Vaccinated and Ready to Go

[Penn251]

So, we have now gotten our COVID-19 vaccines and our minds are turning to travel planning again - not immediately but as soon as it makes sense. Can anyone provide insight into Italy's status with regard to the virus and prognosis as to when it will be viable for travelers from the US? We are missing it terribly.

 

[Andrew]

I'm certainly interested in the topic as well. The bit that I'm seeing is that Italy is behind the U.S. in getting vaccinations out, the important thing is that destination countries feel that their own populations are safe before they open more to outsiders, and the Schengen countries will want to have a unified policy on reopening, while different parts of the zone have varying infection rates. So I don't know if there's hope for something like September of this year, or we need to wait for 2022.

 

[joe]

Traveling to Italy during Covid-19: What you need to know before you go

If you're planning a trip to Italy, here's what you'll need to know and expect if you want to visit during the Covid-19 pandemic.

www.cnn.com

Updated a few days ago.

 

[Penn251]

Thanks Joe. Useful article - even if disappointing. Hoping things are much different in the next 6-12 months.

 

[joe]

And not only Italy, but the rest of Europe :

Travel restrictions have no end in sight as European leaders worry about new variants

European leaders will say on Thursday that all non-essential travel needs to remain restricted as the health situation remains "serious".

www.cnbc.com

 

[Ian Sutton]

Could be some difficult political discussions. It's clear that Greece and other countries where tourism is critical to the economy, will want to open up ASAP. However in doing so, the tourists might then become carriers of new variants that are more virus resistant, threatening all nations.

The easy answer is for every country to drive numbers down such that vaccines + test and trace can reduce numbers towards zero. However across Europe there has been an impatience that has elongated this pandemic and made this stage of re-opening even more problematic.

So I expect more short-term compromises and the virus to remain an issue for a long while yet.

 

[joe]

Find out which countries are welcoming US tourists back

A lot of the world has been shut off to American tourists as US coronavirus cases continue to rise. But at these destinations, a US passport still opens doors -- albeit usually with some Covid-19 testing requirements.

www.cnn.com

A global update for US travelers looking for a place to go.

 

[Penn251]

Bleak - but I will remain optimistic that things fall into place sooner rather than later.

 

[Alpinista]

I belong to a couple ex-pat Facebook groups centered around Lucca. There is really not much good news that I see on those sites. One of the sites tracks testing, cases, and deaths, and the numbers bounce around, but nothing to suggest a downward slide needed to get the county reopened. Provinces are also not moving in the right directions as regards color code classifications for allowed activities. Now seeing an uptick in complaints about vaccine availability and distribution as part of the generally downbeat tone, so not exactly happy times. I'm holding out until the last minute to cancel our May trip, but have about zero hopes of getting there. Now worried about our September trip.

 

[Penn251]

I belong to a couple ex-pat Facebook groups centered around Lucca. There is really not much good news that I see on those sites. One of the sites tracks testing, cases, and deaths, and the numbers bounce around, but nothing to suggest a downward slide needed to get the county reopened. Provinces are also not moving in the right directions as regards color code classifications for allowed activities. Now seeing an uptick in complaints about vaccine availability and distribution as part of the generally downbeat tone, so not exactly happy times. I'm holding out until the last minute to cancel our May trip, but have about zero hopes of getting there. Now worried about our September trip.

So disheartening. Lucca is one of our go-to places and likely the place we would return to first. if you go in May or September, please report on how things are.

 

[Sharon J]

I belong to a couple ex-pat Facebook groups centered around Lucca. There is really not much good news that I see on those sites. One of the sites tracks testing, cases, and deaths, and the numbers bounce around, but nothing to suggest a downward slide needed to get the county reopened. Provinces are also not moving in the right directions as regards color code classifications for allowed activities. Now seeing an uptick in complaints about vaccine availability and distribution as part of the generally downbeat tone, so not exactly happy times. I'm holding out until the last minute to cancel our May trip, but have about zero hopes of getting there. Now worried about our September trip.

