Feeling rusty? Everything you need to remember before a holiday abroad

As the current deluge of travellers awaiting passports and queueing at airports suggests, international travel is firmly back.

Many of us are taking our first or second trip since the big travel shutdown of the Covid-19 pandemic – and airports and airlines have suggested that some of us are feeling rusty.

With airports emphasising the need to keep hand luggage liquids separate and electronics ready to remove – and airlines re-issuing rules around baggage, boarding etiquette and other standard aspects of travel – it seems we might need a refresher on the old holiday checklist.

So what are the top things to consider before you leave home and set of abroad, by plane, train or ferry?

Here’s everything you need to know.

I need my passport for everywhere “abroad”, right?

For British citizens, yes – everywhere except Ireland.

When visiting our emerald neighbour, part of the Common Travel Area, you don’t technically need a passport – though the Foreign Office advises “Irish immigration officers will check the ID of all passengers arriving by air from the UK and may ask for proof of nationality, particularly if you were born outside the UK. You are therefore advised to take your British passport with you.” In addition, Ryanair requires all UK travellers flying with it to Ireland to have a valid passport.

For everywhere else, yes, pack that passport. Which brings us to…

Is my passport in date?

Some countries demand that your passport is a certain amount of time away from its expiry date.

One development that has possibly cropped up since you last travelled: Brexit put a bit of a spanner in the works by changing the passport requirements for Britons visiting the EU and wider Schengen Area (including Switzerland and Norway).

While the UK was in the European Union, British passports were valid up to and including their expiry date for travel within the EU. But since the end of the Brexit transition phase, British passport holders are treated as “third country nationals” with stipulations about passport issue and expiry dates – together with limits on the length of stay almost everywhere in Europe.

If you are a non-EU national wishing to visit or travel within the EU and Schengen Area, your passport must pass these two independent tests:

All children’s passports meet this…