Passports, visas & health requirements

British citizens must have a full British passport to visit the countries featured on our website. Visas are not required by British citizens for any country other than India and Nepal. (British citizens used to need a visa for Turkey, but this is no longer required for holidays of fewer than 90 days.)

If your passport is in its final year, please check the requirements of the country you are visiting – some nations will not allow you entry unless your passport is valid for a further 3 or 6 months after your return date. The UK government website has a useful tool to check if your passport has sufficient validity: www.gov.uk/check-a-passport-for-travel-to-europe. Entry requirements do change and you must check the up-to-date position in good time before departure. Please note that, following the transition period of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (which is likely to last until December 2020), all British citizens may require up to 6 months’ remaining validity to enter EU and other Schengen countries (including Norway and Switzerland), and extra months that may have been added if you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired will not count towards the 6 months needed.

Some airlines may require passengers to have two blank facing pages in order to travel; you should check this directly with the airline if you are concerned.

Renewal of a British passport currently takes about 3 weeks (see the UK government website, www.gov.uk/browse/abroad/passports). You should allow at least 6 weeks if any members of your party are applying for their first adult passport. Babies and children must have their own passport, and cannot be included on a parent’s passport. Children’s passports are valid for 5 years.

If any member of your party is not a British citizen or holds a non-British passport, you must check passport and visa requirements with the Embassy or Consulate of the country(ies) to or through which you are intending to travel. Note that many European countries now require that passports issued by non-EEA (European Economic Area) countries must be valid for 3 months beyond the period of intended stay.

Information on health is given on the NHS website (www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/before-you-travel) and the website of the National Travel Health Network and Centre (www.nathnac.net).

EHIC card
During the transition period of the UK's withdrawal from the EU (which is likely to last until December 2020), and if the scheme continues beyond this, you should obtain an EHIC prior to going to a European country as this may entitle you to free or reduced-cost medical treatment while abroad (the scheme covers all countries of the EU, plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). You can apply for your EHIC online by visiting www.ehic.org.uk, by phone on 0300 330 1350, or by post with a form available from most Post Offices. Phone and postal applications can take up to 21 days. An EHIC should not be relied upon as a substitute for comprehensive travel insurance, and you should obtain appropriate travel insurance to cover your individual needs.

There are no reciprocal health agreements between the UK and countries outside Europe, including Turkey, Morocco, India and Nepal. It is therefore all the more important that you have comprehensive personal travel insurance to cover you in the case of illness or an accident. Please see our travelling outside Europe page for further information.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office produces up-to-date travel information to help British travellers make informed decisions about travelling abroad. For further information, please visit www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice and www.gov.uk/travelaware (you can also download a copy of the FCO’s Plan.Pack.Explore leaflet which gives general advice on how to ensure you have a trouble-free holiday).

We offer a personal holiday insurance policy specifically tailored to our type of holiday by Fogg Travel Insurance, whose cover is among the most comprehensive available. In addition to emergency medical assistance, the policy provides cover for cancellation and travel disruption in many cases. If you are taking a cycling holiday, it even provides cover if your hired bicycle is extensively damaged or stolen while securely locked to an immovable object. For winter holidays, it provides wide-ranging winter sports cover.

If you purchase our insurance, you must make sure our policy meets your needs, paying particular attention to existing health conditions and any planned activities, if different from those offered by us.

Having adequate travel insurance is absolutely essential, so if you decide not to buy insurance from us, we will ask you to provide us with details of the policy you have in place (insurer, policy number and medical emergency telephone number) so that we can assist if the need arises while you are on holiday. You should ensure that your insurance covers the activities we provide during your holiday and that it is adequate for your particular needs. We cannot accept liability for any damage, costs, losses or expenses incurred as a result of your failure to do this, and we don’t check alternative insurance policies.