Interesting Report on Portugal and Covid
 

CBS Sunday Morning segment November 14th:

https://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs-sunday...against-covid/

As of now, very encouraging for those planning to visit!

We're headed there in less than two weeks!

Mel,
I subscribe to the Portugal News newsletter to keep abreast of the weekly covid situation.

Here's their recent article on beautiful Sintra
https://www.theportugalnews.com/news...ous-past/63564

Thank you Maribel, Sintra looks fascinating.

Hi!

This is all very encouraging for those who plan to visit Portugal, but noone can say victory so soon.

Here in Portugal, we are all fully vaccinated because it is our tradition. At the beggining things were not going so well, but then with the Henrique Gouveia e Melo, from the Navy, all was easy. They (the Navy, the Army) are very good at logistics, that was the only thing we needed, because the population wanted, really wanted, to be vaccinated. My parents (84 and 81 yo) had their 3rd dosis of Pfizers 3 weeks ago. I have 2 dosis, don't know if I'm going to be called for a third. Even so, I don't hug or kiss my parents since March 2020. Just in case...

For people who are coming to Portugal: remember you will be among other tourists, from many countries. Being in Portugal is not a guarantee against Covid. We portuguese still wear masks at Bus stop, for instance. However, you will see a lot of people there without masks - they are tourists.

I believe the most important things are: keep social distance, use new mask everytime you think the old one might not be so efficient, use and abuse of alchool gel. You can trust restaurants, hotels, etc. Even those that do not have the "clean and safe" stamp, are very carefull with hygiene.

Helena

This tourist will be wearing a mask.

You certainly made the right decision when you revamped your trip. Austria goes into full lockdown on Monday for at least 10 days

Yeah, martharap, glad we pulled the plug. Or pivoted the plug as it were. Time will tell if we made the right pivot or not.

Thank you all, especially Helena, for sharing your experiences. We’re now scheduled to fly to London for four nights, then Lisbon for six, the week after Christmas. We have been SO looking forward to it but don’t want to regret going, if it’s just not the right time.

Two of us have had full vaccinations plus booster, one has been double vaccinated - and we are wondering if we should postpone, revise or just take the trip. To give you an idea of our tolerance level: We live in California, where we feel comfortable eating at SOME indoor restaurants, if tables are well spaced; we go to indoor stores, things like that.. Here in LA County, masks are required in indoor spaces, so that feels good - I think the mealtimes are the main snags . I am just wondering if the trip will be so restrictive that it’s better to postpone.

The main concern is having a positive Covid test when we are ready to fly home, and being forced to quarantine for ten days. Does anyone know how frequently that’s happening?

looking at the trajectory in the UK we’ve been thinking of changing the trip - either drop London completely, or wait til next year (would have to be winter again). 😓

Any experiences from others would be really helpful. Thanks so much.

Iwan2go,
We spent the entire month of September traveling in Spain. We were initially quite apprehensive about the trip due to all the hoops needed to jump through--covid testing prior to flying to London (transiting through LHR to Madrid), covid testing to return to the US, filling out the UK and Spain health forms properly, uploading all documents properly to VeriFly, making and carrying hard copies of everything "just in case".
But because of the high vaccination rate in Spain, 88% of the target population, and the very serious adherence to mask rules, we felt very safe in all the areas we visited. We were fully vaccinated but had not yet received our booster. We actually had a truly wonderful time, and we are quite risk averse, having personally experienced 4 anxiety-ridden days of Spain's State of the Alarm and confinement in March, 2020, which marked our last trip of any sort until September of this year.

While I've read of isolated incidents of Americans testing positive and needing to quarantine, I believe the risk is really very low for those triple vaccinated who diligently adhere to mask wearing and proper hygiene measures. We'll once again take a plentiful supply of KN95 masks. Alcoholic gel was readily available everywhere we traveled.

So....we are keeping our plans (thus far) to spend Christmas-New Year-Epiphany and after in Madrid and Lisbon. We arrive In Lisbon Dec. 26 and depart Jan. 4. We have our Pfizer boosters. I monitor the Portugal situation daily, subscribe to the Portugal News newsletter to keep abreast of the daily infection rate, which is rising in some regions. The headlines today: "Portugal has entered its 5th wave with the Algarve having the highest incidence of infections." However, the Minister of State does not anticipate a future lock-down, says another article. Today, Friday, there will be a meeting of experts to determine what new measures should be taken. Mandatory wearing of masks in the street should be resumed.

