Confusion

“There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the joker to the thief
There’s too much confusion
I can’t get no relief”
(All Along the Watchtower – Bob Dylan)

In my blog post at the start of this year I tried to look ahead to the prospect of travel in Europe in 2021. Despite much media optimism that the vaccine roll-out would bring a return to normality during 2021, I was far more pessimistic predicting that most countries having got a taste for new border controls would be reluctant to remove them. Sadly this prediction has proved to be true, particularly for travellers from Britain, with its unique experiment to turn itself into the Covid capital of the world. I still have about £700 of voucher refunds from last year’s aborted trips to use, most of which expire by the end of this year. At the moment I see no prospect of using them.

My intention for this month’s post is to try to review the current state of restrictions in countries across Europe, but this has proved far from easy. Most of the information provided on official websites seems to assume that you are flying direct to that country from the UK – there is little advice on what you can do if you wish (as I would) to travel by train from country to country. There appears to be relatively free movement again within the Schengen area, but it is not clear what are the restrictions or obligations on UK citizens when crossing from one Schengen country to another.

I have two distinct advantages over many of my fellow British citizens:
(i) I am fully vaccinated, having had my second Covid jab in May 2021. (That said, the requirements for proving vaccination status seem to vary by country.)
(ii) I am still an EU citizen, having acquired in 2019 the Irish passport that I have been entitled to throughout my life.

I thought I would see if I could find out the rules in each country (as of late July 2021) if I were to try to recreate my abandoned first Europe Explored trip which I had booked to do in March 2020:

• France. Entry to France is relatively simple if you are fully vaccinated. You just have to prove your vaccination status and complete a declaration that you have not had symptoms or been in contact with anyone with Covid in the previous 14 days. The French border control will accept NHS certification of vaccination status. However, within France it is now necessary to prove vaccination status to gain entry to museums and bars, and from 1 August this will be extended to cover restaurants and trains. You will need a “pass sanitaire” to be issued by the French government, which you would need to apply for in advance.
• Switzerland. UK nationals can only enter Switzerland if they can prove that they have been fully vaccinated. However, the Swiss government and the UK have not agreed on how you can do that, it would appear that the NHS certificate is not officially recognised and it is unclear whether it would be acceptable.
• Austria. Entry to Austria from the UK is not permitted. However, as an EU citizen I would be permitted to enter the country provided I had filled in the necessary paperwork in advance, provided evidence of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to entering the country and then quarantine upon arrival for five to ten days. However, hotels remain closed to tourists and cafes, bars and restaurants are closed to visitors.
• Italy. Anyone arriving in Italy who has been in the UK in the past 14 days must (irrespective of their own nationality) provide evidence of a negative test taken within the previous 48 hours and then quarantine for five days. Museums in Italy can only be visited if they are pre-booked at least one day in advance.
• Slovenia. Entry to Slovenia is permitted with proof of full vaccination status. The Slovenian authorities will recognise British vaccination certificates. To eat indoors at a restaurant or visit a museum or other heritage site requires proof of vaccination to be shown. Such places can only operate at 50% of normal capacity.
• Germany. You can only enter Germany from Britain if you are fully vaccinated and have completed a pre-departure digital registration form. Some restaurants and cultural sites may require C-19 certification as a condition of entry. It is not clear how to obtain such certification if you have been vaccinated in the UK. An FP2 mask (not a cloth or surgical mask) must be worn in shops and on public transport. Additional restrictions will be imposed in any state where “the seven day incidence rate exceeds 100” (per what?).
• Belgium. UK citizens are not currently allowed to enter Belgium, except for a very limited set of reasons. An EU citizen normally resident in the UK should be allowed to enter Belgium. That said, even if fully vaccinated, but not possessing a Belgian or EU certificate, you are required to quarantine for ten days and take two Covid tests on days one and seven. NHS certificates are not recognised in Belgium.
• Re-entry to UK. A negative PCR test taken in the three days before return is required to re-enter the UK. Additionally, if you have been to France in the past 14 days, even if you are fully vaccinated, you will be required to quarantine in the UK for ten days and take Covid tests on days two and eight of quarantine.

In conclusion, it seems that a multi-country trip is virtually impossible at the present. How long this remains the case remains to be seen. Other countries in Europe to the ones I have selected above have an equally confusing mix of rules, such that alternative routes do not look much more promising. Additionally, the rules for each country change frequently with little notice, making planning very difficult.

When I started this blog in January 2020 I initially posted weekly, in the expectation that I would soon have a regular series of travels to provide much new material to write about. After two months, when it became apparent that I would be going nowhere for a while, the frequency was reduced to monthly and I based my post largely on my unreliable memory of previous travels. I have now sadly reached the conclusion that I will only be be posting occasionally in future until it is clear that European travel can resume on a reasonably unfettered basis.