We don't travel internationally very often, and part of the fun is collecting stamps in our passports! We will be flying in and out of Amsterdam, thus getting our passports stamped there. I know you don't need it stamped to travel within the EU, but if we wanted to get it stamped in Belgium, are there any easily accessible offices? We'll be mainly in Ghent and Bruges.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5500 posts
but if we wanted to get it stamped in Belgium, are there any easily accessible offices?
No. The only way that your passport would be stamped in Belgium would be if you arrived from outside the Schengen area or departed the Schengen area (e.g., took the Eurostar or a flight to the U,K).
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
No.
You can't get stamped because:
A) The stamp is a legal document, certifying you entered the Schengen Area. You would be defacing a legal document.
B) There is nobody at the Schengen internal borders. No officials, no offices, no stamps, nothing.
C) The Schengen Area and many other countries are moving towards recording arrivals and departures in a central database, when they do that, there will be no more entry and exit stamps at all.
I know you don't need it stamped to travel within the EU,
It's actually the Schengen Area, a slightly different group of countries.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
If you enter and leave via AMS those are the passport stamps you will get. No others.
Look on the bright side: you'll have more free pages and won't need to replace your passport so quickly because it fills up.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23230 posts
The days of filling your passport with stamps from individual countries in Europe are over. If want to collect stamps then you need to travel outside of Europe.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
Or visit Europe frequently. ;)
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks y'all! It's been 12 years since my last Europe trip... somethings get imbedded in your brain. Guess I'll just make sure to start planning our next trip to get the next stamp. Thanks for your input!
Posted by
Beaverton, Oregon, USA
740 posts
No stamps into or out of Heathrow last September.
In fact, the only stamp in my recently renewed passport is from Carcross, Yukon Territory and it's quite unofficial since I stamped it myself outside the Matthew Watson General Store. BTW, great bear sightings along highway from Skagway to Carcross.
Posted by
Halifax, NS
252 posts
You might want to have a look at what happened to this lady when she had unofficial stamps in her passport.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6491 posts
Nobody cared when I had my Macchu Picchu stamp in mine. Guess the passport was so full of stamps nobody noticed it. Now, one gets few stamps in passports.