howtofreetravel

I am planning to fly to Greece in the end of august from north carolina. I was planing to book a transit flight to tel aviv ( where i am 100 percent allowed as an Israeli national ) as a backup. Can i i transit in Greece if they do not allow me to visit ? I am thinking of Rhodes and possible Cyprus instead of Greece .

RichardInSF

This isn't specifically to do with luxury hotels, and is more about Corona virus country admission policies, so I am moving it to the dedicated Corona virus forum.

RichardInSF, moderator,, luxury hotels and travel

vuittonsofstyle

Cyprus (which is a separate country from Greece) is nearer and, I think, has connections to Israel. Rhodes is a Greek island and not a great one at that!

Stuttgart21

That's a controversial statement. It's worth a visit for the archeological sites alone. Just as with other Greek islands (Crete as well as smaller ones), there are good reasons to avoid the peak tourist seasons.

ahmetdouas

I believe Israelis will be let in by then as the Greek PM visited Israel to discuss that quite recently.

Often1

I would hold off until the EU issues its update for post July 1 travel.

The rules as they stand today do not focus on citizenship (other than as an absolute bar to exclusion), but rather on where one is traveling from. Thus, an Israeli national traveling from the US to Israel would quarantine in Israel for 14 days and then proceed to hie EU destination presuming that travelers from Israel are admissible. But, the fact that the individual is an Israeli national would not make the individual admissible (without intervening quarantine) in the EU, if traveling from the US recently.

rickg523

Actually, if there aren't many tourists, Rhodes can be awesome. Wandering at night in the medieval city is alone worth a visit. And the beaches are nice if empty as well.
But it's been a tourist attraction for decades, so if the mobs return, it quickly becomes a tourist trap.

howtofreetravel

I am booking a few alternatives with miles. So 50/50? What are the chances transit would be allowed? and can you even transit in Rhodes without hitting immigration?

Often1

Nobody can answer the "chances" question. The EU will need to address that next week for post July 1, so probably just best to hold off for a very little while.

Sheikh Yerbooty

Rhodos is an amazing island, one of the first Greek islands I had the pleasure of visiting very many years ago. It is very much a part of Greece, so I don't understand your statement "If I can't go to Greece, I might consider Rhodos". It's a bit like saying "I'd like to go to the US, but if that's not possible I might consider North Carolina".

To answer a few of your questions:

Greece, along with most (if not all) EU countries, will not be opening borders towards visitors from the US for the foreseeable future. Whether or not it will open for tourists from Israel is uncertain, but in both cases it hinges on the rate of contagion. Presently the US rate is way above acceptable levels, I'm not sure where Israel stands. There are no flights between the US and Rhodes, and I don't think you'll find anything between the US and ATH or SKG either.

You cannot use Rhodos airport to transit without going through immigration, as it's designed and operated purely as an O&D airport.

Cyprus is also an EU nation, and you may well find they're no more eager to accept visitors from the US than any other EU nation.

So the best advise I can give you, is to forget about visiting Europe this summer if you're from the US. This website Visit Greece | About COVID 19 has more information, but it can be distilled down to the following:

International flights resume in two stages: on June 15th flights to “Eleftherios Venizelos” Athens International Airport (ATH), and to “Macedonia” Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG) have resumed from and to countries which are less affected by the pandemic; and as of July 1st, flights to all Greek airports from all countries will resume, except for those considered as more affected by Covid 19.

You may also consult this page: https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/def...-_issue_15.pdf