swandav2000

Sadly, the word in the street is that the Christmas markets might be cancelled again this year. The Oktoberfest has been, and there is the possibility the markets will be, too. Make sure you can cancel your reservations or be flexible .... and keep watching the news.

s

JoyC

You have to be careful what you are writing about. These islands are not in lockdown although news says that the coronavirus situation there is deteriorating. This code orange comes from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is for Dutch citizens and anyone entering the Netherlands, meaning if you are traveling back to the Netherlands from any of these islands, you have to provide a negative test and quarantine upon arrival.

scrb11

Netherlands has one of the higher rates of new cases in the EU right now, almost 5x as high as neighboring Germany so makes sense for them to be strict.

Though surprised they're letting people travel for non-essential purposes.

Melnq8

I'm heading to nearby lakes in July (Wolfgangsee, Chiemsee, & Bodensee), then Switzerland in Oct (Melnq8, I'll be in Weggis, Montreux, & Appenzell, if you want to share a wine...!).

swandav - if this trip goes off, we'll be in Solothurn, Grimentz, Locarno, Celerina, Tifencastel and Rapperswil, otherwise I'd be happy to join you!

The Oktoberfest was cancelled for the second year, and there is talk of also canceling the Christmas markets.

Well, there go my Christmas plans for the second year in a row.

cafegoddess

Our vaccination cards was accepted. They didn’t ask us for a negative test of any kind.

Be careful with taxi drivers in Athens, some are not very honest.

scrb11

Is that no negative test in Athens or also no negative test in Germany? Because Germany is your entry into EU/Schenegen that they might require it, even if you're just transiting.


On TA, they said you could use an app called Beat, which will let you pay by credit card and maybe not have to deal with paying the drivers directly.

rialtogrl

As long as you are not coming from a high risk area, proof of vaccine is enough for transit through an airport in Germany.

cafegoddess

Thank you very much!

swandav2000

Melnq8 -- sounds like a great trip! I envy you the time in Solothurn, which I only recently discovered and fell in love with. But I can never pull myself away from Montreux.... ah well. The trip seems to have a lot of stops... more than your usual?? But then there are so many trips to make up!

As for the Christmas markets -- they could easily go forward. I don't know for sure when they'll make the decisions. My nephew had 2 O'fest trips cancelled and was scheduled for Christmas markets in 2021. Then I told him about the possibility of them being cancelled and added a note about what Germany is like in Nov/Dec..... they opted to come over in Feb, when there is a chance of a snowy winter wonderland. I do hope we'll know soon.

s

BritishCaicos

Sorry I'll correct that. trip cancelled due to lack of a compelling reason. I wasn't going to meet anyone and would fill up with fuel at the pump with no human contact. Self isolate at our house. I thought that was common sense but rules are rules.

Melnq8

The trip seems to have a lot of stops... more than your usual?? But then there are so many trips to make up!

Yes, more stops than usual, which I hope we don't regret. Also, almost all new areas to us, so we erred on the side of caution with the length of stay in each, which we might also regret! Five nights each in Solothurn, Grimentz, Locarno, Tifencastel, four in Celerina (wanted to stay in Sils or Silvaplana but had trouble finding suitable accommodation, so figured Celerina would be a good compromise and reduce the need for buses since it's on the train line), two in Rapperswil (for easy access to the Läderach factory in Bilten) and get this, one night in Zurich at the airport as doing so got us a very attractive package deal from Expedia).We were also limited to 28 nights using Expedia, so had to compromise a bit, but their prices were so much better than the airlines.

The train travel between locations is shorter than usual though, Zurich to Solothurn is only 1:15, Celerina to Tifencastel 1:10, Tifencastel to Rapperswil 2:08, Rapperswil to Zurich 41 minutes. Only two long travel days, Val d’Anniviers (Grimentz) to Locarno and Locarno to Celerina, so hopefully that will balance out the extra stops.

Fingers and toes crossed that we actually get to go and complete the trip.

scrb11

Now there's talk that France and Germany are pushing for reciprocity before opening up to the US.

I think US should open up to the EU. If they're allowing unrestricted domestic travel and are able to permit cruises soon, they should open up.

