This may be a stupid question, but hopefully someone will be kind enough to answer me. I’ll be flying to Venice in March and have a layover and have to change planes in Paris (same airline). Will I have to go through customs in Paris and then again in Italy? I’ve only had direct flights up until now, so I’m not really sure what I’ll need to do.
Thanks!
You will go through customs in Paris and then not again in Italy because it's all within the Schengen open border zone.
If by "customs" you mean passing a checkpoint with your luggage you may not do that anywhere and if you do it will not be until you get to the point to which you checked your luggage, which should be Venice. You will go through "Passport/Control" at least once in Paris.
I hope you have enough time between flights!
When I had a layover in Frankfurt to go to Salzburg, I only had 45 minutes, and I missed my flight to Salzburg because of the check point, and had to wait three hours for the next flight. I hope you have over an hour in Paris!
But no matter what happens, I hope you have the trip of a lifetime!!!
I would expect customs at Paris as you enter the EU and not beyond. Interestingly, when we flew to Frankfurt and then onto Florence (same airline), we did not have to go through any customs. We did go through a checkpoint where they checked our tickets and passports but our luggage transferred without going through customs. There were no customs in Florence.
Just to add on to my post, when I did miss my flight because of the checkpoint, it was a good thing I didn't check through anything. I just had a carry on back pack. It's a good thing because if you do miss your flight when you did check something through, that is even more of a hassle! Another reason to travel light!
Beth,
You'll clear customs and immigration in Paris and then you're inside the EU. I hope you have a couple of hours in Paris because the connections there are awful. Even Air France parks their flights half way to England and busses you to the terminal.
