On August 15, the US was added to Germany's list of High Risk Areas. What does this mean?! Considering I had a flight from Minneapolis to Munich on August 16, I was a little apprehensive when I read the news. Fortunately for vaccinated US travelers, the new High Risk Area designation doesn’t mean much. In fact, I found out after getting a $100 Covid test that a negative test isn’t even required to enter Germany. Hopefully, my mistake helps save our travelers on next week’s Lumi trip to Austria and Slovenia. 

So what do you need to know to travel to Europe right now?

For travel to Germany, and most European countries, you must fill out a "Digital Registration on Entry" form - basically a way for Germany to track who enters the country for contact tracing. You can't fill out the form until 3 days before arrival, so there’s no need to fill it out any earlier. Reading Germany’s Ordinance on Coronavirus Entry Regulations sentence “you must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival” made me very nervous, until reading the next sentence: “If proof of vaccination or recovery is already submitted before entry, no quarantine is necessary." Whew.

Surprisingly, for vaccinated travelers, even from “High Risk Areas” (like the US), no negative test result is required -- the only two countries requiring a negative test for vaccinated travelers are Brazil and Uruguay. Once you’re in Europe, most countries have a Digital Registration form for contract tracing and a vaccine certificate is required. Seeing that Europe’s borders are open even for the highest risk countries, I’m optimistic that travel to Europe will continue to stay open for the coming winter, even if that requires a negative test before the trip.

The US still requires a negative test before re-entering after a trip abroad. These antigen tests are available at virtually all pharmacies in Europe, cost around 20 Euros ($25 USD) and digital results are available typically within an hour. 

All things considered, the travel experience to- and in Europe is currently pretty easy for vaccinated US and Canadian travelers. Stay healthy this fall -- I look forward to seeing you on the trail soon!

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Stay tuned for updates from our visit to the Fischer and Salomon factories in Austria and experiences in Ramsau and Slovenia.

See you on the trail,
Garrott