Travelling to Europe in 2026 is not the same as it was two years ago. Passport stamps have been replaced by fingerprint and face scans, the UK now requires almost every visitor to hold a digital permit, several big cities have doubled their tourist taxes, and some of the most famous museums now charge visitors from outside Europe more than locals.
This guide brings all of those changes together in one place. It covers the rules as they stood in late October 2026, explains what each one means in practice, and finishes with a pre-trip checklist and an FAQ. Rules and prices change often, so always confirm the details on the official sites linked in the sources before you travel.
Contents
- 2026 at a glance
- The Entry/Exit System (EES): biometric border checks
- ETIAS: the travel permit that still has no start date
- Schengen in 2026 and the 90/180-day rule
- If you need a Schengen visa
- The UK ETA
- Cyprus and Ireland: the exceptions
- Tourist taxes city by city
- Museum and monument prices
- Visitor caps and crowd limits
- Pre-trip checklist
- FAQ
2026 at a glance
| Change | What it means for you | Status (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| EES biometric checks | Fingerprints and a face photo at your first Schengen border crossing; no more passport stamps | Fully running since 10 April 2026 |
| ETIAS travel permit | A €20 online permit for visa-free travellers | Delayed; no launch date announced |
| UK ETA | A digital permit for visa-free visitors to the UK, including EU and US citizens | Enforced since 25 February 2026; £20 |
| Catalonia / Barcelona tax | Regional tourist tax doubled | From 1 April 2026 |
| Edinburgh visitor levy | 5% on the room price for the first 5 nights | Stays from 24 July 2026 |
| Paris museum prices | Louvre €32, Versailles up to €35 for non-EEA visitors | From 14 January 2026 |
| Trevi Fountain | €2 to go down to the basin | From 2 February 2026 |
| Venice day-tripper fee | €5–€10 on selected days | 2026 trial ended 27 July 2026 |
The Entry/Exit System (EES): biometric border checks
The EES is the EU's new digital border register for non-EU visitors. It started in stages on 12 October 2025 and, according to the European Commission, has been fully operational at all external Schengen borders since 10 April 2026. It replaces the old system of stamping passports by hand.
Who has to register
Anyone who is not a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland and is coming for a short stay (up to 90 days in any 180) registers with the EES. That applies whether or not you need a visa, so British, American, Australian, Indian and Chinese travellers are all included.
The Commission lists some exemptions:
- citizens of Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, and Vatican passport holders
- people with a long-stay visa or residence permit from an EES country (a permit from Cyprus or Ireland does not count)
- non-EU family members of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens who hold a residence card
Which countries use it
The EES runs in 29 countries: every EU member except Cyprus and Ireland, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
What happens at the border
On your first crossing after the system went live, a border officer or a self-service kiosk records:
- your name and passport details
- four fingerprints (children under 12 are exempt from fingerprinting)
- a facial image
- the date and place of entry
On later trips the system only checks that you are the same person, which should be faster. Your record is normally kept for three years after your last trip, and the system automatically counts your days in the Schengen area.
The EU's "Travel to Europe" app lets you enter some data before you travel, but the House of Commons Library notes that it cannot capture fingerprints, so first-time visitors still need to register at the border. At the time of writing, the app worked only for Sweden, with a limited questionnaire option for Portugal.
The queue problem
Queues have been the biggest complaint. A temporary rule let countries partly suspend biometric checks for a few hours at a time during busy periods, but that option expired in early September 2026. On 12 October 2026, the airport body ACI Europe and the airline group A4E reported routine waits of more than two hours, and up to five hours at peaks. Three days later a senior Commission official told Skift there would be "some further flexibility", without saying what it would look like. Read more in our report on the EES queue row between airlines and Brussels.
Practical tip: on your first trip, allow extra time at the airport, especially for flights arriving at peak hours, and leave a long buffer before any onward connection. If you are travelling from the UK by ferry or Eurostar, the EES check happens before departure, so arrive early there too. Indian travellers can find more detail in our guide to EES for Indian passport holders.
