Travelling from the UK to Europe after BREXIT with a motorhome, campervan or caravan? Wish to know what paperwork you want and what adjustments will have an effect on your street journeys? Uncertain about driving within the EU after BREXIT? Right here’s every thing you want to know
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Driving in Europe after BREXIT- issues you want to know
Whether or not you prefer it or not, the BREXIT transition interval has now completed and the UK has left the EU.
Which implies that the principles for journey from the UK to Europe have modified, and there are some adjustments for driving within the EU after BREXIT.
Right here’s a information on what the adjustments are, and which of them have an effect on you.
There are a few massive issues you want to examine earlier than you journey from the UK to the EU after BREXIT:
- examine your passport
- examine your healthcare/ journey insurance coverage
- examine you might have the best driving paperwork
- organise pet journey paperwork
Extra on every part is beneath, in addition to some smaller ideas you may discover helpful
Travelling to Europe after BREXIT?
When you’d favor to look at a video as a substitute of learn, right here you go (simply click on the picture to look at)
NOTE: This video was filmed earlier than the GB stickers modified to UK and numerous different small adjustments. Learn beneath for all of the updated information.
We hope you discovered the video helpful. When you did, why not observe us on Youtube. We share new movies with ideas for motorhoming and campervanning within the UK and Europe weekly, plus street journey concepts and epic locations.
Journey from UK to Europe after BREXIT- Verify your Passport
British passports MUST have a minimum of 6 months left on them earlier than you enter the European Union. You MUST examine that the expiry date is ONLY 10 years from the date of difficulty, not longer.
That is actually important- many passports over the past 10+ years have been issued with an additional 9 months on them- however this won’t be acknowledged by the EU. So in case your passport was issued on 01 September 2015, it is going to expire (within the EU’s eyes) on 01 September 2025, whatever the precise expiry date.
So you could have 6 months left earlier than THAT date. (Eire is the exception for this- you may journey to Eire for the size of your present passport). Get extra ideas for motorhoming or campervanning in Eire.
Additionally, any passport older than 10 years must be renewed asap. You are able to do this on-line or at your native Publish Workplace.
YOU DO NOT NEED A BLUE PASSPORT- hold utilizing your crimson one till you want to renew it, even when it says EU on the duvet. Nevertheless, you received’t have the ability to use the EU citizen entry lanes at border management.
Insurance coverage and Medical therapy in Europe after BREXIT
When you at the moment have an EHIC card for healthcare therapy within the EU, that may stay legitimate till it expires.
There’s a newer model of this, known as the International Well being Insurance coverage card (GHIC), which is nowhere close to as far-reaching.
In some international locations, sufferers are anticipated to instantly contribute a proportion in direction of the price of their state-provided therapy. This is called a affected person co-payment. When you obtain therapy below one of these healthcare system, you’re anticipated to pay the identical co-payment cost as a affected person from that nation.
The EHIC/ GHIC is just not an alternative choice to journey insurance coverage. It won’t cowl any non-public medical healthcare or prices, equivalent to mountain rescue in ski resorts or being flown again to the UK. The EHIC/ GHIC is just not legitimate on cruises.
NOTE: The GHIC is FREE for eligible UK residents. Do NOT pay for it, use the NHS web site right here.
The brief reply is, count on to pay for healthcare- or a minimum of purchase a good journey insurance coverage coverage earlier than you go.
Driving within the EU after BREXIT- Paperwork you want
When you’re going to be driving a motorhome or camper or automotive within the EU or Europe after BREXIT, you could carry:
- Your UK card driving licence (examine it’s in date!)
- Your insurance coverage paperwork
- Automobile V5 logbook (which should present your appropriate deal with)
- Automobile should be legally taxed and MOT’d
- Trailer certification (if required)
- Inexperienced card (not wanted for many UK registered automobiles, however nonetheless possible wanted for trailers- examine along with your insurer)
- A UK sticker to your car. When you’re going to Spain you MUST have the white oval on the again, even if in case you have it on the reg plate too.
- IDP if required
There are different gadgets you want to for driving in Europe– see all of them right here and seize your FREE guidelines
Inexperienced Card
You do NOT want a inexperienced card when taking your car to any international locations within the EU, together with motorhoming in Eire, Andorra, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland. You clearly nonetheless want legitimate car insurance coverage.
You might want a inexperienced card to go to different international locations in Europe, together with Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Albania, Azerbaijan and Russia. Please examine along with your insurer, which is who you get the inexperienced playing cards issued from.
