Visa or anything other than a Passport needed for France?

'some countries require it to not expire less then 90 days before your arrive' 'have a valid passport that is not set to expire within 6 months' It would be nice if somebody could pin this down, at least maybe for the Schengen area. If you read the literature, there's a lot of 'shoulds' that focus on ninety days and no 'musts' at all. On a trip this October I entered once through Germany and once through France. On a November trip, I entered twice through Spain. That passport expired a month ago. Nobody said squat. (Exept the U. S. guy who made a crack about how I was cutting it pretty close sneaking home.) Also, on neither trip was I asked to cough up evidence on when I planned to leave (which I didn't have). The only exception here was the British gal who wanted to know if my buddy and I were going to get our sorry tails out of her country ere my passport died - - but asked for no proof (which we didn't have). And, fwiw, I once came home on a dead passport and they still let me in the door after a brief rug dance and tongue-lashing that took all of a minute.) All anecdotal, but I've just quit worrying about it, at least for most of europe.

For the OP, I think you've got your question answered. As for the "should" instead of "must" on the passport thing - I think the idea is to have a cushion in case of emergency. I know multiple instances of people coming here to visit and ending up hospitalized. If you are already cutting it close to the expiration date and you end up in surgery and unable to travel for a few weeks, you could see your passport expire. At least that's my best guess as to why it's a should.

As long as your trip is shorter than 90 days you won't need anything but a passport. Have a great trip!

..... Assuming you are a US Citizen, same as Italy (and every other EU member state).

Just be sure of passport expiration date, some countries require it to not expire less then 90 days before your arrive

Crossing the border from one country to the other will not entail a check at the border, so you won't need to show anything or fulfill any entry requirements. However, you do need to travel with a passport (and only a passport) and present it if ever requested by the authorities (I've never been asked, but it could happen).

yup

Crossing borders in Europe is now like going over state lines. There's a sign, there might be an old guard shack, but no one in it. Even before the EU, when we were crossing borders on smaller roads, the guards would just wave us by. We asked once about getting a stamp on our passports, and the guard laughed and said "we don't even get a stamp here!"

If you are a U.S. citizen just have a valid passport that is not set to expire within 6 months.