London in July

I had a trip from July 7-21 starting in London and I canceled. I’m so sad but Delta totally got rid of my Reykjavík to US flight home. :(

will you be ok with a 14 day quarantine when you arrive?

Slim to not at all. I have a trip to mainland Europe planned for late September and I doubt it will happen since the country I plan to visit doesn’t plan to open up for international travel until at least late June and it also has instituted a 14 days quarantine. Temper your hopes in case it doesn’t happen.

I think the chances of anyone going abroad and enjoying a "normal" holiday this year are slim.

Too many unknowns at the moment.

Based upon everything I read, listened to the news your not going. I too was supposed to go to London and would have been there now. My flight was cancelled and they put me on a later flight, my hotel is closed, my play tkt is vouched as the theatre is dark, the concert at St Martins in the Field is cancelled. Buckingham Palace is closed for the rest of the summer ( someone else informed us of that on the forum), social distancing needs to be practiced, hot weather will NOT get rid of this virius. Museums are closed.

This will not be resolved until we have a vaccine that works. This is going to be a long haul. Every country is going through this.

I would not cancel the airline tkts as you want them to cancel on you to get your money back. I was lucky, United cancelled my 8:30AM flight to London, put me on the 8PM flight but since I was going to arrive six hours late or more their policy is to refund the money. However, when I called, they did not tell me that, they said I would get a voucher. Well, I found their policy wording thanks to a dear friend and called United back, read them the wording and they said they would credit my credit card back. I then read on the forum, I can call my credit card company and request the check which is what I want.

I did not pay for the hotel, so I just cancelled it and they sent a very nice email. They are closed so that was easy.

So start thinking of who you may have to contact regarding refunds. I also requested my travel insurance premium back and am waiting to hear from them. They sent an email, it will take a few weeks.

Rick Steves cancelled all his tours until August 15 and I don't know if he cancelled more tours yet, but I suspect he will.

I am sorry. I hope you found this to at least helpful. Sad, but helpful. I was happy to have friends and this forum that told me what to do now that my trip is cancelled. I would not have requested the insurance premium back or asked the credit card company for a check.

I think July is doubtful, especially for Great Britain.

I have a trip booked to southwest France/Northeast Spain 9/6-10/6. I am optimistic about being able to go, with no quarantine on arrival.

Boris Johnson said he "hoped" to start up the hospitality industry in July but that it depends on if the government criteria is met. Since that that is by no means certain at this point and lockdown is only starting to be lifted I'm thinking your chances are 50 - 50. I think you'll have to wait until mid June and see whats open again before deciding. I have a trip planned for Sept 16th and my criteria is that tourist sites, pubs, hotels are all open and that flights are running again. I do have my fingers crossed that you & I can still take our trips.

Slim to not at all.

And last time I saw Slim, he was headed toward an exit.

Regrettably, as mentioned on here many times, I wouldn't count on anything until there's vaccine, which will hopefully be available in early 2021, but there are no guarantees. I would hold off on solid plans for 2021 or later until there's a vaccine.

Formula 1 just announced that the British Grand Prix at Silverstone will be held on July 19th with no spectators. To me that’s an indication that other restrictions as a result of Covid will be in place. I’m booked for a Rick Steves tour of the villages of south England beginning October 5th. I feel the chances of the tour being cancelled are better than 50%.

Let's put all "I thinks" and speculation aside and look at current facts.

Boris Johnson said he hopes to open some parts of the hospitality industry in July. Underline the word "hopes". And then, the government has to decide if it will allow foreigners in or just open up hotels, restaurants and pubs for people living in the UK. (With Brexit I have no idea if they still have to let in people from other EU countries. )My favorite hotel keeps moving the date it suggests you could start making reservations and that is now July 4.

Assuming your flight is not canceled, assuming your hotel is open (they are closed until at least July), and assuming they allow you in, you would have to ask yourself if you feel safe to go. The UK government still suggests staying off public transportation unless you have to use it.

I'm itching to get back to the UK but at this time I'm still waiting for more assurance it is safer than it is now. When that will be no one knows.

hot weather will NOT get rid of this virius

However sunlight does kill the virus rapidly. Also the mere fact that being outside reduces the opportunity of the virus spreading between people as opposed to being confined indoors and enclosed spaces. It will not eraadicate the virus but being outside in the sun reduces your chance of infection.

Brexit has yet to be ratified so the UK is still within the EU. There are travel restrictions in place with a 14 day quaratine requirement for people entering the country (however this is being amended on a regular basis but aimed more towards business travel rather than tourist travel).

The UK is still in lockdown however there have been easing of some restrictions but they differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so the following points are pertinent primarily to England the one hour exercise per day has been relaxed to unlimited exercise. Grocery stores remain open and many food outlets that can offer takeway food have remained open or are re-opening with amendments to accommodate the rules. There is no provision for seating to eat and all pubs and non-takeaway restaurants remain closed with no indication of when they will open, it is anticipated that they will be amongst the last services to open.

There is a plan to start opening schools for primary aged children on June 1st however there is some opposition to this from treacher unions and some teachers and parents. There have already been some local authorities who have stated that they will refuse to open schools then. Other pupils will be phased in however there is an anticipated acceptance that most pupils will not return until September.

Museums and other tourist attractions remain closed and will do so for some considerable time. It is likely that these will be the last to open. The focus is primarily on getting people back to work if they are unable to work from home.

Travel is very much restricted to essential travel only and this includes travel to purchase groceries, pharmaceutical supplies. to visit somwhere to exercise as long as the journey time doesn't exceed the time taken to exercise. Travel for leisure and sightseeing is strictly forbidden and you can expect to be fined by the police.

Social gatherings are not permitted. You can meet one person outside of your household but have to maintain a 2 metre distance.

We're currently in mid May, the minimal lifting of restrictions took place last week. It has been reported within the last couple of days that the 'R' rate has increased to almost 1 which is the figure that indicates infection rates are on the increase. It is too early to say that the figures are on the rise as a result of lifting the restrictions or whether there is a delay in analysing the figures. I can't forsee any change in the status quo for the rest of the month. If the 'R' rate remains below 1 then there may be some additional relaxation of some of the rules during June but I wouldn't expect much, the focus is on getting people back to work safely.

There is a lot of opposition to the 14 day quarantine law, mainly from the airline industry but also from businesses. Who knows how long this will remain in place. It may still be a requirement in July or it may not however even if it wasn't the majority of the tourist industry is likely to remain closed and travel will still be restricted.

I'm afraid that it looks higly unlikely that your trip will go ahead and even if you were able to fly into the country you will be so restricted on where you can go and what you can do that it would be quite a miserable experience.

As of June 8, the UK is implementing a 14-day quarantine requirement for people arriving .

Here is the BBC write up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-52774854