What to expect when travelling to Europe this summer per CNN

Pulled this from the article

In May the EU adopted the concept of an "EU Digital Covid Certificate" for its own citizens, proposing that it be in place by July 1.

This would digitally prove that the certificate holder had been fully vaccinated...Although it is hoped Americans will eventually be able to digitally provide the same information when they travel to Europe, in order to gain entry there, it is unclear when and how this will happen

June or July trip doesn't seem likely for me. Hopefully it settles down by Sept/Oct. Currently planning 2 different 21 night itineraries, 1 North (Sept) and 1 South (Oct) of the Alps.

The poster also posted about this article in the COVID-19 travel subject of the Forum.

I am seeing some unofficial comments by French officials of a potential opening of France to American tourists sometime this month. Even if that happens, there remains a question of proving who is vaccinated and doing so by keeping fraud at a minimum.

We are as excited as everyone else to get the opportunity to return to France, Europe, and UK. The worrisome part of this article is the adopted roadmap for putting on emergency brakes if new outbreaks occur. It is so early in this process of re-opening that as travelers we need to be aware of any possibility that the brakes could halt a trip. Hopefully soon more info will come out that clears up all our questions.

"On May 20, the EU also adopted a "roadmap," or recommendation that would allow vaccinated travelers from outside the EU to go to Europe; details are expected to be finalized by the end of June. The roadmap will give each country an "emergency brake" mechanism that would close borders if there were a new Covid-19 outbreak, either in the traveler's destination or home country."

Booking refundable tickets is probably still the best course of action.

An update was just posted in the Covid-19 travel subject with the addition of info on the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificates. As you can see, we are scourging for any news on what news we can find. Update link is below.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/covid19/what-to-expect-explainer-for-summer-travel-in-europe

Here is a link to an interview with Rick Steves done by the Seattle Times on the same subject

https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/rick-steves-tells-us-what-to-expect-when-europe-reopens-to-tourists-this-summer/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_inset_1.1

What to expect? a great deal of uncertainty with last minute changes likely to occur, inconsistency (including between top officials and the official policy) and some degree of chaos. Remember a few weeks ago when we thought the UK would be one of the first places to open to Americans?
It looks like the best bet right now is those Covid-free flights from the eastern US to Italy. Based on descriptions of that experience posted on this forum, the Italian government and Delta appear to be on the same page.

Do you want to know what I think? Well, I'm not going to tell you because it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is the official word from the powers that be as to when I can travel and what is necessary to prove I am vaccinated. Unil then, I'm not going to worry about it or stew over it or argue about it because I have absolutely no control over what the outcome will be.

What I am doing is planning trips by location so I can add or subtract areas depending on when they open.

Frank II is right again (and again) all these many articles imply they have concrete info when they dont. And their information is always overtaken by events.

Do you want to know what I think? Well, I'm not going to tell you because it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is the official word from the powers that be as to when I can travel and what is necessary to prove I am vaccinated. Unil then, I'm not going to worry about it or stew over it or argue about it because I have absolutely no control over what the outcome will be.

Amen.