Passports & visas

Most destinations require passports for entry; however, entry requirements vary by country and citizenship. Research your specific destination ahead of time.

Visa requirements and fees vary widely for each country and you should check with your nearest consulate or embassy for official visa requirements in the country you intend to travel to.

Passport Application Information

For U.S. Citizens

Get your passport in order well in advance of your trip – processing times are typically 6–8 weeks (with expedited service still 2–3 weeks). Fees currently start at $110 and increase from there depending on the passport type and processing time. Get started at the U.S. State Department website.

Visas are not required for short visits to most countries, but a few countries require visas even for bike tourists! The State Department has comprehensive entry requirements for every country.

For Non-U.S. Citizens

Contact the embassy or consulate of your destination to get detailed entry requirements for citizens of your home country.

If obtaining or updating your passport or visa is overwhelming to you, let someone else handle all this for you!

We recommend CIBT Visas. Their services include:

• Passports: Applications, renewals, extra pages, replacements if lost/stolen, expedited filing services.
• Visas: Up-to-date knowledge of ever-changing visa requirements and other country entrance requirements or fees, filing visa requests and fast-tracking requests.
• Concierge service: Option for a dedicated specialist to manage your entire application process from start to finish.

US and Canadian BikeToursDirect clients get 30% off service fees. Learn more about CIBT Visas:

• US citizens
  Or call 1-800-577-2428, reference account number 101052.*
• Canadian citizens
  Or call 1-888-665-9956, reference account number 11842.*
• UK citizens
  Or call 0207 963 3873, reference you are traveling with BikeTours.com for the discount.**
• Australian citizens
  Or call 1300 882 977, reference account number 300507.***

Tip: We recommend photocopying your passport and keeping the copy in a separate place (like a checked bag) in case your passport is lost or stolen. Or scan your passport and email it to yourself as an attachment (we’re pretty serious about packing light). Even if you lose your bags, you can still download it online. It’s also helpful to have several passport photos with you in case you need to replace your passport.

*CIBT Visas provides services for citizens of Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Note that service fee discount is currently valid only for services related to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia passports and visas for citizens.

**CIBT Visas bases the discount for UK clients on the current public rate. Please call them to verify the discount.

***Australian clients will receive 10% discount off service fees.

Additional documentation

It is each traveler's responsibility to ensure that you are in compliance with the country or countries you plan to visit. This includes and is not limited to passport validity, visa requirements and acquisition, blank passport pages required for your destination (s), etc.

Beginning in 2024, the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) is expected to be fully operational. This will be required to visit any of the 26 Schengen-member countries for tourism, business, medical, or transit. The application only takes only about 10 minutes and requires a €7 fee. Once your application is approved, this will be valid for 3 years or until the validity of your passport/travel documents. Approval of your application should only take a few minutes, however we do not recommend waiting until the last minute to complete your application.

US citizens: A good website to research the requirements of the Schengen Agreement and entry into other countries is travel.state.gov.

Non-EU and EU residents: Please research the requirements of your country of residence for international travel and your destination country or countries.