Travel Aware: Advice for British travellers from the FCO

More and more people travel overseas and with access to information via Wi-Fi and data roaming increasing, travel advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has evolved.

There is now a need for a greater variety of good quality travel information as travel advice is relevant during your time abroad, as well as pre-departure, to help ensure you have a safe holiday.

To address this need, the FCO has evolved their Know Before You Go pre-departure advisory campaign into Travel Aware, which offers travel tips and information to cover both of these stages.

Travel Aware offers the following advice for people going on holiday to help make sure you have a trouble-free, enjoyable trip:

• Insurance – Take out appropriate travel insurance before travelling and make sure it covers you for all the activities you want to do. If you are travelling within Europe, ensure you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) that hasn’t expired and understand what it covers – you will still need travel insurance! For your free EHIC card visit www.nhs.uk/ehic

• Research – Learn about the laws, customs and entry requirements of the country you’re visiting and understand how they differ from home, check www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. Penalties if you get it wrong can be severe so think twice and know the risks. Understand what consular staff can and can’t do to help British nationals travelling overseas. Familiarise yourself with the number of the local British Consulate in case of an emergency.

• Vaccinations – Check if vaccinations are required for your destination. For medical advice, visit travelhealthpro.org.uk.

• Make sure travel documents are up to date – Check your passport is valid and you have all necessary visas. Look after them while travelling. Once in resort, keep them in a safe place at all times. To make copies of important travel documents, take a picture of them and/or store them online using a secure data storage site.

• Keep an eye out while you are away – Act responsibly and be responsible for yourself when abroad. Tell someone where you’re going and provide them with emergency contact details. Take enough money with you and make sure you have access to emergency funds. Keep an eye on your drink and stick with your friends and/or family

Travel Aware aims to better prepare British travellers before you travel and while you are abroad with a view to reducing the number of problems you could face when overseas and ultimately the number of consular cases.

For the latest travel updates from the FCO follow: @FCOtravel on Twitter and facebook.com/FCOtravel