Romania and Bulgaria joining Schengen

This is for land borders. As far as flights and ferries are concerned, Romania and Bulgaria joined Schengen in March 2024.

Very unfortunate. But thanks Nigel. Your time to post is much appreciated.

Not a happy change for me, either. Very glad I made one significant trip to those two countries in 2015, before the change.

They’ve been in my radar for the past few years, just haven’t been able to fit them in. Gonna have to try harder, maybe 2026 will be the year.

why sad? For me it is a bonus not a problem, no border check, drive all the way from Calais...

Because they were countries you could visit without increasing your Schengen days count.

Good to know, Nigel. But yes, I have to count Romania in my Schengen days next year. I’m glad I have enough!

I may have to start thinking in terms of each trip as half Schengen, half not.

Don't forget Ireland.

There is a whole world beyond Schengen and the UK.

Ed, there is still a whole Europe beyond Schengen

Ed, there is still a whole Europe beyond Schengen.

You are correct. We spent about six weeks in Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Bulgaria last Spring. I would definitely recommend a visit to all of thise countries. Some very interesting history. Especially Albania.

And Cyprus currently not Schengen

Corrected and Reposted and Edited to state what i mistakenly thought was obvious ... sorry.

But lots of good countries left that have real estate within the geographic land mass of Europe: (thank you Frank II and cafetista.bruja for filling in the missing)

Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, N Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Excluded territories, autonomous zones and micro states. Kosovo is contested, but i take the privilege to add it. Also took the privilege to skip 2 countries.

Roughly a third of Europe in country count or land area.

Also add the Faroe Islands and Greenland as not being in Schengen.

Is Greenland in Europe? And I will lump the Faroe Islands with Andorra, San Marino, Monaco, and Vatican City that are also not official members of the Schengen Zone ... but you cant get there without entering a Schengen country.

From what I understand, Greenland is located geographically in North America, but politically and culturally in Europe. And it is not considered part of Schengen.

From a geological point of view, Greenland is part of North America. But from a cultural point of view it is usually considered European since it has had close ties to northern Europe since the first Scandinavians settled on Greenland over 1000 years ago. And it is part of Denmark after all.

But this is not a history forum. From a travel point of view I can not recommend using Greenland and the Faroe islands for time outside Schengen. While none of them are part of Schengen they both have an open border with the other Nordic countries. And the Faroe island are in the interesting situation of being outside Schengen but part of the Nordic passport union.

I have removed a side discussion to keep the this thread focused. Thanks all.

Thank you Badger, you hit on a lot of it. Nigel is the OP, I just messed up his post by expanding on the impact of the Romania and Bulgaria change. The intent was meant to be in the context if you are traveling to or in Europe know that ..... nothing much more than that. Or, i want to go back but I am pushing the Schengen limits, what are the options? And a little it, hey, there is a bunch of stuff out there that is off the radar for many. New back doors maybe, and the Schengen issue was a way to highlight that. To this day I am surprised how many people dont understand where Hungary is .... imagine those people if you begin discussing N. Macedonia. No, I dont mean RS types, more like the guy at the office types. But the Faroe Islands do hit on the last two points I guess. But I would fly into them from the UK so there is no question about Schengen until you actually do cross into Schengen. Not sure how many days most of us could stay entertained there, but looks like it has a little flavor of iceland or maybe the Falkland Islands......

And I laugh, cause I thought the outcry would be over what two different countries.