Germany open to American tourists starting Sunday

Thank you Frank.

The website of the German Missions in the US (embassy/consulates) has a few more details:

https://www.germany.info/us-en/covid-19/2321562

Looks like our August 27-September 16 trip might happen. We are cautiously looking at where we’d like to go and figure out lodging. Haven’t settled on anything yet except plane tickets purchased 2 months ago.

EDIT: We did book a room we can cancel at our favorite Motel One in Munich for our last 3 nights.

Good news. Has Germany also lifted the ban on tourist stays in hotels?

I'm guessing many of the same basic questions are gong to be asked so I will answer them according to the webiste:

All travel restrictions are lifted. (How can they lift all travel restrictions but still prohibit hotel stays?).

If you are vaccinated you have to show proof of vaccination, proof of previously being infected, or a negative test. THEY ARE ACCEPTING THE CDC CARD AS PROOF. (It even says this.) But they are not accepting cellphone photos of cards.

If you are not vaccinated, you must show a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours.

Has Germany also lifted the ban on tourist stays in hotels?

The opening of hotels is region-dependent. Hamburg hotels opened to tourists June 1, and Berlin hotels opened June 11.

Perhaps one of our forum members living in Germany will let us know if there are regions where hotels are still closed to tourists.

Perhaps one of our forum members living in Germany will let us know if
there are regions where hotels are still closed to tourists.

So, it is all a bit complicated. Here is a recent list (in German) of the rules in each Bundesland. According to my quick skim, overnights in hotels are in principle allowed in all Bundesländer, but only depending on the incidence rate within a specific Landkreis (county). If that rises over certain numbers, then the permission can be withdrawn. I didn't go in and compare the incidence rates in specific Landkreise to what is allowed in the respective Bundesland, so I'm not sure if there are specific towns where perhaps hotels have not yet reopened.

Additionally, proof of either full immunisation or of negative test results are also needed. In my Bundesland, specific businesses can also decide whether or not to accept proof of immunisation, or just to require negative tests for all visitors regardless of immunisation status (that information is here, in a German-language PDF).

So, the best bet would be to contact hotels directly, and ask under what conditions they are reopened, and what sort of immunisation proof they will accept or what sort of testing regime they have in place. Tests are available for free to residents in Germany, but I'm not sure whether tourists would be required to pay for them or not.

Thanks, Azra, for the information and the links.

Thanks Azra. It seems to be a complicated picture.

Re: complicatedness-- I genuinely assume that most hotels are opening as soon as possible, and the incidence numbers across the country are quite good right now, so it seems unlikely that they are unable to be open in all but perhaps a very few places.

But, it is hard to say that definitively or give a basic statement, because the rules are quite specific, and the cut-offs are based on rather local conditions at the Landkreis level, so...