Work and Travel Europe

Would you like to live and work in another European country for a whole year? Work and Travel can make this dream come true. This popular programme offers young people the chance to travel around in their dream country, gain new experiences and at the same time bump up their travel budget. EU citizens do not even need a visa for Work and Travel Europe. You can just go ahead and work in another country.  

In this article, you can find out what requirements there are, how to find jobs and what else you should consider.

If you are an EU citizen, you do not need a visa to live and work in another country within the EU. In some countries, however, you will have to register your address after three months, in a few rare cases even earlier. In some countries you will also need a tax number within the first three months.

Tip: To circumvent the registration requirements in some countries, you can take yourself on a little tour of Europe. Start off in France, for example, travel on to Spain after three months and then to Portugal. Of course, this is also possible for all other countries in Europe.

If you are not an EU citizen, you can apply for a working holiday visa for almost all European countries. Not all countries offer this sort of visa for all nationalities. Be sure to do your homework here.

It is certainly also important for you to know what jobs you can do in the Work and Travel Europe programme. This will depend a lot on the individual countries. In Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, for example, you can look for jobs in the tourism or catering industry, but also in agriculture. In the Netherlands and Germany, you can help out at events such as festivals, in hotels, hostels or as a harvest hand.

Typical industries for Work and Travel are:

• Gastronomy
• Tourism
• Events
• Agriculture
• Language teaching

The best place to find a job is directly on site. You can simply ask in restaurants, hotels or hostels or you can take a look at one of these online portals:

• Workaway.info (volunteer work in exchange for bed & board)
• WWOOF (Farm work)
• Hosteljobs.net

Always keep your eyes and ears open, since you will often hear about vacancies simply through word of mouth.

For some jobs, you will receive free accommodation and sometimes meals too. If this is not the case, you can book a bed in a hostel, for example. These sometimes offer discounts if you stay for longer periods. But you could also book an Airbnb. If couchsurfing is your thing, you should definitely make sure that the providers are reputable and that you feel comfortable.

You should have a small financial cushion to ensure that you can take care of yourself in the first few weeks until you have found a job and earn your first pay. Moreover, you might find that you earn less money than you spend – after all, you want to experience things and undertake activities on your trip too. For this reason, you should have a starting budget of around 1,000 to 2,000 euros.

As an EU citizen, you are generally entitled to medical care within the EU with a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

However, for longer stays like the Work and Travel Europe programme, international health insurance is a good option. This always covers return transport to your home country, as well as private medical treatment and dental emergencies, and usually offers a 24-hour emergency hotline in German. Non-EU citizens should take out international health insurance in any case. This usually costs between 30 and 50 euros per month.

You should also definitely arrange for liability insurance that is valid abroad. If you already have liability insurance, you should check whether this also covers losses abroad. If not, you can add this option. It is also often possible to book a combination package of international health insurance and liability insurance for abroad.

Here you will find an overview of the requirements of the most popular countries for Work and Travel in Europe.

Tip for EU-citizens: 

You need a registered address to apply for the tax number, but you do not have to re-register every time you travel somewhere else within the country. You only need a registered address once at the beginning. This can also be a hotel or hostel.