How to Travel to Italy from the United Kingdom this Summer
With rules and restrictions constantly changing, it can be difficult to keep up to date with coronavirus restrictions, both in Italy and abroad. As the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, many tourists and U.K. residents who have family in Italy (as well as non-Italian residents who own second homes), have suddenly found themselves caught in the middle.
Planning on travelling to Italy this summer? Make sure to keep up to date with the latest travel advice. Advice can be found on the U.K. Government’s foreign travel advice page for Italy, as well as on the website of the Italian Ministry of Heath.
Arriving in the U.K. from Italy? Travel guidance varies depending on whether you are arriving in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Read on to find out how to travel to Italy from the United Kingdom this summer!
Arriving in Italy
At the moment, travellers entering Italy from the U.K. (as well as anyone who has spent any of the last 14 days in the U.K.) must quarantine in Italy for 5 days. This rule is to be reviewed on July 30th.
Travellers to Italy from the U.K. must:
complete a digital passenger locator form
take a negative molecular or antigen swab test within 48 hours of entering Italy
Quarantine for five days
take another molecular or antigen swab test following their 5-day quarantine
Returning to the U.K.
All travellers will need to buy a COVID-19 test and take this test in the 3 days before you travel. The test result must be in either English, French or Spanish. This applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
All travellers must also pre-order a test (or tests, if applicable) prior to their arrival in the U.K., to be taken when they arrive in the U.K. You can find a list of government-approved test providers for England here.
For arrivals into Wales, you can book your post-arrival testing package here.
Travellers arriving in Scotland can find out how to book their post-arrival tests here.
Travellers arriving in Northern Ireland can find out how to book their post-arrival tests here.
If you are arriving in the U.K. from an amber list country (Italy is currently on the U.K.’s amber list), you must quarantine for 10 days.
However, from 19th July, if a traveller has had two Covid-19 vaccinations they do not have to quarantine or take a day 8 Covid-19 test. This only applies if:
they have been fully vaccinated in the U.K.
two weeks have passed since their final Covid-19 vaccine dose
they have not been in a red list county in the 10 days preceding their arrival.
If travellers meet these conditions, they will still need to book a day 2 test to take when they arrive in England.
You will also need to:
declare that you have been fully vaccinated on your passenger locator form
show proof of your vaccination status (such as via the NHS COVID Pass, for travellers vaccinated in England) to your carrier (ferry, airline or train) when you travel
Unfortunately, if you have been vaccinated outside of the U.K. you will still have to quarantine for 10 days and take a Covid-19 test on both day 2 and day 8 of your arrival. Additionally, you must:
declare that you have been fully vaccinated on your passenger locator form
show proof of your vaccination status
The ‘Test to Release’ scheme
For travellers who have been vaccinated outside of the U.K. and are arriving from an amber list country, there is a ‘test to release’ scheme where you can opt-in to pay and take a test on day 5. If the test returns a negative result (and if your day 2 test was negative or inconclusive), you can end your quarantine. However, you must still take your day 8 test.
The Test to Release scheme applies to those quarantining in England only. More information is available here.
How do you prove your vaccination status?
Travellers vaccinated in England can use the NHS Covid Pass. The rules are slightly different for travellers in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Wales: the Welsh Government states that “people in Wales cannot currently use the NHS app to access their NHS COVID Pass and vaccination status.” However, it is possible to access the NHS COVID Pass online, where the Pass can be downloaded or printed as a PDF document. Find out more information here.
Scotland: get a record of your Covid-19 vaccination status here.
Northern Ireland: information not currently available. Official COVID-19 vaccine certification is due to be implemented later in July. Additional information can be found here and here.
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