But EU demand is ridiculous because they don't demand reciprocity from Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. which are their green list countries. Not that those countries are allowing their people to travel to the EU. But they're certainly not offering reciprocity to the EU.

So EU may demand reciprocity from the US or no American tourists in the EU this summer.

menachem

"locking down". I have my information from a Greek friend BTW, who tells me that on many islands it is now very difficult to get healthcare if you should need it on vacation. Again, the situation isn't stable

swandav2000

Hoping with you, Mel!! That does sound like a good trip! You could stay in Rapperswil the night before the flight (I used to love staying at Küsnacht, not to be confused with Küssnacht, because of an old family friend) -- but I totally get the advantage of the Expedia deal. I've done a few Expedia deals for my nephew for O'fest; when Munich hotels were outrageous, Expedia saved some hundreds of dollars by combining hotel & flight. They have been very good about refunds and rescheduling, too, if a bit complicated. Anyway, a hotel right AT the airport always beats even an easy 30- or 40- minute train ride.

Will be really looking forward to your trip narrative and of course photos!!

s

love_travel_Aus

Do hope that your trip comes off Mel.
All we can do at the moment is look at our old photos and re read trip reports!
We cannot even begin to think about the' when' we might be able to travel out of the country.
We have both had our first vaccine dose and the other dose is due soon but we are in the minority.

Envious too that you have such lovely travel plans Swandav.
Perhaps one day we will meet up again?

We are trying to make a trip to the Northern Territory here but with the pattern of state border closures it is risky, especially if we try and book any expensive tours or flights into remote areas.

So good luck and best wishes to you both and to all with upcoming European travel plans!

SusanG

I am booked for a week in mid September. It does seem confusing about the "Green Pass" which I can't get info on.....and all the tests prior/and again when returning, but I will do whatever is necessary to keep others (and myself) safe. I am happy to wear a mask anywhere if necessary. Yes harder to breathe but....how I have missed the place of my heart. I have heard that we may be wearing masks well into 2022. I don't care, I want everyone to survive.

I'm excited to see that so many others will be traveling a bit this summer and I wish everyone a safe and wonderful trip. Thank god we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

menachem

Our government has adopted a herd immunity approach ever since March 2020. Schools are opening for 5 weeks, unprotected and unsafe, while the Indian variant, Delta now, is gaining ground, mainly in South Holland. However, since test and trace has been scaled down, and sequencing is not common, a lot is happening out of sight.

Macross

I was so happy to wake up to an email this morning with our Paris hotel booked for our trip. I had called the hotel direct last month and they said to call in June when they reopened. I could not get through. After several tweets and emails, they fixed it and the vouchers have been applied. I was expecting a huge increase in price and would have paid more but they didn't. So happy. Now the train credits. We had Eurostar tickets to London but staying in France and Belgium now. We might take a day trip to Amsterdam on a Sunday and use them. I think we can use it from Paris to Brussels.

We also booked a house on Islay for next May. Four of us going. That is it and will do four days in Llanberis. I am not sure of anything else till we figure out flights. We booked it early because the week after is the Whisky festival and we wanted this house before someone else got it. We have some train, bus, and ferry travel but doing it.

scrb11

Well I will be in Paris this upcoming week, then to other parts of France through mid July.

This trip was originally going to be Nice, Corsica and Provence but Corsica requires a PCR test to enter. I don't know if that's changed but I didn't want to risk it so I decided to spend those days in Paris instead. Really would have liked to see Corsica again.

But it's been years since I've been in Paris too so looking forward to it. I was studying Google Maps and there are a lot of boba tea places and ramen places. Must be the latest trend thing? Boba tea places are popular here in the Bay Area. You often see people lining up outside and I think it was the case even before the pandemic. Never tried it, just don't see the appeal of heavily-sugared tapioca drinks.

JulieVikmanis

We cancelled our Viking Cruise to Malta when they imposed a ban on any independent time in ports. Rescheduled for Paris at end of Sept/early Oct. Also scheduled a family Christmas trip to Munich for Christmas markets so I'll be especially interested to hear more from swandav as that situation progresses--and to hopefully arrange a chance to see her if we get the green light.