Today, August 30, the EU made a non-binding recommendation to its member countries to ban non-essential travel from a handful of countries, including the United States.
The EU had added the US to its “safe travel” list in June but, because of increasing COVID cases, the US was really outside the parameters of that list for the past month or so. This move had been expected.
Because the EU decision today is non-binding, it will be up to each country to determine its own rules and countries have already made clear they will still be allowing vaccinated travelers from the US to visit.
Germany
As of August 16, Germany had already moved the United States to its “high risk” list. However, it made an exemption for leisure travelers who have been vaccinated.
Italy
The Italian ministry of health created a new rule requiring US travelers to present a negative COVID test even for vaccinated travelers. This appears to be the direct response to the EU’s move, which means vaccinated leisure travelers are still allowed to enter Italy.
Other Countries
We at Zephyr Adventures are primarily focused on the areas we have tours running this fall. If you have plans to visit other European countries, we suggest you carefully monitor the news for those countries.
Our 2021 European Tours
We have one tour ongoing now in Ireland. We have many other tours upcoming in Germany and Italy. At this point, all our European tours are on and vaccinated US travelers will be allowed to enter these countries.