Whether at the seaside in Croatia or in the Austrian mountains: The federal government decided to lift the worldwide travel warning for many European countries from June 15th. Vacationers and the tourism industry have hope.
Berlin (dpa) - Freedom of travel is returning to some extent: The Federal Government is lifting the travel warning for numerous European countries.
But whether the summer vacation can really take place also depends on the regulations of the vacation countries. According to the current status, the travel warning may only be lifted for 24 of Germany's 26 partner countries in the European Union, the United Kingdom that has just left the EU and the four countries of the Schengen area that are not subject to border controls that are not members of the EU: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The cancellation will apply from June 15th. Spain and Norway are exempt from this for the time being due to the fact that entry barriers still exist. Sweden could also add to the exceptions. The Federal Foreign Office does not currently see the criteria for lifting the travel warning here.
It is possible to reactivate the travel warning for certain countries or regions depending on the development of new infections. For more than 160 countries outside the European Union, the federal government extended the travel warning for tourists until August 31. Exceptions can be made for individual countries in which the spread of the virus is sufficiently contained.
AUSTRIA: The country will again allow travel to almost all EU countries from June 16. This step does not apply to Sweden and Portugal as well as the United Kingdom leaving the EU. Spain is also not allowed to travel initially. However, this is more in response to the Spanish requirement that tourists only be admitted to the country from July 1. For German tourists, it is particularly important that controls on the border to Italy, for example on the Brenner Pass, be omitted. In Austria itself, public life has continued to normalize. From June 15, wearing mouth and nose protection is only compulsory on buses and trains, in pharmacies, medical practices and clinics, as well as for employees in some service professions. The current number of infections is very low.
ITALY: Here tourism is slowly starting up again. Hotels report bookings again - even if everything is far from being open. After around three months with corona restrictions, there has been freedom of travel since June 3. The country opened its borders to vacationers from the other 26 EU countries as well as other countries such as Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland. Virus quarantine is no longer required. On June 15th cinemas, theaters and opera houses will also be allowed to open again. However, many concerts are canceled in the long term. Health rules continue to apply, which are usually stricter than in Germany. At airports, train stations, museums and other public places, travelers can expect fever scanners. Special distance and hygiene regulations apply on the beach, in restaurants and hotels. You should always have sufficient breathing masks with you. The number of cases is falling sharply in Italy. Lombardy continues to have the vast majority of cases. Travelers who want to drive via Austria to the Mediterranean country and back must currently drive through without a stop on the way back.
SWITZERLAND: Hotels, restaurants, museums, cable cars and other tourist facilities have been testing the operation with local guests with hygiene and distance regulations for several weeks. Because the number of infections has declined sharply since April, not only guests from Germany and other neighboring countries are allowed to enter from June 15th, but from all over the EU and several other countries. Mouth and nose protection is recommended where it can get crowded, e.g. in cable cars, buses or on the train, but masks are not mandatory. Many large summer festivals such as the Montreux jazz festival, the film festival in Locarno or the large festival of classical music in Lucerne are canceled. However, because the restriction of visitor numbers is becoming increasingly relaxed, many organizers are now planning smaller cultural festivals.
FRANCE: France maintains the lifting of border controls on June 15th. This means that German vacationers can travel to France from this date. On June 16, Germany ended its controls on entry from France. In France, tourist accommodations such as campsites or holiday homes have reopened for vacationers. In Paris it will last until the end of June. The restaurants across the country have been welcoming guests again since last week. Because Paris was hit very hard by the virus, it is only allowed to drink and eat there on the terraces. Leisure activities are now possible again, all beaches and parks are accessible again. Large museums and monuments can also welcome visitors again. Famous Parisian museums such as the Louvre or the Musee d'Orsay will only open in a few weeks. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, which has been closed since mid-March, is slated to reopen from June 25th.
SPAIN: There was a long period of uncertainty among friends of Spain. Recently, you can at least plan your summer vacation on the Costa del Sol or on the Costa Blanca. But before you can get on the plane, you have to be patient: the former Corona hotspot only wants to open its borders to foreign visitors on July 1st. "Safety first" continues to apply to the authorities. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that it would guarantee that neither the tourists nor the citizens of the country would take risks. The countdown for Mallorca fans is meanwhile becoming shorter than expected: With up to 10,900 holidaymakers from Germany, who are gradually allowed to go to the Balearic Islands from June 15, Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera are testing the real thing for a summer vacation in Corona Times.