ETIAS: the travel permit that still has no start date
ETIAS (the European Travel Information and Authorisation System) is an online permit that visa-free travellers will need before flying to Europe, similar to the US ESTA. It has been delayed many times. The earlier target of the last quarter of 2026 has been dropped, and as of mid-October 2026 the EU had not announced a launch date. The EU says it will announce the start "several months" in advance.
| Detail | ETIAS (when it launches) |
|---|---|
| Who needs it | Citizens of 59 visa-free countries and territories, including the UK, US, Canada and Australia |
| Countries it covers | 30: the 29 EES countries plus Cyprus |
| Fee | €20; free for under-18s and over-70s |
| Validity | 3 years, or until your passport expires if sooner |
| Stays allowed | Up to 90 days in any 180-day period |
| Processing | Usually minutes; some applications up to 30 days |
| Transition | At least 6 months in which travellers without ETIAS are still admitted, then a further grace period |
Warning: because ETIAS is not yet running, any website taking money for an "ETIAS application" today is not official. See our article on the ETIAS delay and scam websites.
Schengen in 2026 and the 90/180-day rule
The Schengen area has 29 members: 25 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Bulgaria and Romania became full members on 1 January 2025, when land border checks with them were lifted. Cyprus is in the EU but not yet in Schengen, and Ireland has opted out.
How the 90/180 rule works
Visitors on a short stay can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area. It is a rolling window, not a calendar half-year. On any day of your trip, look back over the previous 180 days and count every day you spent in Schengen, including the days you arrived and left. The total must not be more than 90.
The European Commission's own example: a traveller spends 1 January in Schengen, then arrives again on 1 June and stays. On 29 August, the 180-day window runs from 3 March to 29 August. That window contains 90 days (1 June to 29 August), and the January visit has dropped out, so 29 August is the last day they can stay.
- Days in Cyprus and Ireland do not count towards the 90.
- Days in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland do count.
- Days spent on a national long-stay visa or residence permit do not count.
Overstaying is now much easier to spot, because the EES records every entry and exit automatically. The Commission offers an official short-stay calculator online.
If you need a Schengen visa
Travellers from countries such as India and China still need a Schengen short-stay ("C") visa, and the EES applies to them as well. The main numbers:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Visa fee (since 11 June 2024) | €90 adults; €45 children aged 6–11; free under 6 |
| Service fees | Charged on top by visa centres such as VFS Global |
| When to apply | No earlier than 6 months and no later than 15 days before travel |
| Standard processing | 15 calendar days, extendable to 45 |
| Travel medical insurance | Minimum €30,000 cover valid across all Schengen countries |
Indian residents can benefit from the "cascade" rule the Commission adopted on 18 April 2024. After two Schengen visas used lawfully in the previous three years, applicants can usually receive a two-year multiple-entry visa, followed normally by a five-year visa, as long as the passport is valid long enough. Apply to the country where you will spend the most time, or the country of first entry if your time is evenly split.
For an example itinerary built around a Schengen visa, see our Colosseum and Roman Forum guide for Indian travellers.
The UK ETA
The UK is not in Schengen, so neither EES nor ETIAS applies there. Instead the UK has its own Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), enforced since 25 February 2026 on a "no permission, no travel" basis. It covers 85 visa-free nationalities, including EU and US citizens.
- Fee: £20 since 8 April 2026 (it was £16 before that and £10 at launch).
- Validity: 2 years, or until your passport expires, for multiple visits of up to 6 months each.
- Applying: through the official UK ETA app or GOV.UK. Decisions usually come within minutes, but the Home Office advises applying at least 3 working days ahead.
- Who doesn't need one: British and Irish citizens and people with UK residence status. Babies and children need their own ETA.
- Transit: needed only if you pass through UK passport control.
If you plan a London-Paris-Rome trip, you may need a UK ETA and, once it launches, an ETIAS: two separate permits.
Cyprus and Ireland: the exceptions
Cyprus is outside Schengen and the EES, but will be in ETIAS. It issues its own national visas, but according to the Cyprus Mail it accepts valid double- or multiple-entry Schengen visas for short visits (single-entry visas do not qualify, and some nationalities are excluded). Days in Cyprus do not count towards your Schengen 90.
