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Thread: what to do when some hotels in the EU want to keep your US passport until check-out?
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Old Jun 22, 2010 | 10:03 pm
  #9  
ND76
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Overnight Trains
Originally Posted by greenery-travel
Years ago when I was traveling on a Eurailpass, I seem to recall overnight trains holding my passport for the overnight portion of the trip. This was so that border control agents would not have to wake everybody up to check passports every time we entered a new country. Of course, this was a bit different in that my passport was always in the same (relative) location as my person.

To answer the OP's question, I would be highly reluctant to travel anywhere abroad without having my passport on my person.
In April 2008 I took the overnight sleeper operated by RENFE from Geneva to Barcelona. My car attendant asked me for my passport as I got settled into my compartment. It was slipped under the door after we had crossed the France-Spain border.
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