Travelling from the UK to Europe: ETIAS, Schengen Visas and What Changed

If you hold a British passport

You do not need a Schengen visa for short stays. You need an ETIAS travel authorisation, which came into force for UK nationals in 2026: an online application, €20, valid for three years or until your passport expires, covering unlimited short trips.

The 90/180 rule still applies — a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen Area in any rolling 180-day period. This trips up people with second homes in Spain and France more often than tourists, but it is worth understanding if you travel to Europe frequently.

Apply through the official EU portal only. A large number of paid intermediary sites charge four to five times the government fee for filling in the same form.

• ▸Passport must be issued within the last 10 years
• ▸Passport must be valid for at least 3 months after your planned departure from the Schengen Area
• ▸ETIAS approval is usually instant, but allow at least 96 hours

If you live in the UK on a non-EU passport

This applies to a large share of our UK clients — Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi and Nigerian passport holders with UK residence. You need a full Schengen visa, applied for at the consulate of the country where you will spend the most nights, or where you first enter if nights are equal.

This is the part of European travel that causes the most anxiety, and the most avoidable refusals. Refusals almost never come down to nationality; they come down to an incomplete file — usually insufficient proof of funds, an unclear itinerary, or travel insurance that does not meet the €30,000 medical cover requirement.

• ▸Apply no earlier than six months and no later than 15 working days before travel
• ▸Book the biometrics appointment as soon as the application is submitted — appointment availability, not processing, is usually the bottleneck
• ▸Standard processing is 15 calendar days; allow 30 in peak season

The document checklist that actually matters

Consulates publish long lists, but in our experience four items decide most applications:

• ▸Confirmed round-trip flight reservation and confirmed hotel bookings for every night of the trip — a booked tour package covers both, which is one practical reason packaged travellers see fewer problems
• ▸Six months of bank statements showing a stable balance, not a large deposit made last week. As a rough guide, consulates look for roughly £60–100 per day of the trip
• ▸Employment letter stating your role, salary and approved leave dates, or business registration and tax returns if self-employed
• ▸Travel insurance covering at least €30,000 in medical expenses and repatriation, valid across the whole Schengen Area for the whole trip

Which consulate do you apply to?

The rule is the country of main destination — where you spend the most nights. For a ten-day tour with three nights in Paris, two in Brussels, three in Amsterdam and one in Cologne, that is France.

If nights are genuinely equal across countries, you apply to the country of first entry. Applying to the wrong consulate is a straightforward refusal, and it costs you the fee and the appointment slot.

How we handle this

Visa support is included in the price of every European tour we sell from the UK. We prepare the complete file, supply the confirmed flight and hotel documentation the consulate wants to see, provide a day-by-day itinerary on letterhead, and book the VFS appointment for you.

We are honest about the odds. If we look at a file and think it will be refused, we say so before you pay a fee, and we tell you what to fix first. That is a better outcome for everyone than an optimistic application and a stamped refusal that sits on your record.