TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

If you are planning to travel to a foreign country, one thing you need to check is how long you are legally allowed to stay in that country. For some countries, like the UK, you are allowed to stay up to 6 months. For other countries, like Thailand, you are only allowed to stay for 4 weeks. Therefore it's best to check the length of time that you are allowed to stay in the country that you plan on visiting.

You can check for these details on the country's embassy website.

If you plan to travel to Europe for a few months, make sure you are aware of the Schengen rules, because these rules dictate how long you can stay in Europe. Some people plan extensive trips through Europe without realizing that they are not allowed to stay for months and months on end.

Most, but not all, countries in Europe are part of the Schengen Agreement. In total, the agreement was signed by 25 countries. The most notable exception is the United Kingdom, which is not a part of the Schengen Agreement.

Countries included in the Schengen Agreement are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Basically, as a US visitor you are allowed to travel freely between any of these 25 Schengen countries for a period of up to 90 days (out of every 180 days).

That means for a 6 month period, you can spend 3 months in the Schengen area.

Here's an example of how it works: If you want to travel to Italy, France, and Spain all within a 90 day period, that's fine. However, if you want to stay in Italy for 2 months, France for months, and Spain for 2 months, you are technically not allowed (unless you acquire a long-term visa, which you would need to do beforehand).

Understanding the Schengen Agreement is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you plan accordingly!

If you plan on traveling to a foreign country, it's a good idea to check whether or not you need a visa for that country.

For some countries, you may be eligible to enter without acquiring a visa beforehand. These will be countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program.

For other countries, you will need to obtain a visa before departure. Check the website of the country's embassy to see what you will need to do.

This is really important, because you don't want to show up at the airport and find out that you can't fly because you don't have the right visa for your destination!