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COVID requirements between EU countries

I know there are lots of questions regarding travel to Europe this summer. I think I'm clear on entry from the US.
However, once we arrive in Portugal, we will be flying to Spain, then France, then Italy. I'm checking on the country-to-country requirements, but I am thinking the process is different because as a US citizen I cannot get the approved EU proof of vaccination card. So it sounds like I may be taking a lot of rapid tests during my trip?

I am really trying to understand and hope that all of you experienced travelers can help me?

As always, many thanks!

Posted by
1363 posts

These are the current Covid documentation requirements updated on the U.S. Embassy website as of 5/2/2022: For entry into France and Italy, US citizens only need to show their white CDC Vaccination card. For Spain.
You will need to obtain a QR Code with your CDC Vaccination card through the Spain travel Health Portal
You can do this in advance through www.spth.gob.es
There is a little paperwork required by France and Spain which your airline should be distributing to you
on the flight.

Posted by
870 posts

Just flew into France a week ago…….customs in Paris was so fast that I think i saw that the agent just looked at our passports and stamped them though the vac card was right there beside the passport for him to see…….no masks anywhere unless you just want to wear one……I was asked on a train from Paris to Tours to put my mask on by a fellow traveler……and as we boarded the train at Paris Montparnasse a train employee singled me out and kept asking me to put a mask on…….though everyone around me was without theirs and he was saying nothing to them! That is what I get for making eye contact!!!!! We completed the Delta FLYAWAY form and got a QR code before leaving home but no one ever asked about it……Delta handed out contact tracing forms on the plane and asked us all to complete them and they took them up before we landed.

Posted by
1363 posts

Eye contact is permitted, as long as you also speak French!
I think how relieved I will be when the rules are the same for everyone everywhere. This patchwork of rules is starting to wear thin!

Posted by
42 posts

Thanks so much!

Is it the same regarding train travel? We might take the AVE from Barcelona into France via Montpellier and then on to Nice.
My assumption is it is much less strict on the train?

Posted by
870 posts

I would have a mask in hand in case wherever you go……rules seem to be different wherever you go…….

Posted by
2613 posts

We took the train from Barcelona to Paris yesterday. There was an announcement made that masks were required. Almost everyone wore a mask. By comparison, we took a train from Madrid to Barcelona last week and I would say mask usage was about 60%.

I’m sitting in the Delta lounge at CDG right now and there’s almost no mask usage.

As we proceeded through the long check-in process this morning, mask usage in the airport was about 20%. The staff is not really even wearing them.

Posted by
1363 posts

My experience has been there are only Proof of Vaccination checks at airports- never on international trains as you have already been cleared for entry into the EU. Only airports- and not all of them- are interested in Covid documentation when you travel from one country to another.