Passports and Borders
 

We are planning on several day trips while in Stuttgart. One is to Strasbourg France and one to Switzerland. What does crossing these borders entail now? We have our passports but I have heard that the borders are open. If so we would still like to have our passports stamped. Is this possible or will they be checked at the borders?

Thanks
Gary

They will not be checked. I don't know how you would get one stamped, perhaps by going to the local imagration office. As far a I know no where in the European Union, will you have to show your passport when crossing a border.

Are you traveling by train? Switzerland is not part of the EU so I think you will have to show your passport when traveling between Germany and Switzerland but I don't think they will stamp the passport. At least that's what has happened for me on a few trips. Once we got near the border, the border patrol boarded the train and checked everyone.

Going from Germany to France is like going from New York to New Jersey. No place for you to have a passport stamped - and in a lot of places it's not clear exactly where the border is.

The EU, the Euro currency zone, and the Schengen treaty zone aren't all the same thing.

The UK and Ireland are both part of the EU. Ireland uses the Euro but the UK does not. Neither is part of the Schengen zone, so you must show a passport when traveling between these 2 EU countries and anywhere else in Europe.

Switzerland is not part of the EU or Euro zone, but is a Schengen zone member. They just recently joined, so I'm not 100% sure border controls have been abolished yet.

The dialect/language change between German & France won't be as stark as across the NY/NJ border.

"The dialect/language change between German & France won't be as stark as across the NY/NJ border.

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Germany/France
EU&Schengen zone&tax union: no passport control (usually), bring as many goods across border as you like (within very liberal quantities)

Germany/Switzerland
both Schengen zone: no passport control (usually), but import/export of goods NOT liberalized;
spirits, tobacco, goods may only be imported/exported in defined quantities. Check the official leaflet for limits & regulations:
http://www.zoll.de/e0_downloads/d0_v...lb_eu_engl.pdf