I have a US passport. There is a possibility that my employer will send me to Paris for 12 days next January.
What is the situation regarding covid-19 restrictions for travel within EU nations by train? If I am in Paris and want to to go to Brussels or Geneva; would it be allowed?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
I am aware that Switzerland is not in the EU, but Geneva is a convenient train ride away from Paris.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6974 posts
You will need to check the travel restrictions in Belgium and Switzerland and whether they will allow you in. You should also note that the current rules might be very different to the rules in January.
Posted by
Karlsruhe, Germany
293 posts
It has also to do with whether you can stay overnight wherever you travel. Right now in Germany, for example, hotels are not allowed to have guests who travel for touristic purposes. So, many factors to look into.
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2703 posts
If you are going to Brussels or Geneva as part of your business, your company can make arrangements for you. Presently, and for the for the foreseeable future, travel for tourism has been halted.
Posted by
Paris
10203 posts
First is the question of whether you would be able to leave Paris.
It’s only today that the French government has relaxed restrictions to allow us to go more than 1 kilometer from our residence (for a limit of 1 hour per day) for exercise/leisure.
We can now go up to 20 km from our residence for up to three hours (we still have to carry a signed and dated attestation with us, and I.d. and proof of residence). But we still can’t leave the region that we live in. And restaurants and bars are still closed (except for takeout/delivery if restaurants choose to do so).
If the Covid numbers go down, the government will allow people to travel among French regions as of Dec 15. If they don’t, they won’t.
If things continue getting better, we will have more leeway — but there is no reason to automatically assume that will be the case in January. The government has made very clear that any re-opening will depend very much on the rate of spread of the virus in the next few weeks.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10625 posts
The statistics we have to obtain and maintain in order to go over twenty kilometers are fairly challenging. My opinion is that we'll meet them in December but that cases will rise in January and we'll be restricted again. But I don't have my crystal ball today, only my broom stick.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32352 posts
As January 2021 is only about a month in the future, my guess would be that the situation is not looking too good for train travel (or perhaps any travel in Europe) at that time. Covid cases still seem to be increasing and out-of-control in many countries.
Good luck!
Posted by
9 posts
Yes the main problem is not whether we can go there or not but from the hotel/airbnb. Our christmas trip got cancel since our airbnb host decided to cancel our stay because she is still worry about Covid ( we wanted to have a roadtrip). But i think you can still travel by train just make sure you have a place to stay.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33842 posts
kanallisa235 may well be right at some point, but in France for the time being it is a maximum of 20km you can travel and for 3 hours max before you are back.
Posted by
Paris
10203 posts
Nigel’s right, and those limits are once per day !
In my case the 20 km from my residence gets me to all of Paris, out to the near terminals of CDG (but not 2E or 2F), and a few suburbs.
You can google “Covidradius info” and plug in an address to see what the 20-km radius from there.
Or heck, here is the link: