Have some international travel planned this year, wondering if I should even bring a drone?

[VenomXts]

Planning on flying (plane not drone) into Paris then taking a train to Barcelona Spain then another flight over to Italy. All this in 10 days... Not really sure it would be worth it hauling a drone around but wondering if you fine folks here have any experience with any places or all 3 before I do more research.

I don't mind bending rules (401 feet AGL then back to 395, I am a rebel) in the states but I stay tight and clean overseas lol.

Plus it's with the wife and having her wait for me to fly a drone is a deterrent in bringing one in itself.

Thoughts?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Who is setting the itinerary? If the objective is sight seeing then France has some incredible gorges and don't forget the Millau Viaduct - Wikipedia. Have you thought of driving from Paris to Spain.
I think they too drive on the wrong side of the road so you should be ok in that respect.

 

[FLDave]

Wrong side of the road needs to be in context. The OP is in Texas so in France they drive on the right (and correct) side of the road, although I had no problem driving on the left when traveling in England, Scotland, and Wales years ago.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Wrong side of the road needs to be in context.

I was aware that the OP is American.
"wrong side of the road " is a British saying, in jest, for you folks that drive on the RHS of the road.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Of course France is the wrong side of the road

I believe Paris is pretty much a total no fly zone, huge area, others have posted screen shots in the past on other threads of their version of airspace for drones.

From what @Yaros has said of Spain, it's very hard to fly anywhere in Barcelona (Aeroscope in use, a lot), and Italy, well, they have EASA rules, see here for more info.

Topics | EASA

Pretty sure with a camera on any drone, you have to go through some sort of application / registration for flying in most of EU.

 

[VenomXts]

Of course France is the wrong side of the road

I believe Paris is pretty much a total no fly zone, huge area, others have posted screen shots in the past on other threads of their version of airspace for drones.

From what @Yaros has said of Spain, it's very hard to fly anywhere in Barcelona (Aeroscope in use, a lot), and Italy, well, they have EASA rules, see here for more info.

Topics | EASA

Pretty sure with a camera on any drone, you have to go through some sort of application / registration for flying in most of EU.

that's kind of what I was figuring, wife is organizing so may just be better to take photos from the phone lol. That way i dont have to Hassel with the batteries etc issues.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

that's kind of what I was figuring, wife is organizing so may just be better to take photos from the phone lol. That way i dont have to Hassel with the batteries etc issues.

Yeah, and 10 days, not a lot of time for the hassle involved, or to to go chasing the drone footage.
Travelling with the wife, better to enjoy all the spare moments together.

Do you have a good little handheld gimbal camera ?
The DJI Pocket 2 is a beauty for taking video on the move, works for stability very well.
I have an older original Pocket, and it's great for taking some stabilised shots, video or photos.

 

[Yaros]

Around Paris everything is a no fly zone, Barcelona is also a huge no-fly zone.

I am from Spain and let me tell you, you don't wanna fly in a CTR zone, just don't, anywhere else, if it not restricted airspace, then maybe you can fly. Check Drones Enaire, the official Spanish drone map.

For France, they have their no fly map called Geoportail, interestingly enough, the zones that aren't red colour on geoportail are fly zones but with limited height, click on them to see maximum height.

Italy I'm not that sure as it really depends on where you go, I have flown in Italy without any issues, their no fly zone map requires registration which as far as I know can only be done if you live in Italy, but refer to Airmap, download their app, and when you zoom to a place, make sure that in the layers/regulations tab you have recommended guidelines turned on for that country.

In general, for the EU, you will need to have your A1/A3 license, you have to be registered as an operator in any European country, your drones need to have a registration plate with your operator ID.
As was mentioned previously, be cautious in Spain around large cities as most of them have Aeroscope which can easily detect your drone and flying in controlled airspace may result in a fine. However if you find a good place to fly where it is allowed, it is worth it, Spain is beautiful, as is France and Italy!

 

[Deleted member 162835]

Around Paris everything is a no fly zone, Barcelona is also a huge no-fly zone.

I am from Spain and let me tell you, you don't wanna fly in a CTR zone, just don't, anywhere else, if it not restricted airspace, then maybe you can fly. Check Drones Enaire, the official Spanish drone map.

For France, they have their no fly map called Geoportail, interestingly enough, the zones that aren't red colour on geoportail are fly zones but with limited height, click on them to see maximum height.

Italy I'm not that sure as it really depends on where you go, I have flown in Italy without any issues, their no fly zone map requires registration which as far as I know can only be done if you live in Italy, but refer to Airmap, download their app, and when you zoom to a place, make sure that in the layers/regulations tab you have recommended guidelines turned on for that country.

In general, for the EU, you will need to have your A1/A3 license, you have to be registered as an operator in any European country, your drones need to have a registration plate with your operator ID.
As was mentioned previously, be cautious in Spain around large cities as most of them have Aeroscope which can easily detect your drone and flying in controlled airspace may result in a fine. However if you find a good place to fly where it is allowed, it is worth it, Spain is beautiful, as is France and Italy!

Some good advice here. I got my A1/A3 license before travelling to Sweden with my Mini 3 Pro. I registered as an operator with Sweden and took the training and exam on a Slovenia site since they had the exam in English. Doesn't matter which country you take the exam with but you are supposed to register with the first EU state you will be flying in. Once you square all this away you're clear to fly in any EU state with consideration to local laws. I felt much more confident flying around Sweden legally and did not want to consider the headaches associated with being that American going to a foreign country ignorant of their laws.

 

[Yaros]

In general, for the EU, you will need to have your A1/A3 license, you have to be registered as an operator in any European country

I did my A1/A3 test on LBA, but you can do it on any other website.

 

[Felix le Chat]

that's kind of what I was figuring, wife is organizing so may just be better to take photos from the phone lol. That way i dont have to Hassel with the batteries etc issues.

Rome not only has the EU drone regs, but enforces a strict "where's your filming permit" policy anywhere that could be considered historic.

 

[Coconut Island Drones]

I took my mini 2 from the UK to Majorca (spain) last year and had no issues whatsoever. I was a bit apprahensive about customs etc but as I say there were no issues. I took it as hand luggage.