TRAVEL DESK / RULE GUIDE
Schengen 90/180 rule explained, with a worked example
By Eutopix Labs · 29 September 2026
Short-stay visitors to the Schengen area may stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The rule is simple to state and easy to miscount, because the 180-day period moves every day. This guide shows how the count works. It is not legal advice; the European Commission's short-stay calculator and guidance are the official reference.
The rule in one sentence
On any day you are in the Schengen area, look back over the 180 days ending on that day, including that day. You may have been present on no more than 90 of them.
Five counting details that trip people up
- The window rolls. There is no fixed start date and no reset on 1 January. Every day has its own 180-day look-back.
- Entry and exit days both count. A trip from Friday to Sunday uses three days, not two.
- All Schengen countries share one allowance. Ten days in France and ten in Italy use twenty days in total.
- Days come back one at a time. A day stops counting once it is more than 179 days in the past, so the allowance recovers gradually, not all at once.
- A future trip must fit on every day. Checking only the arrival date is not enough; the count must stay at or under 90 on each day until you leave.
Long-stay visas, residence permits and some bilateral agreements follow different rules. Check which rules apply to you before relying on a 90/180 count.
Worked example
Suppose you spent 1–29 March 2026 in Spain (29 days) and 1 May–30 June 2026 in Portugal (61 days). On 30 June you have used 90 days, so none remain.
The earliest day you could return is 28 August 2026. On that day the window runs from 2 March to 28 August, 1 March has dropped out, and 28 August itself becomes day 90.
From there, each extra day works only because a March day drops out. The March days run out after 29 March leaves the window, so a stay starting 28 August must end by 25 September 2026, which is 29 days. On 26 September the count would reach 91, because the next days to drop out are from May, and they do not start leaving until late October.
This is why a single "days remaining" number can mislead. The number that matters for planning is the longest stay that fits on every day of the trip.
Records to keep
Keep your own list of entry and exit dates, backed by boarding passes, tickets or booking confirmations. The EU's Entry/Exit System now records border crossings of non-EU short-stay travellers electronically, so small errors in your own count are more likely to be noticed. If your record and a calculator disagree, go back to the dates.
Keep the dates in one place
KnowDays is a private iPhone travel ledger that shows every date behind a count. It is free on the App Store; a one-time Lifetime purchase adds unlimited history, planning and exports. It is a record-keeping tool, not legal, immigration or tax advice.