Our initial plans were to travel in April and May 2022 to Frankfurt to visit our son and grandkids who is serving in the military and then after a week w/them to travel open-end to London 5-7 days,train to France rent car then to Normandy area, then to Lorire and Dordogne areas and on to Carcassonne 12-14 days total, drop rental, train to Barcelona 3 days, then fly to Naples and southern part of Italy 5-7 days , then train to Milan/Lake Como area 3-5 days, then back to Frankfurt to finish out our 40-50 day trip...but now with this new surge of Covid our plans have to change...we have lived in Germany for 5years when in Military and have visited several times to Europe to all the countries prev listed and are experienced RS travelers and like to wing our travels making changes as we go.....need info on costs of Covid testing when arrival/departure from countries and would like some feedback any recent travel experiences in the countries listed for ease or difficulty of travel so we can adjust our plans to make for a stress free trip....and also we have never flown any of the local small airlines like Ryanair have always had rental car or trained everywhere....how is it to fly thru them? Looking for advice on how to cutback can anyone offer any suggestions...Thanks RJAXJAG
Posted by
San Diego, California
4692 posts
That's a lot to cover-
I would start with reading all the Trip Reports posted here under your various countries, and then check every few days on the current posts under your designated countries.
And- no one can predict the mandates /costs now for April/May.
Good luck and safe travels!
Posted by
Arlington, WA
48 posts
We just returned from a trip over Christmas that took us to London, parts of Germany and Paris over two weeks.
The UK has their Day 2 test. At the time when went they also required a predeparture test, but that requirement was recently dropped. We did our Day 2 test with Randox Health at one of their clinics. It was a PCR test and I believe we paid approx. 55 pounds per person. Had to book it ahead of time and include the reference number from the booking on the passenger locator form. I'd look into the current travel restrictions between the UK and Germany and France. While we were in London, France severely restricted travel between the two countries, then a couple days later Germany did as well. It may be a simple as needing to enter the UK from Belgium or the Netherlands, just not direct from France or Germany. Just something to research more and keep an eye on.
Covid tests costs in Germany (Cologne and Hagen) were 15 euros each with numerous testing locations that you could book ahead or drive through. Tests in France were 25 euros per person and pretty much any pharmacy offered them, just walk on in and get tested. There are also several testing tents in many parts of Paris, but I am not sure on the costs there, we used a pharmacy. In both Germany and France, we had test results within 20 minutes in our email.
We were original supposed to fly from LON to AMS, then train over to Germany. We changed our plans last minute and took the Eurostar instead. Even though the check in/security was a cluster when we checked in for our Eurostar train, I much preferred taking the train over flying. It was our first time taking Eurostar, the train was sold out and it was on 12/19 so perhaps it was much busier than normal but we enjoyed it.
Posted by
Austin, Texas, USA
540 posts
I was in Germany in September and at that point there were COVID testing sites in almost all of the major train stations and they only cost 15 Euros. Before my trip, I had researched a place to get my test to return to the USA but after seeing all the testing options in all the train stations, I just did it that way. It was really easy. No appointment. No wait. Got my results in 15 minutes.