While events can change rapidly, we are cautiously optimistic and are looking forward to our trip.

We shall follow Helena's excellent advice in the last 2 paragraphs of post #5.

Thank you so much, Maribel! Are you the same Maribel that has the Guides? If so, I know you have extensive experience.

Did you find that you were able to enjoy pretty much everything you usually did on your journeys? I think one of our concerns is having too many limits on things. We won’t be going to plays or concerts, mainly walking around, masked in museums and interesting places. Eating...:)

Iwan2go -

We jumped through all the hoops and spent a month in Switzerland in October. Like Maribel, I got caught up in the mass exodus from Spain in March 2020 and it was incredibly stressful. We also didn't step foot on a plane until autumn this year, but we felt safer in Switzerland than we do in our own mountain town in Colorado - masks were mandatory on public transport and indoors and compliance was stellar.

In the past 72 hours we've cancelled our trip to Austria and Italy and have switched to Portugal, although we do have short stops in Munich on either side of our trip, which may involve some more last minute changes. At this point all we can do is wait and watch.


As to how often travelers are testing positive, that was my big question before we left for Switzerland, but I had trouble finding many accounts, which I took as a good sign. There is a thread over on Trip Advisor about a group of travelers who had to quarantine in Italy, and I'm sure there are plenty of others we're not hearing about.

Before our trip I signed up for a grocery store delivery service in Switzerland and compiled a list of Air BNBs should we need to hunker down for 10 days - if a traveler tests positive in Switzerland you're on your own, yet you're obligated to report to the authorities. We'd also taken an extra two weeks of our meds and loaded our Kindles up with reading material...just in case. We took our Binax COVID tests the day before we departed for the US, instead of three days prior, just in case there was a flight delay.

We obtained Swiss COVID Certificate when we landed in Switzerland (needed to dine indoors and gain entrance to some indoor venues) and it's also good throughout the EU so will be helpful in Portugal as well.

Yes, to both questions. We were able comfortably to enjoy fully everything that we did. We really didn't feel limited at all.
I had sworn several times that I wouldn't return with severely limiting restrictions, as we spent 4 days in a Madrid hotel in lockdown during the State of Alarm, but the limitations were minimal, just masking indoors and maintaining social distance outdoors.

dining--
We chose outdoor terraces when possible in September; some terraces in Lisbon will have heaters in winter, I believe. We had several wonderful, long, leisurely meals on outdoor terraces with our friends (one a Fodorite, mikelg) and others in restaurants with well spaced tables.
Museums--
Masks are required, 100% compliance; we visited special exhibits with pre-purchased online tickets and felt very safe
Public transportation--
masks are required, 100% compliance on metro, trains, buses and taxis.
winery tours--masks are required during the tours, 100% compliance, but we had several outdoor tastings; indoors groups were limited to 6 persons, perfectly safe
rental car pick up & return---easy, quick and safe

We didn't attend the theater or a concert, but would have gone to an opera at the Teatro Real, but there wasn't a performance during our dates in Madrid.
In Lisbon we have tickets for the gala horse ballet at the Royal Equestrian School on Dec. 30 and a New Years Day symphony concert. I haven't heard if the wonderful New Year's Eve fireworks will go on as scheduled.

Hope this helps!

Maribel and Melnq - your specific information is really helpful! We’ll just keep watching and reading, and hoping. Compliant Spanish and Portuguese, I salute you!

I didn't see Mel's account of her very successful trip to Switzerland while composing my response.

I'll just add that as extra precautions, we did bite the bullet, springing for business class air for both September and our upcoming December trip.
At SEA and LHR we had access to the airport lounges that were open, which weren't crowded and where social distancing was practiced. In the Heathrow BA lounge, we used the QR code at our table and food was delivered to us. In LIS we have Priority Pass access to an open lounge. We also had TSA pre-check, Fast Track at MAD, Global Entry upon return to SEA and will have Fast Track at LIS. During the shuttle bus transfer from T3 to T5 at Heathrow, although it was impossible to observe social distancing, everyone was masked. Our Heathrow experience was surprisingly easy.