If towing a trailer with a motorhome, you’ll nearly actually want to hold a inexperienced card for the trailer, even when one is just not wanted for the primary car.
If one IS wanted for the primary car, you have to a separate inexperienced card for the trailer or any extra automobiles you is likely to be towing (like a automotive.
Verify along with your insurer what you want earlier than you journey.
Apply a minimum of one month earlier than you might be because of journey and ensure the small print on the cardboard are correct- we’ve heard a number of situations of one thing being fallacious and a brand new one needed to be posted out.
Do you want an IDP?
No. Most individuals don’t want an IDP to drive within the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein if in case you have a card driving licence issued within the UK.
You may if in case you have:
- a paper driving licence
- a licence issued in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man
(When you do want an IDP, right here’s an in-depth information on get an Worldwide Driving Allow and which one(s) you want from a UK publish workplace.
Will my UK driving licence be legitimate within the EU after BREXIT?
Your present driving licence will proceed to be legitimate for driving in Europe, even when it has the EU image. Clearly, it must be in date and you could have a licence for the car you might be driving.
Driving in Europe after BREXIT- get a UK sticker in your car
You MUST have a UK sticker or reg plate on the again of your car- the GB sticker or EU emblem will not be acceptable.
If you’re going motorhoming in Spain, you could have the white sticker with black letters, even if in case you have the UK sticker in your reg plate.
Speaking of France, you may discover these posts helpful to your journey:
Hiring a motorhome or automotive in Europe after BREXIT
Sure, you may nonetheless hire a motorhome or automotive in Europe after BREXIT. You will have:
- a sound driving licence (appropriate for the car you’ll be driving)
- Presumably an IDP code from the DVLA- examine with the rent firm in advance.
- If you’re travelling with a rent car outdoors of the UK, you have to proof that you’re allowed to cross borders with it (usually a VE103 certificates)
How lengthy are you able to keep within the EU after BREXIT?
Ah, the large one.
UK residents at the moment are restricted on how a lot time you may spend within the Schengen space. This contains the entire of the EU besides Cyprus and Eire, however DOES embody Iceland, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
You might be allowed to remain within the Schengen space for 90 days in any rolling 180 day interval. This contains the day you arrive and the day you depart.
You may keep for one lengthy journey, or a sequence of smaller journeys, so long as you don’t exceed 90 days in any 180.
And yes- your passport shall be stamped. Make sure that it will get stamped if you depart too.
On the entry border, you might have to indicate:
- a return or onward ticket
- you come up with the money for to your keep
- proof of medical insurance coverage
UPDATE: When you’re travelling with a motorhome, caravan or campervan, we don’t know anybody who has been requested to supply any of those bits of knowledge.
You’ll in all probability want to make use of separate lanes from EU, EEA and Swiss residents when queueing on the border. It needs to be nicely signposted.
International locations that are exempt from the 90-day rule
These international locations are usually not within the ’90-day’ rule, and subsequently you may go to every for 90 days on high of your 90 days within the Schengen space:
- Cyprus & Eire are the one EU member states NOT within the Schengen space. (Cyprus goals to develop into a part of the Schengen Space by the tip of 2025)
- Non-EU International locations in Europe: Albania, Andorra. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine
- Morocco
- Eire permits limitless visits for UK nationals- no stamps required!
You need to use this short-stay calculator to assist (though personally I don’t discover it that straightforward to make use of)

Wish to head to Europe along with your motorhome?
Seize your FREE (printable) guidelines and uncover 25 belongings you NEED to take with you if you journey in Europe. Make your life simpler as we speak.
Will I would like a VISA to go to Europe after BREXIT?
Not on the moment- however it’s coming.
Very quickly, all British Residents might want to apply for a European Journey Info and Authorisation Scheme (ETIAS) visa prematurely. These will work equally to the USA ESTAs and are proposed to be lively later in 2025.
It’s geared toward lowering the “migration, safety or public-health threat” from nationals of visa-exempt third international locations
For the time being, estimated prices are at 7€ and the ETIAS shall be legitimate for 3 years (though that doesn’t imply you may spend 3 years exploring Europe continuous).
There may even be an EES (EU Entry/ Exit System), which is because of be operational in October 2025 (however has been delayed a number of occasions already!)
