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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Where to go without covid test/quarantine worries?

35 replies

CecilieRose · 16/11/2021 21:08

I'd love to get away for a week during the annual leave I need to use up but am tearing my hair out trying to find somewhere nice in Europe to go that doesn't require PCR testing or quarantine if someone else tests positive on the plane there. I just don't want the stress of it hanging over me the entire time. I'm triple vaccinated (recent booster), wear my mask indoors at all times and am extremely cautious.

I had settled on going to Spain but then I was told that they make you have (and pay for) a PCR test at a clinic if someone on your plane was positive, so I'm no longer keen. Greece I believe does random PCR tests on arriving passengers at the airport, so also out. Italy requires a pre-departure test and also has strict quarantine rules for contacts so also out.

Is there anywhere I can feasibly go for a few days' break without worrying the entire time that I'll be pinged?

OP posts:
Sparklestar1 · 16/11/2021 21:11

Delete the app??

purplesequins · 16/11/2021 21:12

cornwall?

only half joking

Original poster
CecilieRose · 16/11/2021 21:15

@Sparklestar1 it's not about the app....it's about local authorities in the destination country contacting you if someone on the plane was positive...

OP posts:
Original poster
CecilieRose · 16/11/2021 21:16

@purplesequins I'd really like to get out of the country if possible! Went to the Isle of Wight in the summer and it was lovely but just didn't feel like a proper holiday at all.

OP posts:
bananagram18 · 16/11/2021 21:18

I’ve been to Paris twice recently. No testing to go there and all they want is proof of vaccination. Went on the train and it was fab!!

Original poster
CecilieRose · 16/11/2021 21:29

@bananagram18

I’ve been to Paris twice recently. No testing to go there and all they want is proof of vaccination. Went on the train and it was fab!!
Yeah, considering France! Do you happen to know what their protocol is if you're contact traced? It's really hard to find.
OP posts:
Beachbreak2411 · 16/11/2021 21:29

God don’t come to Cornwall (as above) if you don’t want to be “pinged” .. it’s rife here!!

TheExtraGuineaPig · 17/11/2021 10:52

Switzerland looks the easiest. Skiing or just being in the Alps? Lovely hotels etc

521Jeanie · 17/11/2021 10:56

@purplesequins

cornwall?

only half joking

Ha! My comment exactly. Splash out on a luxury hotel somewhere you've always wanted to visit?
Original poster
CecilieRose · 17/11/2021 11:01

@TheExtraGuineaPig

Switzerland looks the easiest. Skiing or just being in the Alps? Lovely hotels etc
It's just too expensive, unfortunately! It's definitely a great choice otherwise - very clear and sensible covid regulations.
OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 17/11/2021 11:04

I went to Spain and Portugal recently with teens
Me and DH double vacced so no testing required until day 2 of coming home for us. Teens had a PCR (£30 each) before we went and day 2 when we came home
It was hassle free, just needed a bit more paperwork

Aposterhasnoname · 17/11/2021 11:18

I’d stick to Spain. Really, what are the chances of someone testing positive on the flight. No one’s going to test voluntarily on holiday, so it would only happen if they were very ill.

Original poster
CecilieRose · 17/11/2021 11:30

@521Jeanie I want to get out of the UK. It just doesn't feel like a holiday otherwise and it's also incredibly pricey. I was considering Edinburgh but the prices of accommodation are eye watering and food/drink would be really expensive as well.

I was dreaming of being in Spain and just having a glass of wine and some tapas while people watching, being somewhere new, getting to practise my Spanish. I just do not want the worry hanging over me of being subjected to a PCR test should someone else from the plane test positive, and then God forbid testing positive and getting stuck in some awful quarantine hotel for 10 days.

I know it's extremely unlikely. I'm triple vaccinated, recent booster, am very careful, but even the tiniest chance of that happening is too much for me. I waited until they got rid of the test you needed to fly home to the UK and now there's this. It feels very silly to force fully vaccinated people to have PCR tests based on a very low chance of transmission when the virus is literally everywhere.

OP posts:
Original poster
CecilieRose · 17/11/2021 11:37

@Aposterhasnoname

I’d stick to Spain. Really, what are the chances of someone testing positive on the flight. No one’s going to test voluntarily on holiday, so it would only happen if they were very ill.
I would have thought so too, but my friends there have said it's happened to several of their friends. It's not necessarily a holiday for everyone - imagine a Spanish nurse goes to London for a few days, picks up covid (because it's bloody everywhere here), gets tested at work a couple of days later, positive. And then you get the call from their contact tracing and suddenly you're subjected to a PCR test. I appreciate it's extremely unlikely but it's not impossible.

