Customs passport stamping

From my observations, before 9-11-2001 immigrations officers throughout Europe were very lax about stamping passport, in most cases they would just look at my passport photo page very quickly and hand it back to me. After 9-11-2001 my passport is always is always stamped and scanned, without exception. So in answer to your question, your son's passport will probably stamped without having to ask.

It is immigration, not customs, who check passports.

Generally speaking, if you travel within the Schengen zone (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, etc), there is no passport checking or stamping between countries. There will almost certainly be none at land borders, but it may be different with air travel, as passengers into Schengen and within Schengen may be mixed according to the airport.

As a U.K. citizen, I never have my passport stamped within Europe.

When we entered Italy from the UK they glanced at our passports but didn't stamp them. My friend was upset because she had dreamed of going to Italy all her life and wanted a stamp to prove she'd been there - so she just asked for a stamp and they were happy to oblige. No questions asked. Just silly American tourists :) Every other country we were stamped though, even going from UK to France and Ireland.

When I took the Eurostar chunnel train to Paris from London, they didn't stamp our passports at first. A polite smile and request we were obliged with a cool train shaped passport stamp. Your son will probably have even better luck being charming in this regard. Just be aware of the situation you're asking in - 200 people lined up behind you might not appreciate the hold up. If you miss the stamps, you can always find something else cool for him to "collect" - euro coins are different for each country, postage stamps, interesting European candy.

Of course your son thinks stamps are cool - they are ! This is a golden opportunity for him but it will take a bit of work. The best thing to do is learn the words for 'Please would you stamp my passport ?' in the languages of the countries he is visiting. Have him carry a piece of paper with the words on as a prompt. Then all he needs is his best smile and he WILL get a stamp on his passport.

I flew in to FCO on April 29, 2007 from Chicago. I showed my passport at immigration - they did not stamp my passport. At the Italian/Swiss Border, The EC Train I was on stopped, several inspectors came on to the train and randomly asked for passports. They bypassed me even though I had it out ready for them.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to politely ask the officer for a stamp?

I recently flew in Europe a lot. I got my passport stamped at Heathrow (coming from the US). Then we went from England to Portugal, my passport was stamped in Lisbon. But I didn't even have to go through ANY passport controls flying from Lisbon to Barcelona, Barcelona to Brussels, Amsterdam to Copenhagen, or Copenhagen to Vienna, nor was I stamped on trains between Amsterdam and Brussels and Vienna and Venice. so I went to 7 countries but got only 2 stamps :( I'm not a kid but I was still a little bummed, especially since i only have about a year left on my passport and it would've made a nice souvenir! so Nancy I don't even know how you could ASK because I didn't see any immigration or passport control anywhere flying between the countries!!!

Try the train stations. When I was a student in France I needed a stamp to show my arrival in France. Because I had come in on train from Amsterdam I didn't get a stamp. I was told to got to the trainstation and get a stamp. Sure enough I got one. Now when I am in a differnt country I get a stamp at the train station.

Just my experience this summer: I flew in the UK-got a stamp; flew Stansted to Stockholm-got a stamp; flew Brussels to Dublin-another stamp. No stamps when traveling between countries on the train (standard for years) and no stamp Dublin flying into Heathrow. The weird part: no stamp coming into the US! I have always counted on my return being stamped but everything is apparently computerized.

Regarding Debra's point, between Schengen countries, there are no border controls (except in special circumstances) so no option to ask for a stamp. Between the UK or Ireland (both are Non-Schengen)and most of the rest of Europe, there will be, so you can get a stamp upon request maybe.

Operating three flights to/from LIS (Lisbon)three times a month for 4 consecutive months during high season resulted in Passport being stamped upon arrival less than half of the time. And I don't think this was just b/c we were crew. Even our families travelling with us often don't always get stamped.
Gotta love Portuguese security. Or lack there of.

Just ask them to stamp it for him. They will be happy enought to oblige with no questions asked particularly for a young boy. On my first trip to Paris they weren't going to stamp my passport but I asked for it to be stamped. The man thought it was funny I wanted it stamped but did so with no questions asked.

We traveled for 8 weeks in 8 countries....the only stamp in our passports are when we arrived and departed from Amsterdam.

I don't think my post will help but did want to share that I also think passport stamps are cool, too! I just wrapped up my first trip to mainland Europe and my passport was stamped in Berlin, again by border patrol going into the Czech Republic and again in Vienna as I entered the terminal. That was one I certainly wasn't expecting but am happy to have.

It is not unusual to ask to have your passport stamped...in fact it's practical. I recently had a bit of a problem going with my US passport from France to Poland via Germany, just transfer in Munich airport. None of the previous immigration controls had stamped me...and the German officer was none to pleased when he asked how long i'd been in Germany and i said "15 minutes"...He really needed to see how i'd arrived and some official ink in the book would have pleased him.......So just ask for the stamp, and be sure to say please...