The EES is a brand new digital border system that may require British nationals travelling to the Schengen space to register their biometric particulars, equivalent to fingerprints or a photograph, when arriving at a Schengen border. EES registration will change the present system of manually stamping passports when guests arrive within the EU.
Taking your canine to Europe after BREXIT
There have been some massive adjustments concerning taking a pet from the UK to Europe. The UK Pet passport scheme is now out of date, and you’ll require an animal well being certificates as a substitute.
For a step-by-step information, please learn: The way to take a canine to Europe after BREXIT (and get an AHC)
Don’t neglect, in case you are going campervanning in Norway with a canine, you have to to get a tapeworm pill administered by a vet 1-5 days earlier than you enter Norway. After which you have to ANOTHER one administered 1-5 days earlier than returning to the UK.
Obligation Free limits for alcohol?
When travelling from the EU to the UK, anybody aged 17+ can carry (taken from the Gov.Uk website- please examine for any adjustments):
- beer – 42 litres
- wine (not glowing) – 18 litres
You can too usher in both:
- spirits and different liquors over 22% alcohol – 4 litres
- fortified wine (for instance port, sherry), glowing wine and alcoholic drinks as much as 22% alcohol – 9 litres
You may break up this final allowance, for instance you might convey 4.5 litres of fortified wine and a pair of litres of spirits (each half of your allowance).
Tobacco allowance
You may usher in one from the next:
- 200 cigarettes
- 100 cigarillos
- 50 cigars
- 250g tobacco
- 200 sticks of tobacco for digital heated tobacco gadgets
You may break up this allowance – so you might usher in 100 cigarettes and 25 cigars (each half of your allowance).
You might have to pay VAT, customs or excise responsibility on alcohol or tobacco you declare.
Taking Meat, Milk and different merchandise to/ from Europe
You’ll not be allowed to herald meat, milk or their merchandise (until you might have lower than 10kg and are coming from the Faeroe Islands or Greenland)
There’s additionally an exemption for powdered toddler milk, toddler meals, and particular meals or particular pet feed required for medical causes, if weighing lower than 2 kilograms and supplied that:
- such merchandise don’t require refrigeration earlier than opening
- that they’re packaged proprietary model merchandise for direct sale to the ultimate client, and
- the packaging is unbroken until in present use
You may journey with as much as 20kg of fish and sure shellfish equivalent to prawns, lobsters, lifeless mussels and lifeless oysters, or the load of 1 fish if that is increased. There isn’t any such weight restriction for travellers coming from the Faeroe Islands or Greenland
For different animal merchandise, equivalent to honey, stay oysters, stay mussels and snails for instance, travellers are allowed to herald as much as 2 kilograms
These guidelines don’t apply to animal merchandise transported between the EU Member States, or for animal merchandise coming from Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, San Marino or Switzerland. Full particulars could be discovered on the EU web site right here
You’ll want a certificates to take sure vegetation and plant merchandise into EU international locations.
2025 Import adjustments
In 2025, the UK Authorities has banned bringing any of the next INTO the UK from the EU, to attempt to cease the unfold of foot and mouth (which is at the moment affecting some international locations in Europe).
- Cattle, sheep, goat, and pig meat
- dairy merchandise
“This contains bringing gadgets like sandwiches, cheese, cured meats, uncooked meats or milk into Nice Britain – no matter whether or not it’s packed or packaged or whether or not it has been purchased at responsibility free.”
It’s unclear how lengthy this ban will final for- updated info could be discovered on Gov.UK right here.
Driving in Europe after BREXIT- Telephone Roaming Fees
The UK authorities handed some laws which imposes:
- A £45-a-month restrict on the quantity that prospects may very well be charged for utilizing cellular knowledge overseas earlier than having to opt-in for additional use
- Guidelines stating prospects should be knowledgeable once they have reached 80% and 100% of their knowledge allowance
- “affordable steps” have to be taken to keep away from prospects being charged for unintentional roaming in Northern Eire, which might occur if a telephone in Northern Eire locked onto the cellular sign coming from the Republic of Eire.
Knowledge roaming prices in Europe at the moment are relevant again- please do examine along with your community to see what they’ll cost you for utilizing your telephone/ knowledge overseas.
Will my UK financial institution card be legitimate?
Sure, you may nonetheless have the ability to use your UK financial institution playing cards in Europe, simply as you probably did earlier than. Be sure you are conscious of any prices your financial institution could impose.
I hope you now really feel a bit of extra ready or educated about travelling to Europe after BREXIT and driving within the EU.
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