Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Holidays
France - would you still go?
Tiredandtorn · 20/06/2021 13:44
Hey,
We have 10 nights in a camping village booked for august.
Dh & 1 are both double jabbed and the kids are under 11 so don't need to PCR. And currently we can enter France without an isolation period.
I just can't decide if going is the right thing to to do or not?
Accommodation is self contained and self catering and we'd be very happy chilling at the beach/pool for 10 days and wouldn't use kids clubs anyway as just not for us. Our travel is in our own car and on the Eurostar. We can afford the time to quarantine when we get home.
Currently covid rates are less in France than here.... it all sounds like a no brainer to go!
But with so many feeling travel is 'too risky' I can't decide!
Anyone else going for it with a self drive? Or anyone cancelled?
loginfail · 21/06/2021 09:29
@Flower8919
But you are being sinister...you really need to take a very hard look at what you are writing and how it looks to law abiding citizens:
If you saw someone committing a crime or doing something that is risky to others would you call them out on it? This is the same! If the government won’t enforce it properly then sadly some of us have to speak up about what is right
Fact - travelling across Borders is not a crime.....yet you seem to think it is.
Well I've travelled between the UK and France during the pandemic, for work purposes, complied with all the testing and all the regs.
What do you suggest? Should I go and hand myself in at your address, that you should take me out and shoot me now?
MaloInAnAppleTree · 21/06/2021 09:33
August is a long way off. France might well be in the middle of a major Delta-driven outbreak by then, depending on how fast they can push their vaccine programme. That might not stop you travelling, but it might restrict what you can do when you get there. It’s really tough to predict.
Feelinghothothottoday · 21/06/2021 09:33
Why would you choose to go when your children are not vaccinated? How would you feel if they caught Covid in France and were very poorly? We can’t trust the stats anywhere. The delta variant is in France. They really don’t want us there.
Flower8919 · 21/06/2021 09:33
No don’t be silly! If it was for work and you took all the steps (even if you probably could have done it over zoom) then that is ok.
No it’s not illegal to cross the border but the point I am trying to make is why can’t people manage without a holiday for one year and just stay home? Instead they have to go away and put all of us staying at home at risk by maybe bringing back a worse variant
youshouldbeplotting · 21/06/2021 09:50
@Tiredandtorn
We've never done the drive over to France before but I'm planning on taking the toll roads which I'm assured are easy driving
@Tiredandtorn the toll roads are ace, mostly very clear and quiet. My top tip is to get a toll tag so you can whip through without fumbling forr money/cards.
www.emovis-tag.co.uk/
I am so jealous. I would love to go to France this year, but I would worry about things going pear shaped.
steppemum · 21/06/2021 09:58
we have the option of France in August.
We have decised not to go because
- the difficulty of getting pcr tests in time and then driving back. (house is middle of nowhere and drive back is 17 hours)
2. we cannot really quarantine when we get back
3. we have big family event within 2 weeks of return, and don't wnat to risk not being able to go
4. I think France will put us on their red list
Vikingintraining · 21/06/2021 10:19
"The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to France" so you might manage the practical aspects of testing and distancing, and your insurance might cover you for forced cancellation, but you won't be insured for accidents or medical treatment etc. Imagine if you slip by the pool and break a leg and need to be transported back at a cost of multiple thousands... If you're prepared to take that risk then you're ok.
Personally, I wouldn't travel anywhere that the foreign office advises against, but as soon as that official advice changes I will be on the next plane/train/boat to anywhere!
loginfail · 21/06/2021 10:21
No don’t be silly! If it was for work and you took all the steps (even if you probably could have done it over zoom) then that is ok.
....Making assumptions/casting aspersions/making judgements...all reasons why you really shouldn't be considering policing anything.
FYI yes it was for work, yes I took all the steps, and no what I did definitely definitely could not be done "over zoom..".
If you want to stay in your bubble I get it, fine, but don't start trying to police anybody else.
rookiemere · 21/06/2021 10:28
@Flower8919 but it's not just postponing holidays for one year, this is the second summer that foreign holidays have been interrupted and certainly I'm losing faith that it will be the last interrupted ones.
I'd probably err on the side of caution myself- all this testing and worrying about colour of country and potential self isolation doesn't make for very relaxing holiday planning.
Feelinghothothottoday · 21/06/2021 11:25
You will not be covered by your holiday insurance if the foreign office advises against travel.
