Travel Guide

How Much Medication Can You Take to Europe?

Q: Does it matter if my medicine is not sold in the country I am visiting?

For carrying it yourself, often not. German customs states expressly that whether the medicine is licensed in Germany does not affect the personal-need exemption. For bringing it in by any other route it usually matters a great deal, and Italy is the clearest example: an unlicensed medicine has to go through the treating doctor and the health authority.

Q: Where can I check the rules for a specific country?

Start with the national customs authority and the national medicines agency of the country you are entering, since those are the two bodies that publish the operative rules. For controlled medicines specifically, the International Narcotics Control Board publishes a country-by-country list of travel regulations, which is the standard reference.

Every European country lets travellers bring their own medicines for their own use. What differs is how much, what proof is expected, and whether the medicine is on a controlled list. This page sets out what each national authority publishes, names the instrument behind it, and says plainly where a government gives no figure at all, or gives one that is not a number of months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Personal carriage limits, country by country

In short

Germany, France and Spain publish a three-month figure.
Poland counts packs rather than days, and ties the allowance to medical need.
Czechia publishes no number at all and applies a personal-use test. The Netherlands applies the same test, but its customs handbook quantifies it as up to three times the prescribed quantity.
Italy routes an unlicensed medicine through the treating doctor, capped at ninety days.
None of these allowances covers a parcel sent to you. Carrying and receiving are separate questions.

Country	How much you may carry	Authority
Germany	Up to three months' supply per medicine. Customs states it does not matter whether the medicine is licensed in Germany.	Arzneimittelgesetz, section 73(2)(6); German customs guidance
France	Three months of treatment, or the duration written on the prescription. Carrying it personally is exempt from import authorisation.	Code de la santé publique, arts. R.5121-110 and L.5124-13
Spain	No more than three months' worth, with larger amounts accepted exceptionally if justified. A prescription or medical report may be requested on entry and on exit.	AEMPS Circular 1/2025, chapter VIII; Agencia Tributaria
Poland	Up to five smallest packs, for the traveller's own medical needs, carried in person. No consent of the URPL President required.	Prawo farmaceutyczne, art. 68(5)
Netherlands	No months-based figure. The public guidance says only that medicines may be brought in for your own use and that proof may be requested, but the customs enforcement handbook treats up to three times the prescribed quantity as the indication of personal use.	Douane, Handboek VGEM 10.02.00, §5.5
Czechia	No published figure. Customs states medicines may be brought in only in a quantity matching the traveller's personal need.	Celní správa ČR
Italy	For a medicine not licensed in Italy, the import runs through the treating doctor and is capped at ninety days of therapy.	Ministerial decree of 11 February 1997, as amended

Where the number is not a number of months

Czechia publishes no figure at all. Its customs authority asks only whether the amount matches the traveller's personal need, so a quantity that clearly corresponds to a personal course satisfies the test and one that looks like stock does not.

The Netherlands applies the same personal-use test, but its customs enforcement handbook does put a measure on it: up to three times the prescribed quantity counts as the indication of personal use, worked through with an example of a week's stay at three tablets a day, giving at most 63 tablets. Note what that is and is not. It is a multiple of your prescription, not a period of supply, so a guide quoting "about three months" for the Netherlands is still not quoting the Dutch government.

This matters because most travel guides round every country to three months. Where no months figure is published, confirm the amount with a pharmacist or with that country's customs authority rather than estimating it.

Prescription-only and controlled are not the same thing

These are two separate legal states, and a medicine can be one without being the other. Prescription-only governs who may dispense it. A controlled listing attaches separate obligations, and at a border the main one is a certificate.

Under Article 75 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, a traveller carrying a controlled medicine inside the Schengen area should hold a certificate issued or authenticated by an authority in their country of residence. It generally covers a trip of up to 30 days, and the issuing body differs from country to country, so it is worth starting early. If a medicine is not on the controlled list, that certificate does not apply to it.

The table above covers medicines that are not controlled substances. Where a medicine is controlled, the limits are usually tighter and the paperwork is not optional.

Carrying is not the same as receiving

Everything above concerns a person crossing a border with their own medicine in their own luggage. None of it covers a package posted to you.

Across the EU, selling prescription medicines at a distance is reserved to licensed pharmacies. Under the framework introduced by Directive 2011/62/EU, retailers permitted to sell medicines online display a common EU logo linking to a national register, and clicking that logo is the quickest way to check whether a site appears on it. Some countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, allow licensed mail-order pharmacies to dispense prescription medicines. Others exclude prescription medicines from distance selling altogether.

Poland has addressed the point directly: its Ministry of Health has stated that the five-pack allowance applies only to medicine a person carries across the border themselves, and not to orders placed with a foreign internet pharmacy.

What these sources do not say

None of the authorities reviewed publishes what actually happens to a traveller who exceeds a limit. Whether the outcome is a seizure, a fine or a short conversation is simply not stated, so we give no figures and no reassurance on that point.

The countries above are the ones we checked. A country missing from the table was not reviewed, which is not the same as having no rules.

Rules also change. Several of the instruments cited here were amended within the last two years. Check the date on anything you read on this subject, including this page.

This page is general information about travel and customs rules. It is not medical advice and it is not legal advice. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist about your own medication, and confirm current requirements with the authorities of the countries you are travelling between.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much medication can I take to Europe?

Where a months-based figure is published, three months is the most common: Germany, France and Spain all use it. Poland counts packs instead, allowing up to five smallest packs for the traveller's own medical needs. Czechia publishes no figure and applies a personal-use test. The Netherlands applies that test too, but its customs handbook quantifies it as up to three times the prescribed quantity, which is a multiple of your prescription rather than a period of supply. Italy routes an unlicensed medicine through the treating doctor, capped at ninety days.

Do I need a doctor's letter?

For a medicine that is not controlled, usually not as a legal requirement, but several authorities say proof may be requested and a letter or a copy of the prescription is the quickest way to give it. A useful letter names you, your date of birth, your travel dates and destination, the medicine, the dose and the total quantity carried. Include the generic name as well as the brand name, because brand names change across borders.

What if my medicine is a controlled substance?

Inside the Schengen area the recognised document is a certificate under Article 75 of the Schengen Implementing Convention, issued or authenticated by an authority in your country of residence and generally valid for a trip of up to 30 days. Outside the area, the destination country sets its own requirements. Medicines for sleep disorders, mental health conditions, ADHD and pain are the categories most likely to be controlled somewhere along a route.

Can I have medication posted to me instead?

Distance selling of prescription medicines is reserved to licensed pharmacies across the EU, and some countries exclude prescription medicines from it entirely. The allowance for carrying your own medicine does not extend to a parcel. Poland's Ministry of Health has said so in terms, stating that its five-pack allowance does not cover orders placed with a foreign internet pharmacy.

Does it matter if my medicine is not sold in the country I am visiting?

Where can I check the rules for a specific country?

This product is a prescription-only medicine in most EU countries. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before use. Read our Medical Disclaimer.