Is three months the same as 90 days in the Schengen zone?

Not necessarily. Calendar months vary from 28 to 31 days, so three months could be anywhere from 89 to 92 days. Always count actual days rather than thinking in months.

Campervan parked with a European mountain view

Schengen Calculator

Track your 90/180 day allowance and plan your European travels.

Schengen 90/180 Day Rule Calculator

This free calculator helps vanlifers, campervan and motorhome travellers track their Schengen zone days. The Schengen area operates a 90/180 day rule: you can spend a maximum of 90 days within any rolling 180 day window inside the zone.

How it works

Enter your travel dates and the calculator tracks how many of your 90 days you have used, how many remain, and when you must exit by. It uses a rolling 180 day window, not fixed calendar periods.

Example scenarios

30 days in France (1 Jan to 30 Jan): 60 days remaining. You must exit by 1 April. Your days reset gradually, with 1 January freeing up on 1 July.
60 days across Spain and Portugal (1 Feb to 1 Apr): 30 days remaining. A short trip to non Schengen Albania or Montenegro pauses your count but does not reset it.
90 days touring Italy, Greece, Croatia (1 Jan to 31 Mar): 0 days remaining. You cannot re enter until 1 July when your earliest days begin falling outside the 180 day window.

Croatia joined Schengen in 2023. Bulgaria and Romania fully joined in January 2025. All three now count toward your 90 days.

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Plan your next adventure

Add all your Schengen zone trips from the last 180 days so the calculator can work out your remaining allowance. Whether you are touring in a campervan, motorhome or car, every day inside the zone counts. You can also add future trips to check whether they would put you over the limit.

Country

Entry date

Exit date

Days remaining 90

Days used 0

Next entry date —

0 days 90 days

Schengen Non-Schengen Planned Today

This calculator is a reference tool only. We accept no responsibility for its accuracy. Always verify your own calculations and check the latest entry requirements before travelling.

Schengen Zone Countries

The Schengen Area is treated as a single zone for immigration purposes. Any time spent in any member country counts toward your 90 day allowance, regardless of which country you enter or exit through.

EU Schengen Members (25)

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden

Non-EU Schengen Members (4)

Iceland Liechtenstein Norway Switzerland

Croatia (2023), Bulgaria and Romania (2025) are now full Schengen members. Many older guides still say they are not. Time in these countries now counts toward your 90 days.

EU but Not Schengen

Days in these countries do NOT count toward your Schengen 90 days.

Cyprus

EU member since 2004 but not in Schengen. Popular winter destination for vanlifers. Flights only for vans (no practical ferry route).

Ireland

EU member with a permanent Schengen opt out. Part of the Common Travel Area with the UK. Own entry rules.

Non-Schengen Alternatives

Countries that vanlifers, campervan and motorhome travellers commonly use to pause the Schengen clock. Days here do not count toward your 90 days.

Albania 90 days in 180 Via Greece or Montenegro

Bosnia & Herzegovina 90 days in 180 Via Croatia (Schengen transit)

Kosovo 90 days Via Serbia, N. Macedonia or Montenegro

Montenegro 90 days in 180 Via Bosnia or Croatia (Schengen transit)

North Macedonia 90 days Via Greece (Schengen) or Kosovo

Serbia 90 days in 180 Via Hungary (Schengen) or Bosnia

Turkey 90 days in 180 Via Bulgaria or Greece (Schengen transit). Ferry from Italy.

Morocco 90 days Ferry from Spain (Tarifa, Algeciras)

Tunisia 90 days Ferry from Italy (Genoa, Palermo)

Georgia 365 days Via Turkey (long drive)

Driving through a Schengen country to reach a non-Schengen destination still uses Schengen days. For example, reaching Bosnia requires transiting through Croatia (Schengen), and reaching Turkey requires transiting Bulgaria or Greece (both Schengen). Plan transit days into your calculations.

The Rule Explained

If you are travelling Europe in a campervan, motorhome or any other vehicle, understanding the Schengen 90/180 day rule is essential. As UK passport holders (since Brexit), we are allowed no more than 90 days in any 180 day period inside the Schengen zone. That applies to every Schengen country combined, not per country.

The key phrase is "any 180 day period". This is a rolling window, not a fixed calendar period. On every single day you are inside the Schengen zone, border officials can look back 180 days and count how many of those days you spent in any Schengen country. If the count reaches 90, you have hit the limit.

We find the easiest way to think about it is this: imagine a 180 day window sliding forward one day at a time. Each day, the window drops off its oldest day and picks up a new one. Your allowance depends on how many Schengen days sit inside that window at any given moment.

How the Rolling Window Works

Days do not reset all at once. They expire one by one, exactly 180 days after each day was used. This is the bit that catches most vanlifers out, ourselves included when we first started touring Europe in our campervan after Brexit.

You drive into Spain on 1 March and park up for 90 days straight until 29 May. All 90 days are used. If you leave on 30 May, the earliest you can re-enter for even one day is 28 August (180 days after 1 March). You get one more day back each day after that. A full 90 days would not be available again until 25 November.

The only way to get a full reset is to stay completely outside the Schengen zone for 90 consecutive days. For us personally, that has meant taking the van to the Balkans, Morocco, or heading back to the UK.

Entry and Exit Days

Both the day you enter and the day you leave count as full days. There are no half days. Drive across a border at 11pm and that whole day counts. Leave at 6am and that whole day counts too. We have heard people say the exit day does not count, but officially it does, and it is not worth gambling on a technicality when an overstay goes on your record.

Common Misconceptions

"Leaving resets the clock"

It does not. The window is rolling. Previous days remain in the calculation until each one is more than 180 days in the past. Leaving the Schengen zone pauses your accumulation but does not erase what you have already used. We have seen fellow vanlifers get caught out by this, assuming a quick ferry back to the UK would wipe the slate clean.

"It is 90 days per country"

The entire Schengen zone counts as one area. Driving your campervan from France to Spain to Italy uses the same 90 day allowance. There is no separate counter for each country. We wish there were, but that is not how it works.

"Three months is 90 days"

Calendar months vary from 28 to 31 days. Three months could be anywhere from 89 to 92 days. Always count actual days rather than thinking in months. This calculator does that for you automatically, which is exactly why we built it.

"Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania do not count"

Dangerously outdated. Croatia joined Schengen in 2023. Bulgaria and Romania fully joined in January 2025. All three now count toward your 90 days. Many older guides, forum posts and even some vanlife blogs still say otherwise. If you are planning a Balkans route in your motorhome or campervan, double check everything against current information.

Consequences of Overstaying

We are not trying to scare anyone, but it is worth knowing what happens if you go over. Fines range from around EUR 500 to EUR 10,000 depending on the country and how long the overstay was. Entry bans of 1 to 5 years can be applied, and because they are recorded in the Schengen Information System, a ban in one country effectively means a ban across the entire zone. For us, the peace of mind of tracking our days properly far outweighs any risk.

What Is Changing

EES (Entry/Exit System)

Launched in October 2025, this digitally records every non-EU citizen's entry and exit using biometrics. It automatically calculates days spent inside Schengen and flags overstays. Every entry and exit is now precisely tracked, which means the days of border officials manually flipping through passport stamps are essentially over. For vanlifers and motorhome travellers making frequent border crossings, this actually makes things simpler. No more worrying about a faded stamp being misread.

ETIAS

Expected in late 2026, this is a pre travel authorisation similar to the US ESTA. It costs EUR 7 and is valid for 3 years. It does not change the 90/180 rule itself, but UK passport holders will need to apply online before travelling to any Schengen country. We will update this page once it goes live.