Italy has lifted its lockdown and has started to welcome tourists back to the country.
Countries such as the USA, the UK and Brazil have a higher death toll than Italy, due to Covid 19, but Italy has relaxed travel restrictions to attract visitors. It will no longer expect travellers, including Britons, to self-isolate or report their details to health authorities.
According to industry body ABTA, Italy is the third most sought-after destination for more than three million British vacationers visiting every year.
Travellers from The UK has to self-isolate before travelling to Italy as health authorities have implemented a 14-day quarantine policy on all arrivals, including returning travellers, and the FCO advises British nationals against all apart from essential international travel.
However, if you want to ignore this advice – you are more likely to nullify your travel insurance, though EHIC cards will still provide some cover, and quarantine for 14 days on your return.
There will be a significant hike in the number of flights to Italy within the upcoming weeks, by the end of the July flights will jump from 1,507 to 12,864 according to a senior analyst at travel data provider OAG -John Grant.
British Airways has a direct flight to Rome on Friday, June 19, which takes flight from Heathrow. In the following week, Ryanair will run several direct flights from Stansted into Ciampino-GB Pastine International Airport, the Italian capital’s secondary hub.
The earliest direct flight from Stanstead to Milan is with Ryanair on June 22. The rest of the direct flights from the UK to Italy will be in early July. Flying back to the UK will cause trouble, with the expected direct services linking Rome with Heathrow.
John Grant (a senior analyst at travel data provider OAG) said that brits should be cautious since airlines are, daily, changing capacity and adjusting their schedules both to the most recent travel requirements and also how the market picks up.
Hotels in Italy are gradually starting to reopen. However, an Airbnb might be your best bet, and since tourists are advised to avoid public transport and travel by taxi or hire car, getting around will be difficult.
A related circumstance addresses British vacationers who want to travel to Greece, with no direct flights until July, when the country opens its borders to tourists. At present, any entries to the country are obliged to take a Covid-19 test and self-isolate upon arrival.
OAG reports that numbers will surge up to 5,600 a week at the end of July.
If you would like to avoid airports, you can opt to travel to Italy by train from France – but Brits taking the Eurostar may find themselves subject to a quarantine policy. Even though they are reducing travel restrictions, it will not apply to countries with their own quarantine regulations, such as Britain, where rules will rather be mutual.
On June 15, several European counties – including The Netherlands, Switzerland, Iceland and Austria – are hoping to reopen for the tourism season and receive international travellers. It will be a challenge to find a cheap flight. For example, it will not be easy to book direct flights at a reasonable price. However, you might be looking at long journeys that include stop-overs at many destinations.
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