We are holding out hope for our our May 24th trip as well. Second trip for October may be gone too. This will be our third and fourth trips canceled. Starting to look for a cabin in Wyoming for this summer just in case. My husband graduated from the University there, and it's been a long time since he's been back. I just feel like sitting on a wonderful wooden porch overlooking those wide open spaces, if we can't return to our much loved Italy. We so miss our good friend Nico and his lovely property, Sant'Antonio outside Montepulciano. I know they are all suffering from no visitors.
Also canceled Venice and Varenna on Lake Como twice. Will it ever end???

 

[Alpinista]

So disheartening. Lucca is one of our go-to places and likely the place we would return to first. if you go in May or September, please report on how things are.

Certainly will. Can't imagine two years in a row without being there.

Sharon's note on October also resonates -- in addition to both of last years' trips to Italy that we had to cancel, also had an October trip to Egypt canceled. As of now, we are rescheduled for the Egypt trip and can be admitted with proper Covid testing, but have no idea if we will be traveling there (as planned) from Rome or be faced with decision as to travel from US or cancel again -- travel agent is being patient, but we're not at all happy about inability to make flight reservations.

 

[NoSpin]

A few days ago Italy extended their state of emergency through April 30th. We had a trip planned for July 30th through UniWorld for a one week river cruise and one week on the Golden Eagle Danube Express train from Venice to Zurich (my wife loves trains). So we not only had to worry about getting into Italy, but also Slovenia, Austria and Switzerland.

We talked it over and decided it was just too risky. UniWorld is running the same tour next year so we just had our travel agent transfer us to a August 26, 2022 tour date. The thing that kills me is we paid in full last October.

So this year in the words of Dinah Shore (for those of you old enough to remember her song) we are going to see the USA in our Chevrolet. Well don't have a Chevy, but in other cars we will go to Celebration, FL, Watkins Glen, NY, and Colorado Springs, CO, all for car events.

On the positive side my wife got her first Moderna shot today and I'm getting mine on Sunday.

 

[americanauthorinitaly]

I live in Italy, and I think it's sad but fair to say that it will still be quite a while before they let visitors in. As others have said, the vaccines aren't moving very fast and the new strains of the virus have just caused them to raise the restrictions again (my zone, Milan, just went from "yellow" to "dark orange," which means that you can't travel between regions and only one person from each family can go to the grocery store, there are curfews, etc.). So until Italy can take care of its own people and get things under control here, they surely won't be allowing anyone else in, which makes sense.

 

[Pauline]

Frances Mayes just posted this on Instagram. You can fly to Italy if you own a house there!

 

[NoSpin]

Hey, here's the trick, buy one of those 1 euro houses.

I know you are supposed to renovate it, but by the time they realize you are not, the country will have reopened, and it only cost you 1 euro!

 

[Allen]

Wait a minute - I thought simply owning a property in Italy did not/does not qualify US citizens to enter Italy at all, unless there was an “essential” status exception or you possess a permesso.

 

[Andrew]

One can try the Foreign Ministry survey at https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/index_en.html . As a U.S. citizen spending the last 14 days in the U.S., I tried answering both yes and no to the question of being a permanent resident of Italy. In either case I get that a valid reason is "return to one’s home, domicile or residence"; I haven't heard that having a vacation or second home there is valid, and would need to be skeptical about it.

 

[joe]

Who can travel to Italy and what are the requirements to do so

Covid restrictions can be tricky to understand, especially since they are in Italian. So, here is an overview of what the rules are for traveling to Italy.

www.wantedinrome.com

It appears that if you own a property there, loopholes (official or not) can be found. The photo Pauline posted is pretty much proof of this.

 

[Allen]

Pauline and Andrew and Joe and everyone - any educated guesses about how Frances Mayes actually qualified? We’ve been reading consistently that merely owning a property in Italy is not considered an essential reason allowing entry from US, whether you agree to quarantine or not.