Question about Dual Citizenship and some more...

[spetz]

Hey

Got a few questions on my mind so i hope you guys can help me out. A little info first I am a swiss/canadian living in canada planning to go to europe for about 4 months of fall 2010.

1. What passport do i travel with leaving entering etc... as I have dual citizen ship, i can only be in the schengen zone for 90 days as a Canadian. So what is my best bet here?

2. Even though p-to-p tickets can often be a better deal would a 3month euro rail pass be a good deal as it is very cheap compared to others. It would give me more option to move freely?

3. I have seen a lot of discussion about planning specific routes since I am there for a while would I be feasible to be going back to Switzerland multiple times as I have various family/friends to visit and i can go when they have free time? I think this would work well if i had the euro rail pass?

4. Does the Euro Rail pass cover most trains in switzerland?

5. Since I am going in the fall what should i be aware... looking for tips or anything?

6. Also brining clothes weather wise, do i need to bring much cause it will be warm still when i leave and im used to canadian cold. Would it be a good idea to just buy stuff if i need it on my trip?

7. Would about $100 CND a day be enough?

8. What kind of success have people had sleeping on trains, in regular 2nd class I can sleep almost any where(i could provide examples )?

9. Open wifi... how likely am i to find it im hoping to be able to check my email via wifi on my phone?

ok, lets hope i havent rambled to much and most of this makes sense.

[Eagle]

spetz,

I don't know the answers to all of your questions, but will offer a few comments and suggestions.

1.) As you're planning to stay for a period of time that exceeds the limits of the Schengen Visa, I suspect that it would be better to travel on the Swiss Passport. You might want to check the net for more specific information on the Schengen Visa, as there may be an exclusion for those holding European Passports. There's no way to know how this might be interpreted by officials - they may look at "principal residence" of the individual or length of time that you've been living in another country? I'm wondering whether it might be useful to pack the Canadian Passport as well? You could also contact the Swiss Embassy for further information.

2.) For such a long trip, there may be advantages in using a 3-month Eurail Pass. However, keep in mind that the Pass does not include the reservation fees which are compulsory on some trains. In actual practice, it may not be as "cheap" as it first appears. Also, there are some private rail lines in Switzerland, and I'm not sure if all of these will accept Eurail Passes?

3.) It's difficult to comment on this, as I'm not sure what routes you're considering? Most of us here only have the ability to travel for a limited time, so it's essential to plan definite routes to fit the time we have available. Hopefully someone else can comment on that.

4.) I'd have to check that before commenting further (refer to #2 above). The Eurail website should have more detail on what's included with the Passes.

5.) I've travelled Switzerland in the fall, and the only suggestion I'd make would be to pack some light rain gear and clothing that can be layered. Good footwear is essential too. I found it to be not too crowded, although it's the fall shoulder season so there may still be a fair number of tourists (therefore may be an idea to pre-book some lodgings).

6.) See #5 above. I wouldn't "buy stuff" as it will be less expensive to just bring clothing from home.

7.) It's difficult to say whether Cdn$100 will be adequate, as you didn't provide any information on your "travel style". Are you going to be doing a lot of clubbing and drinking, visiting Museums and Galleries, eating in restaurants every day or just buying a sandwich and a bottle of juice at a deli? You'll need to allow for local transportation as well, such as Metro or Trams. Cdn.$100 is only about €62 or CHF$92. If you have family or friends to stay with, this will certainly help your travel budget.

8.) Sleeping on trains is not something I've done (except for short naps). Whether you can "sleep almost anywhere" is not really the issue. If you're travelling alone, sleeping in second class would be a bit risky IMO. You might find your Backpack missing when you wake up!

9.) I've found free Wi-Fi at some Hotels, especially in the U.K. but I don't think it's prevalent everywhere. Most Starbucks and other coffee houses may offer 30-minutes free Wi-Fi access with a purchase, but then charge a fee after that. Some Hotels and Hostels provide on-site Net Cafes, but most of these come with a fee.

Your comment about checking your E-mail via Wi-Fi on your Phone raised some very large red flags!!! Could you provide some further details: What type of phone are you using and which cell network are you with? If you're planning on using roaming with your home cell network (which has to be one of the GSM networks), you'll want to be very careful with data usage charges when roaming, as they get very expensive very quickly!