Ireland is in neither Schengen, the EES nor ETIAS. A Schengen visa does not let you enter Ireland; you need an Irish visa unless you are covered by a specific scheme such as the British Irish Visa Scheme. Check the Irish immigration service before booking.
Tourist taxes city by city
Most European cities charge a tourist or "city" tax on overnight stays, usually added to your hotel bill or collected at check-in. It is rarely included in the price you see on a booking site, so budget for it separately. Here are the main ones and what changed recently.
| Place | Rate | Since / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | Up to €12 per person per night in luxury hotels (€7 regional tax + €5 city surcharge); €9.50 in tourist flats | Regional tax doubled from 1 April 2026; city surcharge rising €1 a year to €8 by 2029 |
| Rest of Catalonia | Up to €4.50 per night | Planned to rise to €6 from April 2027 |
| Paris | €2.60 (1-star) to €15.93 (palace) per person per night; 5% of the nightly price for unclassified rentals such as Airbnb, capped at €15.93 | 2026 grid; includes an Île-de-France transport surcharge; under-18s exempt |
| Amsterdam | 12.5% of the room price (before VAT); €15 per day for cruise day visitors | Cruise levy rose from €14.50 in 2026 |
| Rome | €3 (campsites) to €10 (5-star) per person per night, for up to 10 nights | Current rates approved in July 2023; under-10s exempt |
| Lisbon | €4 per person per night | Since 1 September 2024 |
| Edinburgh | 5% of the room price for the first 5 nights | Stays from 24 July 2026; applies to UK residents too |
| Glasgow / Aberdeen | 5% / 7% | From January and April 2027 |
| Wales | £1.30 per person per night (75p hostels and campsites) | From April 2027 where councils adopt it, including Cardiff |
| Greece (hotels) | €2 to €15 per room per night from April to October, depending on star rating; €8 for short-term rentals | "Climate resilience fee" since 2025; lower in winter |
| Santorini and Mykonos (cruise) | €20 per passenger in peak season (June–September) | Since July 2025; lower rates off-season |
| Norway | Councils may add 3% to accommodation prices | Law in force from 1 July 2026; most councils expected to start collecting in 2027 |
The Nordic countries are moving too. Read our explainer on Nordic tourist taxes in Norway, Iceland and Finland.
What happened to the Venice day-tripper fee?
Venice ran its access fee again in 2026, charging day-trippers to the historic centre €5 if they paid at least four days ahead or €10 after that, on 60 selected days between April and late July, from 8:30am to 4pm. Overnight guests and residents were exempt. According to the official Venice access-fee site, the fee no longer applied from 27 July 2026, and any 2027 scheme depends on a new decision by the city council. If you are planning a 2027 day trip, check cda.veneziaunica.it nearer the time.
Short-term rentals
Barcelona plans not to renew around 10,000 tourist-flat licences when they expire in November 2028, which would effectively end holiday flat rentals in the city. Spain's Constitutional Court upheld the rules. Several Spanish destinations have seen large protests against mass tourism; a march in Mallorca on 26 July 2026 drew 25,000 people by the police count. None of this affects your trip directly today, but it explains why more cities are raising taxes and limiting rentals.
Museum and monument prices
The biggest change for 2026 came from France. From 14 January 2026, several state-run sites introduced higher prices for visitors from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
| Site | Price for non-EEA adults | For comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Louvre, Paris | €32 | EEA visitors pay €22 |
| Palace of Versailles | €35 high season, €25 low season | Previously €32 |
| Sainte-Chapelle, Paris | €22 | Base price €16 |
| Château de Chambord | €31 | EEA visitors pay €21; under-18s free |
| Pompeii | €20 basic ticket, €25 Pompeii+, €30 3-day ticket | All visitors; from 12 January 2026 |
| Acropolis, Athens | €30 | All visitors; since April 2025 (was €20) |
| Trevi Fountain, Rome | €2 to enter the basin area | From 2 February 2026; view from the square still free |
If you have an EU, EEA or Swiss residence permit, carry it: at sites with two-tier pricing, it can qualify you for the lower rate. Check each site's official page before relying on this. For sites such as the Sagrada Família and the Alhambra, prices are the same for everyone, but timed tickets often sell out weeks ahead, so book through the official websites only.