PORTUGAL: If you have a vacation in the second half of June or are planning a weekend trip and definitely want to go to the Iberian Peninsula, you can travel to Portugal. The country wants to open its borders to foreign tourism on June 15th. Thanks to an early response and strict measures, the country on the Atlantic was much less affected by Covid-19 than Spain, for example.
GREECE: Athens has announced that travelers from 29 countries will be able to travel to Greece without quarantine from June 15, including Germany. The situation is to be examined again on July 1; then further states could be added. Initially, there should only be flights from abroad to Athens. From July 1st, the regional airports will also be opened for flights from abroad. A corona check will be carried out randomly at the Greek airports after landing from abroad, Athens said. The islands of the Aegean and Ionian Sea have been prepared for the holiday start for foreign tourists next Monday. A total of 687 doctors and nurses were hired on the islands.
NETHERLANDS: Holland holidays are possible again - but not without restrictions. Vacation accommodations should be reserved in advance, according to official notices for foreign tourists. Bungalow parks gradually open and holiday homes are rented out again. Since June 1, they can be shared by several families. From June 15, showers and toilets will be available again at campsites and in holiday parks; so far this was only planned for July 1st. The museums have been welcoming visitors again since June 1st - provided they register online beforehand. Restaurants, cafés, beach pavilions and pubs can each serve a maximum of 30 guests - but only those who have reserved. From July up to 100 guests are allowed.
BELGIUM: Like several European countries, Belgium returns to normal travel a bit in the middle of the month. From June 15, the country will open its borders to travelers from 31 European countries. For a long time now, Belgians have been able to receive visits from relatives from abroad. They are also allowed to go to relatives or to shop in neighboring countries such as Germany or the Netherlands. In the meantime, restaurants, cafés and bars have started operating again. The North Sea beaches in the north of the country as well as the Belgian capital Brussels and Wallonia with the Ardennes are popular with holidaymakers.
GREAT BRITAIN: Anyone entering the UK has to go into a two-week quarantine upon arrival. Violations are punished with a large fine. Airlines and travel agencies fear even more losses due to the regulation. Travelers from Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are exempt from quarantine. With the new regulation, the British government wants to prevent a second wave of pandemics. However, it is examining a loosening. The 14-day self-isolation could therefore in future not apply to connections with countries that have the Corona crisis well under control. According to British media, such "airlifts" could already be introduced in July.
IRELAND: A 14-day quarantine obligation applies to all travelers in Ireland. In addition, the freedom of movement within the country is severely restricted. Restaurants, pubs and cafes will also remain closed until the end of June. A vacation in Ireland therefore makes little sense at the moment. It is still unclear when entry will be possible again without restrictions.
DENMARK: Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to close its borders in the struggle against Corona on March 14th. Since then, tourists and other foreigners without a specific reason for entry have not been able to enter the country. This upset the travel plans of German spring vacationers as well as the finances of Danish holiday home owners, most of whose guests come from Germany. Denmark will open its borders again at least for tourists from Germany, Iceland and Norway on June 15th. The condition is that you have booked at least six nights. Anyone who owns a summer house in Denmark as a German or wants to visit his partner in the country has been allowed to return since the end of May. As of Monday, residents of Schleswig-Holstein are allowed to travel across the border to Denmark without a valid reason for entry.
SWEDEN: The borders of the Scandinavian country, which has responded to the pandemic with much more relaxed measures than the rest of Europe and is still struggling with comparatively high corona numbers, are not closed to German Sweden vacationers - the Swedish entry ban only applies to Countries outside the EU and the European Free Trade Association. In the meantime, some planes are flying from Germany to Stockholm again, the ferry connections from Kiel, Rostock or Travemünde are mostly used anyway. And within Sweden it has been allowed to drive from A to B for an unlimited number of days. If you want to travel north by car or train via Denmark, you should also keep an eye on the Danish regulations: On the website of the Danish police, it currently says that a trip to Sweden, for example for people with a permanent residence in Germany, as " appreciable purpose "applies to a permit for transit in Denmark. The Federal Foreign Office in Germany has meanwhile indicated that Sweden does not currently meet the "pandemic criteria" for lifting the warning. If this remains the case, the travel warning for the EU country will not be lifted.
NORWAY: Whether the summer vacation in the Norwegian fjords works, is currently in the stars. The Norwegian borders have been tight for foreigners without a specific entry reason since mid-March. As of Monday, the Norwegians will again allow travel to and from the rest of Scandinavia with the exception of the Swedish mainland, as Prime Minister Erna Solberg announced on Friday. With regard to countries with similarly positive corona developments as Germany, however, she said: "We cannot open everything at once. We have to proceed step by step." The aim is to check by July 20 whether travel advice and restrictions could be changed for individual other European countries. The status for German vacationers remains: wait and see.
