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-   -   Can I get my passport stamped at train stations? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/can-i-get-my-passport-stamped-at-train-stations-679679/)

ltilley Feb 14th, 2007 06:00 AM

Can I get my passport stamped at train stations?
 
My husband and I are flying into Italy, but visiting Switzerland and Germany by train.

I would love to get my passport stamped for all the countries we visit... is there a way to do this?

THANKS!

sandi_travelnut Feb 14th, 2007 06:02 AM

We did not go through any passport control when entering Switzerland from Italy by train.

lawchick Feb 14th, 2007 06:04 AM

Not without making a nuisance of yourselves.

Robespierre Feb 14th, 2007 06:17 AM

You can consider yourself as a nuisance - or look at it as payback for all the years we were <u>required</u> to stand in line to get our passports stamped.

kerouac Feb 14th, 2007 06:18 AM

Stamping passports anywhere in Western Europe is becoming a thing of the past, except for those people who require a visa to get in.

halfpint Feb 14th, 2007 06:23 AM

I know I always in the past valued those stamps on my passport (memories), however the past several years it is a chore as they seldom do it and if asked occasionally do. And this spring, upon entering Italy, I asked would they stamp it PLEASE and they willingly gave it a GREAT BIG stamp and when I looked at the passport later, it appears there was NO INK on it, ha ha so I guess the joke was on me (which admittedly I did consider it rather FUNNY). Have a great day. Halfpint

NeoPatrick Feb 14th, 2007 06:25 AM

Not only is stamping passports becoming a thing of the past, but I think most of the agents ran out of ink in their stamp pads long ago. I recently looked through my passport and found about 8 or 9 stamps that I absolutely can't read or figure out where they were -- too little ink on the stamp.

GeoffHamer Feb 14th, 2007 06:55 AM

Switzerland is not a Schengen country so there are passport controls but, even if the police bother to check passports on the train, I can't imagine they'd stamp them.
I don't think I've ever had an Italian stamp in my passport. I've entered and left the country by train, bus, ship or on foot on various occasions since the 1970s without anyone attempting to stamp my passport.

suze Feb 14th, 2007 07:02 AM

Even at airports, my passport is rarely stamped these days.

Padraig Feb 14th, 2007 07:05 AM

I have had my current passport for seven years. I average more than four trips a year, nearly all in Europe, so let's say about 30 trips (some involving more than one country). Ireland is not in the Schengen area, so I am subject to passport controls except when visiting the UK. I have stamps from Singapore, Thailand, and the USA -- none from any European country.

lawchick Feb 14th, 2007 07:09 AM

I have my current passport about 2 years. I travel a few times a month - other than the US etc stamps - I have not one European country stamp and I do quite a bit of travel outside of Shengen and EU 27.

JoyC Feb 14th, 2007 07:14 AM

I usually have a US Immigration stamp on my passport upon entering back into the US but on my last trip, the LAX Immigration (or Homeland Security) counter didn't even stamped my passport. He just slid the passport in that credit-card-like machine and wished me a nice day!!

wally34949 Feb 14th, 2007 07:18 AM

If you want a lot of stamps on your passport, go to Tallinn, Estonia. Four stamps.

Stamp one: Leaving Helsinki on the boat
Stamp two: Arrival in Tallinn
Stamp Three: Leaving Tallinn
Stamp Four: Arrival in Berlin

Now I have to get more pages added to my passport.

BTilke Feb 14th, 2007 07:24 AM

My 6 yo U.S. passport is packed with stamps from Europe, almost full in fact. Mostly for Eurostar trips but also for trips from Vienna to Krakow and back. And Nuremberg airport, which was still stamping passports as of last year.

amy_zena Feb 14th, 2007 07:28 AM

My 6 year old U.S. passport is full too. I had to get additional pages put in. I always get stamped leaving out of Florence and arriving back in. I have a lot of EU country stamps in my passport, mostly from flying, and some from driving.

Padraig Feb 14th, 2007 07:42 AM

I wrote: &quot;I average more than four trips a year&quot; and lawchick trumped with &quot;I travel a few times a month&quot;.

Butbutbut... I pay for my own travel. I also pay for a lot of the travel of people operating out of Brussels.

ltilley Feb 14th, 2007 08:02 AM

Anyone who has asked for this lately when travelling? Nuisance or not, I'd love to have my passport stamped... do I ask at the train station?

Thanks!

PeterB Feb 14th, 2007 08:22 AM

I don't think a train station be a good place to even ask unless it is a border crossing station ... they may stamp your passport with ticket canceling stamp ... Border Crossing Officials / Immigration are really only ones with right stamps... So best is to ask on your train or if train station then very next station in that specific country ...

elina Feb 14th, 2007 09:02 AM

&quot;If you want a lot of stamps on your passport, go to Tallinn, Estonia.&quot;

Not for long. Estonia joins Schengen this year.

alanRow Feb 14th, 2007 09:31 AM

As (supposedly) is Switzerland


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