Do I need a Schengen visa if I fly from South Africa to Munchen and then to Istanbul?
We are from South Africa and are going to Italy for holiday for which we got a Schengen visa.
We are flying to Munchen and then to Italy. Now my husband wants to go two days earlier to first go to Istanbul for business reasons, but our Schengen visa is only valid form the day after.
Can we transfer at Munchen without the Schengen visa being valid? By the time we come back from Istanbul our visas will be valid.
Hester
South Africa
Reply by Marion
Hello Hester,
In case you don't want to leave the Munich airport and are just changing planes you won't need a Schengen visa.
But this means you have to stay in the transit area and cannot leave, not even for 5 minutes or so. As long as this is fine with you, I don't see any problems.
You might need a visa for Turkey, though. I'm not sure how the regulations are over there.
Don't forget to extend your travel insurance to cover the longer trip.
