JMN57

It's been (understandably) quiet on the Italy board due to Covid but with vaccines out I'd like to believe that international travel will be possible sometime in 2021.

Personally, we left our Italian house last January thinking we'd be back for a couple of weeks in April/May to take care of some things and then returning to spend July & August. Of course, that all evaporated with Covid.

For 2021, we're rolling the dice and planning on flying to Dublin for 5 days in mid-June, on to Nice to pick up a Peugeot lease and then to our house until early September, flying out via CDG. Ambitious but I figure you have to put a marker down and, at worst, move it if you have to. At this point, there's very little $'s at risk anyhow.

tstauck

Booked 5/23/21 - 6/2/21. LAX-VRN, then FCO-LAX.

Used miles for the flights and should be able to cancel with no re-deposit fees. Hotels will all be refundable / no charge if we have to cancel.

Fingers crossed!

just_jim

I made a speculative booking Seattle to Naples, then back Faro to Seattle.

I'm figuring if the two other flights are still available, Naples/Rome to Portugal will also be possible.

behuman

I guess the pattern 2021 will be similar to the one in 2020 when Italy opened early June. This said there is some doubt that traveling from outside the Schengen space will be possible without test and possibly quarantine. This is the actual line from the EU along with the requirement of residence / citizenship or essential travel.. To enter Italy from another Schengen state you need a PCR test taken less than 48 hours before your arrival.

To be on the safe side I would not plan any intercontinental travel before autumn when the vaccine effect will kick in.

I would be very worried to leave a house alone in Italy (or also France) for more than one year. Squatters might have taken it over already. I trust that you have a trusted guardian.

catdad

We too are rolling the dice, with a trip planned for late May.

Italy began vaccinating with AstraZeneca injections, only slightly behind our Pfizer and Moderna programs here in the USA. By May, the infection numbers for Italy should be significantly improved.

I think the greatest risk is that Italian politicians may find it difficult to loosen the Covid restrictions which have killed travel.

JMN57

We're in a safe town in Tuscany - actually in the medieval centro - so it's pretty secure. There's a restaurant right across the street from us (4 paces) and we know the owners. The best security in Italy are the nonne who know everything that's going on and we have a few around us. Our house is 4 levels but only two have ground access. Our taverna faces out the back and the door is deadbolted. We have a reception room on the ground floor that is secure (windows with bars/strong door) and going up and into the house there's a separate locking door.

Finally, we have a lady (her husband is in the police) who checks the house every week, airs it out, etc. All 'n all, the least of my worries is security (it was a criteria when we purchased). If we had a standalone house in the country, I'd be worried.

KLouis

Let me offer a more optimistic outlook:

1) The vaccine effect kicks in immediately! It is minimal when only one person is vaccinated and it rises as more and more are immune until herd immunity "takes over". It is assumed by epidemiologists that, for Covid-19, this will be the case when about 60-70% of the population is immune. Whether this will be in autumn of earlier or later will depend on the speed at which the population gets vaccinated as well as on facts relating to the virus's biology that can not be predicted now.
2) Empty houses in Italy (and France) are certainly not at a high risk of being taken over by squatters. In the very unlikely event that I'm wrong, in both countries, the police will definitely be there to provide help...

behuman

Wish you were right, but for the squatters to kick them out is not so easy: https://www.ouest-france.fr/provence...cances-6958822 These people lost time and money and finally repossessed their house vandalized. Never leave empty a house more than a couple of weeks in Europe - this is hard to imagine for an US American, but I think in Greece it would be similar.

NYTA

I just got my first vaccination and will have my second on Feb. 6th. I was wondering if any of the ski resorts are open. I was hoping to fly to Geneva in early March and ski a couple of days in France in Chamonix and then Courmayeur.and La Thuile in Italy. Not sure what any of the restrictions are or even if hotels will be open let alone the ski areas.

babs441

We are planning a trip for May to Puglia and then July Capri which we go every year. We are italians and went to Capri in august 2020 and it was so empty. Hopefully it pick up this year.

behuman

Travel between (yellow or soon white) regions should be allowed from 15 February 2021 onward (I do not believe this as it was promised for Christmas already), but entering Italy you will need a PCR test before or face quarantine. For outside Schengen arrivals quarantine will be the only option and I fear so till late summer. except the Covid tested flights from the US.

Vaccination deliveries are proceeding at half the scheduled speed.

Perhaps this website is useful to fellow FTalkers http://www.viaggiaresicuri.it/approf...aluteinviaggio

babs441

We went in August 2020 with our Italian passports and stayed for 5 weeks. We quarantined in Rome for 2 weeks with family before traveling for 3 weeks around the coast. We did the PCR test and when we came back to the US we quarantined for another 2 weeks.

behuman

Try the Covid tested flights that avoid you quarantine . Enjoy !

MeLikeTao

Grazie for link, new to this platform and could use help on the journey experience.

I'm flexible for either JFK or ATL pre-test flights as I need to deal with some sensitive family business, sooner than later. Have Italian passport so entry not a problem.

Would be great to hear what actually happens so I'm best prepared to avoid quarantine on arrival.

oh yeah, will travel in business class so does this help?.

buon viaggio tutti...

annaschummi

I am afraid that travelling in Italy will be challenging for Italians themselves this year, without mentioning foreign tourists.
Last time we could have a dinner out was back in the beginning of October (otherwise take away, but honestly...). Museums are closed even in yellow zone. Ski resorts are closed, even though it would have been the easiest activity to control (limit of daily ski passes in order to avoid qiues at ski lift). The government did not give any relaxation to tourist activities over Christmas holidays, as they have seen what happened during summer months when there were no controls and no hard restrictions.
In theory one can travel, if needed and the restrictions are rather "loose", but shall one enjoy this type of travel?