Backpacking in Europe - Visa Advice

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FoXtroT

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I have sort of made a spur of the moment decision to go backpacking in europe from the end of May/ beginning of June and need some advice in terms of the visa.

I plan to go for about a month and don't want to tie myself down on any specific itinerary but for the Schengen visa application they want a full list of my itinerary from beginning to end along with all the travel documentation. How do I go about giving them what they need while still allowing travel flexibility from my side while I'm in the Schengen area?
 
Went through the exact same thing in 2013 and then again in 2015. The short answer is you dont. In 2013 they were very relaxed about it and only check the proof of hotel booking emails I had. In 2015 they were a lot more strict and I was basically told I will not receive the visa without providing a more detailed itinerary. They went as far as to call all the hotels and hostels to confirm my bookings. The booking emails were not enough. I had to provide the address and phone numbers for every place I had a booking.

They days of "backpacking" in Europe are no more, with all of these migrant issues they want to make dead sure they know exactly where you are.

A few people have asked me about this and my answer is sit down and make a decent itinerary. Plan all your train/plane trips in advance and you will get much better pricing as well. I know this kind of misses the excitement of backpacking in Europe but thats how it is.

I tried at both the German and Dutch embassy and got pretty much the same response. Full and detailed itinerary is essential.
Another thing that changed recently is your sustenance money, when I got a visa in 2013 they allowed you to present a credit card or overdraft account statement as valid sustenance. In 2015 they did not accept credit as proof. It had to be a positive balance. Right now its at 60 euro per person per day. Your application will not even be considered if you cant proof you have that money in a positive balance account.

I strongly doubt that any embassy will hand over a visa without these requirements. If you are planning on visiting multiple countries you have to go to the embassy of the country where you will spent the most nights. If you have the same amounts of nights in multiple counties you must use the embassy of the country of first entrance.

You chose a good time, both times I went from the last week in May until end June. It rains a lot all over Europe in that time but its still the best time to go.

Put in the effort to sort out the visa's, Its really worth it and quite life changing indeed.
 
Book a month long hostel on booking.com that has free cancellation. Hand it in for your visa and just cancel after you have the visa.
 
Thanks for the advice. Looks like I might have to find some accommodation with free cancellation for parts of my trip.
 
dsix3e said:
Book a month long hostel on booking.com that has free cancellation. Hand it in for your visa and just cancel after you have the visa.
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At one hostel/one location, isn't that not going to be enough if it's multi country visa the op is looking for?
 
airborne said:
At one hostel/one location, isn't that not going to be enough if it's multi country visa the op is looking for?
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Yup, book one in each country, and just make sure your entry/exit countries timing is correct. book and cancel with free cancellation after the visa is approved.
 
airborne said:
At one hostel/one location, isn't that not going to be enough if it's multi country visa the op is looking for?
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Surely one location should be enough - the visa allows you to travel anywhere in the Schengen region.
 
bwana said:
Surely one location should be enough - the visa allows you to travel anywhere in the Schengen region.
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Earlier post mentioned they are really strict now and want your full itinerary, so I'm assuming if you are traveling to multiple countries you'll need to show accommodation bookings in each country you'll be visiting.
 
OK, so hotel bookings are easy enough to do, since most don't require payment up front. But what about overland travel? I plan to enter the Schengen area by train, into Helsinki from St Petersburg, and the train service won't let you make a booking more than 60 days in advance. I have to apply for the visa on May 23 for travel in early August.
From Helsinki, the idea is to get a ferry to Talinn, and use trains/buses to travel through the Baltics. I'd doubt I can pre-book any of that so far in advance.
 
AFAIK your detailed itinerary needs to show your hotel bookings in each country, you do not need to show the internal air/ferry/train ticket, only your air ticket out of and into SA
 
dsix3e said:
Book a month long hostel on booking.com that has free cancellation. Hand it in for your visa and just cancel after you have the visa.
Click to expand...
This is an option. If he leaves for the same airport that he arrived. AirBNB service fee is pretty high and you lose that if you cancel so I wouldn't use that. Even a proper hotel is perhaps an option as some have payment only at check in.

My Schengen VISA I got was for multi entry 90 days in 1 year period although I didn't apply for it that way so I guess another way is to buy a flexible airplane ticket e.g. a week and then just change your departure date but keep the maximum stay as 90 days
 
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