Visitor caps and crowd limits
- Acropolis: up to 20,000 visitors a day with hourly entry slots, in place since September 2023.
- Pompeii: a daily cap of 20,000, with tickets issued in the visitor's name, since November 2024.
- Dubrovnik: no more than 4,000 cruise passengers in the old town at the same time.
- Cinque Terre: a paid Trekking Card is required on the coastal paths during the main season (mid-March to early November in 2026), with prices that vary by demand. Check the national park's site for current prices.
- Louvre and Vatican Museums: timed tickets are strongly recommended; see our guides to the Louvre and the Vatican, St Peter's and the Sistine Chapel.
Pre-trip checklist
- Passport: for Schengen it should be issued within the last 10 years and valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave.
- Visa or permit: Schengen visa if you need one; UK ETA if you visit Britain; ETIAS only once it actually launches.
- Count your days: use the Commission's 90/180 calculator if you travel to Europe often.
- Allow for EES queues: arrive early and leave a long gap before connections on your first trip.
- Budget for tourist tax: it is usually paid at the hotel, often in cash or on a separate card charge.
- Book major sites ahead: and only on official websites, to avoid resale mark-ups.
- Insurance: at least €30,000 medical cover if you need a Schengen visa; strongly advised for everyone else.
- Check the official sites a week before you go, because rules on queues and ETIAS are still changing.
FAQ
Do I need ETIAS for a trip to Europe in 2026?
No. ETIAS was not running as of late October 2026 and has no launch date. When it does start, there will be a transition period of at least six months. Do not pay any website for ETIAS until the EU confirms a start date.
Will my passport still be stamped?
No. Since the EES became fully operational on 10 April 2026, your entries and exits are recorded digitally instead.
Can I refuse to give my fingerprints?
Biometric registration is part of the standard entry process for non-EU visitors on short stays, and the EU's own information says registration is mandatory. If you have concerns, check with the country you are entering before travelling.
Do children need to register with the EES?
Yes, but children under 12 do not give fingerprints.
I am an EU citizen. Do I need a UK ETA?
Yes, unless you are also British or Irish or have UK residence status. EU citizens have needed an ETA to visit the UK since it was enforced in February 2026.
Does a Schengen visa let me visit Ireland or the UK?
No. Both have their own entry rules. Cyprus, however, accepts valid multiple-entry Schengen visas for short visits.
Are tourist taxes included in my booking price?
Usually not. Most booking sites show them separately or not at all, and hotels collect them at check-in or check-out.
Is the Venice fee coming back?
The 2026 trial ended on 27 July 2026. Whether it returns in 2027 depends on a new decision by Venice city council.
This guide reflects official and news sources checked in October 2026. Entry rules can change at short notice; always confirm with official government sites before you travel.
Sources
- European Commission: The Entry/Exit System is fully operational since 10 April 2026 — who is exempt?
- European Commission: Entry/Exit System (EES)
- House of Commons Library: The EU Entry/Exit system and EU travel authorisation system
- Skift: Easing EU border friction — there will be flexibility, official says
- Euronews: Europe has delayed the roll-out of ETIAS indefinitely
- Council of the EU: The Schengen area explained
- European Commission: Applying for a Schengen visa
- EEAS India: India to benefit from new cascade visa regime
- GOV.UK: UK enforces digital permission to travel
- Cyprus Mail: Cyprus visa requirements
- Venice Access Fee (official site)
- Catalan News: Catalonia to double tourist tax from April
- City of Edinburgh Council: About the visitor levy
- Paris je t’aime: Museum pricing for visitors from outside Europe
- Pompeii Archaeological Park: New admission fees from 12 January 2026
- Turismo Roma: Trevi Fountain new entry fee
- The Local Spain: Tens of thousands march in Mallorca