Hopefully the others will have some comments as well.

Cheers!

[spetz]

Thanks for the reply, one thing i should add I do plan on visiting mostly countries in western europe + ireland.

For the email on phone wifi i got that sorted out i use wifi all the time here, i have data disabled on my phone so i wont get any charges that way. It is the N95 8gb pretty sweet phone and is gsm, I may get a sim card in europe to make local calls etc... that i will look into more my friend gave me a spare one last time i visted him but my phone wasnt unlocked so that didnt work out. I do know about the crazy charges for phones even a txt msg is like a dollar.

As for travel style budget all the way hostels, grocery store etc... though gotta enjoy some good local cuisine once and a while.
I wana see a lot of the free sites but am willing to pay to see stuff that is worth it not a huge museum guy. I would like to be able to experience the culture, experience new things, broaden my view of the world So visit some of the smaller towns etc... and travel to see some of the more beautiful parts of europe. One the drinking note i plan to be going to pubs on occasion but no excessive drinking and not much plans on clubbing maybe a couple times.

[jessus]

Hello! Okay my main answer here (I think...) will be about the dual. I'm a dual Canadian-Irish citizen, and I just travelled Europe for a couple months (only 2 though, so Schengen issues weren't a problem for me.)

SO
1) I do believe that if you are living in Canada, you pretty much have to leave & enter Canada on your Canadian passport. I think you are actually supposed to leave & enter any country of your citizenship with that passport, but I didn't in Ireland, and just travelled as a Canadian visitor (I wasn't staying overly long, so that was okay).
I did travel carrying both passports, but only using my Canadian. (There was some discounts for EU citizens at sites!)
You could travel on both, but I've heard that there are sometimes holdups from customs if you do that (no personal experience there).
You can only be in teh Schengen zone for 90 days as a Canadian, but if I'm not mistaken, Switzerland isn't in the Schengen zone, so if you're popping in and out you could bypass the 90 days thing... I'm a bit rusty on my Schengen rules, but there's lots of threads on here.
So... yeah. I don't have a definite answer, just basically what I did & what I learned!
The Canadian government has a site on dual citizenship: www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/dualci_e.asp (even though they make it a little intimidating. Lol.)

2) That 3-month pass does seem like a good deal. I would probably do it that way if I was in your position. (Even though yeah, you would be paying some "reservation" fees.).

3) That sounds logical enough to me. Switzerland is easy enough to hit from a lot of countries because it's pretty central. And if you're going to go back and forth, the Railpass makes even more sense I think.

6) Bring stuff! Buying could get pricey. And even though I'm in Canada too, it felt pretty cold in several places when I was there in Sept & Oct last year. (Not -20 sort of cold, but a cold that you can still really feel when you are outside seeing things all day! Plus, I found several of the hostels I stayed in were a bit chilly.

7) I think you could probably do it, though, yep, it depends on travel style! I converted and that's about 62E (Sorry, don't know how to make the symbol!). you need (all approximations! Depends on where you are too).... 20-25E/day for a hostel... 20-25E a day for food (if you eat on the cheap). And that would leave 17-22E for local transportation, reservations on train tickets, and entertainment/entrance fees/sightseeing/etc. Tight, but feasible!

8) I've done it a lot, with success. Never booked a night train though (or a sleeper car).

[madamtrashheap]

jesssus' point about leaving and entering Canada on your Canadian passport is correct. Then you can enter the EU on your Swiss Passport (flash that red cover!) and leave on your Swiss Passport from your final point (ie when flying back to Canada). It's important to remember this order as if you enter on a Swiss and leave on a Canadian document you might be questioned as to how you got there - it's very unusual to be stamped when leaving the EU, but if you can't produce a stamp for the passport you're leaving on, just in case you're asked, you might run into issues. So Eagle's point about taking both passports is spot on - use the Canadian p/p for Canadian sections and the Swiss p/p for EU sections and you'll be fine, just don't swap mid-trip!

Switzerland is now part of the Schengen Zone (as of December 2008).

[spetz]

Likeing the replies, madamtrashheap reply makes sense to me. Interesting enough last time i went to switzerland I entered with my Canadian passport they guy just glanced at it and let me in didnt even have an option to declare anything and no stamps.