Travelling to the Alps this winter? Read the last rules for UK travellers

Updated 05/10/2023: UK tour operator confirms all countries will be fully open with no entry restrictions. Top UK ski specialist SNO holidays has confirmed today that none of the major alpine skiing nations will require proof of vaccination, nor proof of recovery, from Covid this winter. “Older or vulnerable skiers might still want to take advantage of the free booster jab for the over 65’s as ski resorts will remain global meeting points and airports and aeroplanes may improve Covid transmission rates, but higher transmission rates will not translate into travel restrictions going forward,” said CEO Richard Sinclair.

Are you thinking in travelling to the Alps this winter? You need to read the last rules for UK travellers.

Please note that things change daily, so check on the Gov.UK website to be sure you are acting well!

Driving to the mountains- Photo Jeffrey Wegrzyn- Unsplash. Travelling to the Alps this winter? Read the last rules for UK travellers

There were major changes last week for UK travellers going to the Alps.

1) Now all travellers coming back to the UK will need a pre-departure test (before boarding to come back to the UK) that can be either an antigen or a PCR test up to 48 hours prior to departure. Without those tests, you cannot board.

2) Disregarding your vaccination status, all passengers coming to the UK, need to put on their Personal Locator Form, a code for the wrongly called Day 2 test. You can only use the UK providers for this test- check the Which website that gives you lots of codes for finding cheaper rates. It is wrongly called Day 2, as you can do the test, as soon as you arrive in the UK. You have to do quarantine until you get the result of the test. This is a bit chaotic, as many companies, were already delayed with their tests – now it will be worst – more if travelling for Christmas!

3) If going to France, now all people 12 and up- disregarding vaccination status- need a test- either a lateral flow or PCR test. This is for people 12 and over. Kids up to 11 years old do not need to do the test. For those vaccinated, tests can be taken up to 48 hours prior to departure. For the unvaccinated, up to 24 hours prior to leaving. So, if you are a family of 2 adults and at least one kid 12 to 15 that is not doubly vaccinated, do the test in the 24 hours prior to leaving! These kids that are not fully vaccinated can still go out without doing a quarantine, if the adults they are travelling with are fully vaccinated.

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Our Winter Getaway to the Mountains – no skiing included

How we managed to get our winter getaway to the mountains. I knew from the start, that due to the DCPM in Italy, there was no skiing included in this trip for sure.

As I also knew that the UK was going to become a third country to the EU, I really wanted to go back to Morgex. The EU allows its country-members to travel with no restrictions within the bloc. Thanks to Brexit, now we are out of the bloc, so we have the travel restrictions. The UK is now like the US. US could not go from March onwards into Europe, and they still cannot travel.

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The first day on the road towards Chaumont. Our Winter Gate-away to the Mountains - no skiing included. — The first day on the road towards Chaumont. Our Winter Gate-away to the Mountains – no skiing included.

I have been looking at all the rules in the UK, France and Italy. It started getting very technical. This showed that how determined I was. So when we were about to go, France was not asking any Covid test. Italy changed its recommendation to make the test BEFORE arriving into Italy. And this test needed be 48 hours before. That makes things tricky. I’ve found a great company (Randox), that mailed the tests to your home. It is an extra expenditure you are not counting in your normal travel. I’ve thought, as there was not going to be skiing, I used my lift tickets money on that. Also, it was good I’ve bought the tests in advance, as the mail started to be a bit slow before Christmas.

Taking the Covid tests. Our Winter Gate-away to the Mountains – no skiing included

I had my two boys at home as their schools closed with Covid cases, so it was easy to do at midday our tests on the Friday. We then drove to drop the tests to DX. DX is one of the two couriers that work with Randox and allow you to deliver these kind of tests. Not all couriers would deliver them.

Chaumont. Our Winter Gate-away to the Mountains - no skiing included — Our Winter Gate-away to the Mountains – no skiing included

The travel out of London. Our Winter Gate-away to the Mountains – no skiing included

We set up the alarm clock at 2.30 AM on the Saturday. It was me the one getting up, preparing the thermos, the sandwiches and our car fridge. This car fridge is the best thing we’ve bought on Amazon for our trip. It saves us from stopping at any shop to eat. Now in the pandemic, we want to travel safe. I also have my TravelJanes for using if needed. But the classic opening of two doors and weeing squatting works fine! Having been born and bred in Argentina, I am used to long trips with no petrol stations on the way. How many times we’ve heard a lorry honking at us, but they cannot see your face!

We went on the M20. The queue of lorries stuck in line was impressive. I’ve felt very bad for them, it seemed it was going to be very slow for them. For us it was fine, we had a delay of one hour, but we’ve stayed in the car. Finally we got across and we’ve started driving off Calais towards the south.

Tag: christmas travel

Travelling to the Alps this winter? Read the last rules for UK travellers

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