Perhaps I read too many horror stories over the summer about people being forced into Spanish quarantine hotels. This isn't a traditional boozy holiday destination at all - it's a lovely city in Andalusia - but the very possibility of being forced to do a test and have to quarantine makes my blood run cold. I went to Switzerland over the summer and their process is far more sensible. If you're fully vaccinated and get pinged because of an exposure, the most they do is recommend you do a lateral flow test. So you know that in the absolute worst case scenario, you're not going to be forced to do anything or stay anywhere against your will. So I could relax and enjoy myself there without worrying about a freak positive test or having to change my flights to accommodate a PCR appointment.

OP posts:
Palavah · 17/11/2021 11:59

Where did you get the info about Greece? I'd definitely go there.

Original poster
CecilieRose · 17/11/2021 12:05

@Palavah it's on GOV.UK and their own website. They have the right to test any incoming passenger, regardless of vaccination status. Would that not put you off? The plus side is they'll pay for the hotel quarantine so no worries about being left out of pocket, but the idea of being at the mercy of strangers like that makes me VERY uncomfortable!

Their vaccination rates are also incredibly low, which is a bit offputting. Otherwise I think it would be a great time of year to go and explore Athens, while it's not too hot.

OP posts:
521Jeanie · 17/11/2021 13:01

I know it's extremely unlikely. I'm triple vaccinated, recent booster, am very careful, but even the tiniest chance of that happening is too much for me

If the tiniest chance is too much, then respectfully, why are you planning a holiday? There is no way to eliminate the risk apart from never leaving you home. You could pick up a tummy bug, nothing to do with Covid and still not be able to fly.

Sanch1 · 17/11/2021 14:07

A friend went to Malta recently, have you looked at that?

dabbydeedoo · 17/11/2021 14:09

@521Jeanie

I know it's extremely unlikely. I'm triple vaccinated, recent booster, am very careful, but even the tiniest chance of that happening is too much for me

If the tiniest chance is too much, then respectfully, why are you planning a holiday? There is no way to eliminate the risk apart from never leaving you home. You could pick up a tummy bug, nothing to do with Covid and still not be able to fly.

Hardly the same, is it? You have no risk of being marched off to some dingy quarantine hotel with a tummy bug. You stay for an extra day or two in your nice hotel and fly home whenever you decide you're well enough.

You could say people shouldn't travel at all during this pandemic, but when does it end? We're nearly two years in. Forcing close contacts to do PCR tests seems very OTT. Made sense in 2020 before covid was everywhere. Doesn't make much sense now. Especially as planes are apparently one of the safest places to be because of the filtered air, mask wearing and the fact everyone on board should be either fully vaccinated or tested negative. Where is safer than that?

Aposterhasnoname · 17/11/2021 15:09

I know it's extremely unlikely. I'm triple vaccinated, recent booster, am very careful, but even the tiniest chance of that happening is too much for me

Then don’t go. Because literally everywhere will have some sort of contact tracing and testing requirements.

bananagram18 · 17/11/2021 20:16

I don’t know how you would be contact traced tbh. There’s no passenger locator form etc that they would trace you with.

bananagram18 · 17/11/2021 20:17

Sorry that’s in reply to my post re Paris

dabbydeedoo · 17/11/2021 21:45

@bananagram18

I don’t know how you would be contact traced tbh. There’s no passenger locator form etc that they would trace you with.
No PLF at all for France? The airline would still be able to contact about a positive case on the plane.
TizerorFizz · 18/11/2021 16:59

Since all this malarkey started, DD has been to Corfu, Portugal and Florence. We’ve been to Iceland. None of us had any issues. If you keep thinking “what if” you won’t get anywhere! I’d be quick though - Austria is looking dodgy! Just do it asap.

dabbydeedoo · 18/11/2021 17:25

@TizerorFizz

Since all this malarkey started, DD has been to Corfu, Portugal and Florence. We’ve been to Iceland. None of us had any issues. If you keep thinking “what if” you won’t get anywhere! I’d be quick though - Austria is looking dodgy! Just do it asap.
It's unlikely to have an issue but it's not impossible, and it would be awful to be quarantined somewhere for two weeks. A lot of places don't do PCR tests for contact tracing, they just tell you to do a lateral flow and trust you to be sensible. WAY less stressful than knowing you might be hauled off to a hospital or quarantine hotel!
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