Europe Travel: 25 Countries Open But Bigger Destinations Still Restricted

Of the 27 countries in the European Union (plus those included in the Schengen/EEA area) and the U.K., many are increasingly removing Covid-related travel restrictions across Europe before summer and hopefully for the final time.

So, if you’re planning a trip, here’s the situation across the region, with over 25 countries having removed all travel restrictions, as reported by The Telegraph.

However, it’s worth remembering that some of the big holiday destinations—France, Germany, Italy and Spain—still require some paperwork and proof of vaccination/testing.

European countries without Covid-related travel restrictions

These countries have completely scrapped travel restrictions:

• Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the U.K. were all completely open, without the need for Covid-related travel paperwork, by April 2022.
• Greece, Croatia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Switzerland more recently opened their doors in early May, removing the need for any documentation related to Covid vaccinations or testing for arrivals into the country, regardless of vaccination status and country of origin. Greece still has a mask mandate in place until 1 June.

European countries with some Covid-related travel restrictions

There are, however, still many European countries which require some paperwork related to Covid-19:

• Most of these countries require proof of vaccination, a negative Covid-19 test result or proof of recovery.
• In some cases, different rules are still in place if people are vaccinated or not, and some, such as France, are further segregating people depending on where they are traveling from as well.
• Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Spain comprise the list of European countries with some sort of travel restrictions still in place in May 2022.

If anyone is looking for a flight between the U.S. and Europe this summer, two budget European airlines have recently launched new routes across the Atlantic.