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In Do layovers count in the 90-in-180 Schengen rule?, we (apparently) concluded that changing planes doesn't risk exceeding ninety days. What about a 46-hour bus ride from Romania to U.K.? Possible, but extremely uncomfortable to not get off the bus for 46 hours.

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WGroleau
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    Of course, it counts. I already explained why in my answer to your previous question, something you derided as irrelevant at the time. Turns out it would have been useful for you to understand what I was saying... – Relaxed Jun 30 '16 at 17:20

3 Answers3

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Yes. It counts. You will enter the Schengen area as part of this trip.

Under the right circumstances, you can make certain international-to-international air connections without entering Schengen, as airport transit lounges are secured areas that may permit you to get to your next flight without going through immigration.

That is not how buses work. The bus driver is not an immigration officer with the authority to confine you to the bus. He doesn't stand at the bus door and stamp you in and out of Schengen as if the bus was some kind of supranational zone. You will be inside the Schengen area with the ability to get off the bus and go anywhere. You get 90 out of 180 days inside Schengen. The fact that you choose to spend several days of your 90 days riding a bus across Europe instead of touring a city doesn't change anything.

Zach Lipton
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  • Well, 46 hours isn't "several days" but I get the point. If I go to Romania tomorrow I'll have three days left. But if the bus breaks down, I might have to go through the explaining process. – WGroleau Jun 30 '16 at 19:24
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    If the bus breaks down, you still have three days, which should be more than enough to leave the Schengen area regardless. – RemcoGerlich Jun 30 '16 at 21:37
  • Perhaps. But I decided it is easier to buy a much shorter bus ride from Burgos to London. To go through Romania, I'd have to take a wee hours bus to Madrid and pay an excess baggage fee. – WGroleau Jun 30 '16 at 21:45
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    @WGroleau note that a 46-hour stay is most likely going to be a three-day stay, since the stay is calculated on the basis of calendar days or portions thereof. So if you enter on 1 July at noon, and leave 46 hours later on 3 July at 10:00, you will have spent three days in the Schengen area. A 46-hour stay would only be a 2-day stay if it begins between midnight and 2:00 a.m. – phoog Jul 01 '16 at 00:34
  • Under the right circumstances - What? What circumstances are these? I would love to know them - as it makes having to carry a transit visa pointless. – Burhan Khalid Jul 01 '16 at 07:24
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    @BurhanKhalid I was being generic since this is a question about bus travel, and the rules for transfers without visas are very fact specific and largely irrelevant to this question. The circumstances in question will depend on your citizenship, the country and airport you're transiting, whether you're on one airline ticket or two, whether you need to change terminals at some airports, the flight schedule, whether you need to make more than one stop in Schengen, and who knows what else. – Zach Lipton Jul 01 '16 at 07:31
  • There are no such circumstances when you don't enter the Schengen zone. The only exceptions are if you need a specific transit visa. You always enter the zone at the first point of disembarkation; so your answer is a bit misleading. – Burhan Khalid Jul 01 '16 at 07:36
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    How so? You can fly, say, SFO-FRA-BOM without going through German immigration, and some travelers that would ordinarily need a Schengen visa to enter Germany can make that trip without a transit visa. I'm not sure I'm understanding your point. You do, of course, physically enter the Schengen zone, but you don't go through immigration and the requirements can be different for international-to-international air transits. My point is just that there is no such exception for buses, nor could that be practical. – Zach Lipton Jul 01 '16 at 08:39
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    @BurhanKhalid except for airport transit visas, which do not allow the bearer to pass immigration control, Schengen no longer issues transit visas. Instead, a traveler wishing to enter the Schengen area for transit gets a regular short-stay visa (which presumably may be issued for a very short duration). – phoog Jul 01 '16 at 18:24
  • If the transit visa do not allow passing through immigration control, then there is no point in the visa because there is no one to validate it. You have to pass through immigration check. – Burhan Khalid Jul 01 '16 at 22:46
  • @BurhanKhalid I don't believe that's right. For example, a Direct Airside Transit Visa can be used to transit UK airports "if you’ll be changing flights in the UK without going through immigration control." People of certain nationalities need one if they don't have another document that makes them exempt. Holders don't go through the immigration checkpoint, but the airline has to ensure they have one at check-in. – Zach Lipton Jul 01 '16 at 22:55
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    And the same applies to Schengen. Some people may need a visa to transit airside even though they won't go through an immigration check to enter the Schengen area. Others may be exempt because they hold, say, a US visa, which is enough to allow them to transit airside but wouldn't be good to let them into Schengen. The airline is still responsible for ensuring they have the proper documents before allowing them to fly whether or not they go through a checkpoint. – Zach Lipton Jul 01 '16 at 22:59
  • I believe there may be an exception for travel between Russia Proper and Kaliningrad. – gerrit Jul 19 '16 at 13:40
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    (+1) @BurhanKhalid That's not how it works, airport transit visas are not checked on arrival, but on departure, by the airline. The point is to prevent some people from even reaching the international lounge of a Schengen airport, you don't have and cannot pass through an immigration check with such a visa. See http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/44647/are-the-schengen-airport-transit-visa-even-checked and http://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/24298/what-are-transit-visas – Relaxed Aug 14 '16 at 06:55
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Yes, it counts, there are no exceptions for layover, transit or anything like that. If you cross an external border (which a bus must obviously do), you have to undergo a full border check and will get an entry stamp. The only reason it is sometimes (but only sometimes) possible to transit without a visa and/or without using up time from your 90 days is that European airports often allow going from one plane to another without going through the border checkpoint.

Relaxed
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With bus travel you enter the country.
I have never heard of buses that make it impossible to leave the bus for a travel of more than a few hours at most and non that crosses whole European countries that allow for foreigners without visa.

So your time in the Schengen zone counts against your 90/180 days.

Changing planes within the Schengen zone only does not count if you stay in the international zone of the airport, two changes within the zone means you enter the zone and any time there will be calculated against your 90/180 days.

Willeke
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