For our upcoming trip, we'll take our telemedicine-monitored Binax COVID tests prior to departure for LHR and will take the same with us for our return to the US.
Although it's extremely unlikely as we're triple vaccinated, if we do test positive in either city (I'm honestly not worried at all about this), like Mel, I'll take extra meds, I've compiled a list of airbnb accommodations for "hunkering down". I don't want to impose on our Madrid family, although they've offered to take us in. Extended 8-10-day hotel stays would be tres cher. There is meal delivery service both in Lisbon and Madrid via the Glovo app.

Yes, several extra precautions to take, but they're worth it!

Thank you both again for the additional information! We are also flying Business Class (first time! And excited to maybe get some sleep…) on BA, and have Global Passes. I took a better look at our hotel in Lisbon, the Corpo Santo, and am very happy to see that they deliver breakfast to the room, have spacing in their restaurant, and list the extensive protocols they are taking, like cleaning the elevator every 30 minutes, no contact check-in, sanitizer all over the place, etc. .

I never thought about researching some AirBandB places, what a great idea. I also need to do some more research about the Covid tests we need to do - will look to see what others have detailed on that. I have heard about the Binax tests.

So I’m feeling much better about it! as you have all said, watching and evaluating, but I think that if we can bring forward our London - Lisbon flight, that might cinch it for us. I am so grateful to have all of your encouragement. And grateful to be able to travel. ✈️❤️

Maribel and Helena, thanks so much for your information. It's so helpful for us planners and for those who are leaving soon for Portugal. Congratulations to the Portuguese for their great efforts to combat the spread of Covid. Melnq8 and Iwan2go, wishing you great trips and look forward to hearing about them.

Iwan2go,
I think you'll love the Corpo Santo and its easy proximity to the Praça do Comércio yet tucked away out of the fray. I had considered it so I had tea there on my last visit. If we weren't so in love with the nice staff, the service and our room at the Britânia we would make it our chosen Lisbon hotel. It has great service as well. You've made a good choice.

MaineGG, what a kind and inclusive comment, thank you - I was feeling afraid that I’d highjacked the post, and am glad that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m also very!! Happy that Maribel has confirmed the Corpo Santo Hotel, as it looks like we’ll changing our dates if possible and adding a few nights. I had a discussion this afternoon with my husband and son, and we are thinking we might feel more comfortable (and safe) if we drop two of our nights in London and go earlier to Lisbon. I’ll call British Airways and see if I can do that without charge (cross your fingers for me please). I do not think we will be able to change the dates on our long distance flights to or from Los Angeles, but I’ll let you know!

Frankly, the only cities we’ve spent a full week exploring have been Paris and London (to which we have returned multiple times). We will now be in Lisbon for eight nights - I am hoping that we will find enough to do in these slightly restricted Covid times. I know we’ll do a day trip to Sintra, explore Belém, lots of museums, parks and general relaxing. We have much to learn about the history of the country. Though we will sadly probably skip a food tour, we can find other things to do. I’m going to peruse Maribel’s Guide and look at others’ trip reports. Would you suggest I begin a new thread asking for ideas, or simply continue here?

Thank you all for such cordial and thoughtful responses! I know I’m not the only one who appreciates it! And I am looking forward to reading about Mel’s adventures soon - have a wonderful trip.

To all who are considering a 7 or 8 night stay in Lisbon, there's much to keep one busy and entertained in this city----

There are fabulous museums in Lisbon such as the Gulbenkian, Tile Museum, Casa Museu Medeiros E Almeida (3 musts for art lovers!), the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Portugal's National Art Gallery), the Berardo Collection (modern art), the Ricardo do Espíritu Santo Silva Foundation (Museum of Decorative Arts) and the Museu do Oriente (dedicated to Asian art)

Plus you have the many monuments of Belém (to see them all at a leisurely pace can take up 3/4 of a day), the beautiful Eduardo VII park and its greenhouse (Estufa Fria), the Sé (cathedral).

And there's wandering the ancient Alfama district (a Moorish maze), a food tour of the Campo Ourique neighborhood (Culinary Backstreets does a good one), enjoying an evening of fado, food sampling at the Time Out market, trips to Sintra and/or Cascais by train, an easy day trip to Mafra Palace by bus, a wine tour to the Setúbal Peninsula and Arrabida Nature Park, and on and on...plus great dining.

A litle bit off topic, but anyway...

