We are Americans living in Cambridge so we have been able to travel around Britain over the past three months (we were planning to go to France last week but the quarantine news made us cancel our plans). I thought it might be helpful to share our experience for those of you who are thinking of traveling to Europe when travel restrictions are lifted, but while the virus is still going. I'll put my thoughts in bullet point form so it's easier to organize.
Traveling to natural beauty sites is lovely as they are generally open. Here in the UK there can be large crowds at hot spots because many British travelers have opted to stay on the island this summer. We have encountered car parks that were never as crowded prior to the pandemic, and we believe it may be because more British travelers aren't going abroad. Another thing to note about natural beauty sites is that the toilet options will be really limited. At Birling Gap (a RS recommendation on the south coast), they closed off several toilets to maintain social distancing, so the que was over 30 minutes. We've found this to be true at many other sites as well.
- While in Edinburgh we were faced with a very rainy day. What do you do on a rainy day? Find a museum or a cafe. Well, I'd say about 70% of the museums were closed. And many cafes were doing takeaway only. So we basically got soaked just walking around looking for something to do.
- Basically all museums require advanced booking, even if they are free. You have to book online in advance. This is true in Britain for many National Trust (outdoor spaces and stately homes) properties- you have to book a parking space prior to your arrival.
- Just because a museum/castle/attraction is open doesn't mean it is fully open. I was excited to snag tickets to the National Museum of Scotland on the first day of it's reopening. Then I looked around the website some more to find that they were only opening the atrium and one other floor. At Windsor Castle they had some other popular areas that were closed as well.
- You also need to make reservations at most restaurants/pubs in advance. This isn't true everywhere but I think it's a good rule of thumb. We also didn't find the locals in the pubs to be chatty at all because people are trying to keep their distance. This isn't really a time for "rubbing elbows" with any locals.
- We went to Windsor Castle on the day that it opened and I spoke with the greeter there. She said that on a summer day pre-covid they typically welcome 10,000 (!!!) visitors. On our day they were allowing up to 1000 but not that many people had booked. It was nice to not be battling the crowds there.
We have had some lovely excursions and experiences, but I think it's wise to realize that if you come over here it's not going to be as it was. It requires lots of advanced planning (timed entry tickets, reservations) and the mindset that your favorite museum/ restaurant/cafe will be different. And of course in places like London where all the West End shows are closed, you may encounter whole parts of the city that feel really dead compared to what you're used to. We are hoping to go to France next year and I think it's going to take a lot more homework on my part to make sure I'm clear on what each museum/ attraction has to offer during this period, and be flexible with what I can get. Good luck!!