ICELAND: The island in the North Atlantic, which is heavily dependent on tourism, gives vacationers the opportunity from June 15 to have themselves tested directly on arrival in Corona. The Icelandic government wants to give international tourists an alternative to the 14-day quarantine that has been mandatory since April. Icelandic travelers can also show that they are corona free by presenting health documents at the airport. Children are exempt from the tests.
TURKEY: From the middle of June, Turkey is hoping for tourists again and for the travel warning for third countries to be lifted soon. Airports and hotels are already preparing for foreign tourists. The facilities must adhere to numerous guidelines, such as a safety margin on beaches, there are only packaged towels at the pool and thermal imaging cameras are used in airports and hotels. The government has developed a certification program in which restaurateurs and hotels can volunteer. German companies such as TÜV Süd also provide inspectors.
CYPRUS: Cyprus has opened its airports to tourists from some countries. Vacationers from Germany and twelve other countries can fly to the island without a quarantine requirement. There is only one condition for entry: by June 20, guests must undergo a corona test before entering. Thereafter, tourists and other travelers from Germany, Austria, Malta, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Norway, Denmark and Hungary are free to enter. If travelers suffer from the consequences of a coronavirus infection during their stay in Cyprus, the government of the island republic wants to pay the costs.
CROATIA: The country heavily dependent on tourism on the Adriatic Sea with its long coast and many islands can hardly wait for the European borders to finally open up. Croatia once again allows citizens to enter the country without justification. The easing also affects the citizens of nine other EU countries: Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In future, travelers from these countries will only have to explain where they will be at the border and how they can be reached. This should enable them to be found when there are new corona infections in their environment. To avoid long waiting times, holidaymakers can fill out a form on the website "entercroatia.mup.hr" before entering the country.
SLOVENIA: The EU country between the Alps and the Adriatic has allowed travelers from Germany and 16 other European countries to enter the country without restrictions since 8 June. If you want to go on holiday there, you don't even have to show a booking confirmation. In addition, citizens from these and other countries can travel through the small country in transit. Slovenia serves as a transit country for Germans who travel to Croatia in their own car. It itself has a 46-kilometer section on the Adriatic Sea with a well-developed tourist infrastructure. All hotels have been open again since June 1st. A minimum distance of one and a half meters must be maintained in public spaces and during leisure activities.
CZECH REPUBLIC: The country of castles and palaces has already opened its borders to citizens from Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. From June 15th, this applies to citizens of almost all EU countries, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The entry ban remains for travelers residing in Belgium, Portugal, Great Britain, Sweden and the Polish Silesian Voivodeship. These territories are considered to be risk areas for coronavirus infection. Prague's old town, which has been deserted for months, is gradually filling up with life again. Multi-day hotel guests reward the capital with free cultural vouchers.
BULGARIA: The holiday country on the Black Sea is gearing up for a summer season under Corona requirements. For foreign tourists from Germany, for example, it should begin on July 1st. Bulgaria is one of the countries that are relatively unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic. On the long bathing beaches, the deck chairs are already spaced apart. Dispensers with disinfectants and isolation rooms for coronavirus cases should be standard. The smaller hotels are already accepting domestic tourists. But Bulgaria's tourism depends heavily on international flights. Holidaymakers from Germany, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel and Great Britain canceled their trip according to media reports. A large number of the hotels on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast have, according to the industry, hardly any bookings for this summer. In addition, due to the corona pandemic from the badly hit Great Britain, there should be no holiday guests at all. In the Balkans, restaurants, cafés, museums, cinemas, fitness centers and shopping malls are open again.
POLAND: On Saturday (June 13th) the country reopened its borders with all neighboring EU countries. Immigrants from EU countries and Poland no longer have to quarantine for 14 days. Flights to EU countries are scheduled to resume from June 16. Hotels, shopping centers, restaurants and cafés are now open again. The same applies to hairdressing salons and beauty salons. Swimming pools and gyms can also start operating again.
EGYPT: Not Europe, but a popular travel destination for Europeans. At holiday resorts such as Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh, normality is to gradually return - that is the hope. Hotels have been allowed to reopen to local holidaymakers since June 1 at 50 percent occupancy. So far, around 150 hotels have received the appropriate approval. The borders are still tight for holidaymakers from abroad.
Questions about the certification program
Corona map of Johns Hopkins University