That’s enough to put me off 100%.
zafferana · 21/06/2021 13:10
@Flower8919
Yes it is a big risk because you could bring back a variant from another country. It’s not such a hardship to go one year without a holiday abroad… their are plenty of nice places in the uk you can go to!
I didn't say it was a nanny state, I said that people like you were nannying, self-appointed Covid police!
DGFB · 21/06/2021 13:12
We’re planning to go as long as they have got rid of quarantine on the way back by then
zafferana · 21/06/2021 13:13
@Flower8919
But people wanting to travel aren't committing a crime! You're acting like what they plan to do is illegal and can be equated with breaking into someone's house or drunk driving. Travel to amber list IS LEGAL! The ban on overseas travel was lifted on 17th May. It's your opinion only that haranguing people who want to go overseas is right, nothing more.
Frezia · 21/06/2021 13:20
@Flower8919
Here's the latest data by the NHS test and trace - there were zero cases of any variants, including Kent or Delta, imported from amber countries. The 0.4% positivity rate from travellers is 6 times lower than overall UK positivity rate which is 2.4%
So are you also keen on policing people here going to the pubs and socialising with others indoors? Because according to the stats that's much riskier.
TheresWaldo · 21/06/2021 13:37
I'm in Europe and so not happy for people to travel from UK to be fair. Chances are higher that you'll bring the Delta variant than get another variant here.
CloudPop · 21/06/2021 13:44
@Flower8919
Yes it is a big risk because you could bring back a variant from another country. It’s not such a hardship to go one year without a holiday abroad… their are plenty of nice places in the uk you can go to!
Or a new variant could develop in the UK, like, say, the Kent variant ? Why does everyone assume that viruses only mutate outside of the UK?
newnortherner111 · 21/06/2021 13:47
I had planned to go to France this year and having booked nothing, decided against it. Thinking the French might not let me in or require quarantine.
Even before the latest impact of Mr Johnson's inactions.
bluejelly · 21/06/2021 13:53
I agree with @Flower8919
It's not easy, it's not 'fair' but overseas travel is a risk that's not worth taking this year, in my opinion. I also wouldn't want to travel without insurance.
loginfail · 21/06/2021 13:54
@Feelinghothothottoday
That’s enough to put me off 100%.
FWIW some UK companies will/are providing cover in those circumstances...
I'm not up to speed on exactly which ones but they have been mentioned in other threads in this place.
Frezia · 21/06/2021 14:01
@bluejelly
It's not easy, it's not 'fair' but overseas travel is a risk that's not worth taking this year, in my opinion. I also wouldn't want to travel without insurance.
That risk is not supported by data. Do you also avoid going to pubs and restaurants and any gatherings here in the UK?
bluejelly · 21/06/2021 14:20
There are many risks to overseas travel, including having an accident and not being insured. Bringing a new variant to a foreign country. Bringing a new variant back from a foreign country. Having to quarantine at short notice. Rules changing at short notice.
Going to a restaurant in the UK doesn't involve any of the above.
zafferana · 21/06/2021 14:24
@bluejelly
It's not easy, it's not 'fair' but overseas travel is a risk that's not worth taking this year, in my opinion. I also wouldn't want to travel without insurance.
You don't have to travel without insurance - there ARE insurance policies out there that cover you going to amber list countries. You may just have to pay more for them.
Frezia · 21/06/2021 14:36
@bluejelly
Going to a restaurant in the UK doesn't involve any of the above.
The risk of catching and spreading any variant is six times higher here than it is when traveling from an amber country.
You can also be asked to quarantine here at short notice.
The risk of not being insured and rules changing at short notice are down to the government making decisions that are not based on data. If you're OK with it when it comes to international travel, are you also OK with it when it comes to any aspect of daily life?
Should we also ban travel in and out of Cornwall? Infection rates there are going through the roof.
loginfail · 21/06/2021 14:41
@bluejelly
Going to a restaurant in the UK doesn't involve any of the above.
I'll keep it polite...this is now getting just utterly utterly silly.
FinallyHere · 21/06/2021 14:44
My concerns would be much more mundane ones, including travel insurance should the FO change the status of the country you are visiting, cost of green card/car insurance now we are no longer automatically covered for EU and the plan if one or more of you have a positive test and are unable to travel back.
We are used to driving across to the EU with few preparations required.
Times have indeed changed.
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