and Ireland are not signatories to the agreement to create the zone, and IIRC, you are permitted to stay as a tourist in Britain for 180 days straight. The Schengen Zone allows free movement between the signatory states, although in reality there may be checks at borders. But the freedom of movement stops at the British borders (if you are crossing by ferry, this is at the terminal in France, Belgium, etc).

From my reading, if you are entering the Schengen Zone for the first time, you need to ensure there is a stamp in your passport with the date you landed, otherwise you might be considered an illegal visitor if your passport is ever checked anywhere you travel in the zone.

I have to say this is all somewhat different from the last time I visited Europe in 2007 for PBP, but I think the Schengen agreement came into being in 2008. However, entry to the UK sounds no different to what it was back in 2007 (and again, in reality, it's not an issue for bicycle tourists, in my experience).

Thanks to this forum in pointing out the zone, and we are now have a better understanding of what we need to do. Our plan has us in the zone for around 60 days... so that is a confident start.

[Pedaleur]

For Ss&Gs I did a couple of quick searches and found a campground very close to the center of Copenhagen:

http://www.bellahoj-camping.dk/ukpladsen.htm

And at least one in Oslo:

http://www.ekebergcamping.no/index-english.html

You'll spend over $10/person/night at Bellahøj. OP, you can search for 'primitiv teltpladser' to find free or cheap camping in Denmark.

Also, search 'allemannsretten' for rules on free camping in Norway (Sweden has similar rules). Not that it will help you in Oslo proper. There's a free spot on one of the islands in Oslo Fjord: http://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?TLp=182894