Covid is not the only thing to think about. So, some tips about Portugal not related to Covid:

- Flu: we are all in a rush for being vaccinated, and even today, Sunday, vaccination centers are open and giving flu vaxx. In Portugal, no one likes the flu. Employers hate it, and employees the same. Ît's a very annoying desease. So for people coming soon, probably the locals that will have more contact with you are vaccinated - guides, taxi/uber drivers, restaurants waiters, people at hotels, etc.

- Water: you can drink tap water all over Portugal. I trust tap water more than I do about botled water.

- Violence: unfortunately we are watching an increase of violence during the night for the last one year and a half. Probably for some these are just isolated events that cannot even be considerated violence, but as we are a very quiet country we portuguese are now more carefull about that period between 2am and 6am. When I say violence, I mean punches or even knifes, for nothing.

- Pickpockets and drug sellers: I must say they are trying to recover their business, this last year and a half was not good for them. Drug dealers are not selling drugs, don't waste your time denouncing them to the police (and don't buy their drugs, it's a scam), and pickpockets are very good professionals, so plase be carefull with your belongings.

Happy travels!
Helena

Thank you for the information, Helena.

To update: I called British Airways and was unable to change just our short flight London-Lisbon from one day to another, without triggering a pricing change on the whole shebang. :( Would cost an additional $7000 each to make the change. No way that’s gonna happen. So we back to London for four nights then Lisbon for six. Bummer. I have learned a valuable lesson: Don’t book the short flights on the same ticket as the long haul. I could have cancelled the short flight for a minimal amount and just booked another day - but because they’re linked, I’m stuck.

But! These are First World “problems” - which means, not really “problems” - keeping it in perspective! We will just be extra cautious in London.

Well, if it's any consolation, we're in a similar boat Iwan2go.

In an attempt to salvage our trip when we pulled the plug on German/Austria/Italy, last week we added a short flight into Porto and out of Lisbon, but our original long haul flight is still in/out of Munich. Because we didn't want to chance connecting to flights on different tickets, we kept our one night stay in Munich on arrival and our originally planned three nights in Munich on departure. Now, if Munich goes into lockdown, they'll be closing hotels, and if that happens we're screwed.

We looked into changing the short flight by a few days, but it's just not possible. We also looked into abandoning the Munich-Porto-Lisbon-Munich and then taking a train from Munich to another airport and flying to Portugal from there, but it's just not feasible.

I have to ask myself if all this work trying to salvage our trip is worth it or not. We're set to leave next Tuesday...unless things change between now and then, and they very well could.

Oh no, Mel, your boat is even more precarious than mine! 😩 I’m so sorry to hear that. I get the impression that the German government is taking strong steps to curb things, and that’s more than my recent impressions of the UK. Hopefully neither of us will see more of a hotel room than we’ve planned on… as you are, we are being careful and planning ahead. Fingers crossed. 🙏🏻

i SO look forward to hearing about your trip! Feeling optimistic! Wildest chance we’ve ever taken (…unless you count our Volcano Vacation to France in 2010, when, after reconfiguring flights and physically on the way, I turned to my husband and said, “I hope this was a good idea…”. He nearly beaned me). And that one turned out fine.

The new covid rules for Portugal announced today-
https://www.theportugalnews.com/news...portugal/63779

Thank you, Maribel, I was just reading about them.

Because we'll be flying into Lisbon from Madrid, it appears we'll now need a negative antigen test to board our Iberia flight, another hoop to add to our hoop-jumping list.
We don't plan to visit any nightclubs (which will be closed from Jan. 2-9) or bars or sports venues, therefore, we won't have to present a negative Covid-19 test.

We're very used to wearing our masks in enclosed spaces as we did during the month of September in Spain, as we still have an indoor mask mandate in our state.

What I don't know---whether our CDC vaccination cards, rather than the EU Covid-19 digital certificate, will be sufficient for access to our lodging, museums and restaurants. I believe that prior to today, Portugal had been recognizing valid third country vaccination certificates, such as our US paper certificate.
There have been multiple reports on the TA Portugal forum of the CDC card being sufficient for entry to hotels, restaurants, etc (prior to Dec. 1), but that doesn't necessarily mean this will continue as the greater restrictions are imposed.
I've sent an email to our 2 hotels to clarify.

Our Lisbon and Cascais hotels have just confirmed that they will accept our US Covid vaccination cards for our stays from December 6-January 4.