Travel to Portugal from US on June 4th!

Wow, April, this could be just what a lot of folks have been waiting and hoping for. Some of us would need to weather an Intra-North American flight, or a journey by other means, to Boston or Canada. That first leg of the trip would make reaching the Portugal part a challenge.

So are you catching one of these flights? I hope this all works out. Thank you for sharing this article!

Portugal is understandably desperate to get its tourist industry restarted, however, although shops have reopened, the shopping malls in Lisbon remain closed, as there has been a recent spike in the number of new cases reported in the city, which is one of the country’s hotspots. Greece has reopened its borders, but not to the Portuguese, as they are considered high risk.

I have been to Portugal more than 20 times, but I wouldn’t go to Lisbon at present. Lower infected areas such as the Algarve have restrictions on seat spacing in restaurants, social distancing and limitations on going to the beach. You have to wear a face mask outside.

There are 11 flights into Lisbon today and 4 into Faro, which is a trickle, not a flood of tourists. There’s a chance that if the infection rate in Lisbon increases, as it’s already above 1, then the city will be locked down again. Not much of a trip if this happens! Plus you should self isolate for 14 days when returning home to ensure that you don’t infect your whole neighbourhood, whether it’s official policy or not.

Yes, they are opening things up for tourists this week, but that doesn’t mean it will be business as usual.

As Jennifer mentioned, Lisbon has had a recent spike and is slowing down the reopening. Bars and clubs (if you’re into that) have no dates for reopening. There was press yesterday that the opening of borders with Spain that was scheduled for 15 June is likely going to be postponed until the end of the month.

Most of us not in the tourist business are not that eager to see an influx of tourists, especially from countries harder hit with the virus. I feel bad for the businesses but really don’t want to go back to lockdown status!

I, too, am eager to get back to travel but I would suggest waiting a few months. The Portuguese government has really stayed on top of things and could shut everything down again with little notice.

No cause for celebration. the CDC is still at Level 3 for travel to Europe. You can’t get travel insurance that will cover you in a pandemic. We loved Portugal and hope to return some day, but certainly not in the midst of this. The virus has not gone anywhere.

Edit: see my post further down regarding insurance coverage.

On February 1st, 2020, my wife and I booked a twelve day trip to Portugal offered by Globus for a December 1st departure. The price includes round trip air (Portland - Amsterdam - Lisbon) on Delta and at $1349 per person (tour, site admissions, daily breakfast, ground transportation, airport transfers, hotels, 8 dinners and round trip air) it is (or was) a genuine bargain. We have taken a similar Globus tour previously, and while they are not up to the standard of a RS tour, their "off season" tours are very worthwhile.
Our initial deposit of $550 each ($250 for the tour and $300 for the air fare) was promptly paid at the time of booking (we received a small discount for being "loyal Globus travelers").
And then, Covid-19 entered the travel lexicon.
Of course, no one knows what December will bring.....trip cancellation, modification, offered as stated, etc. but we debate our participation in this planned trip as the months pass. It is now June.....still far too early to have a true idea about the outcome of this let alone our participation in it.

We are scheduled for the RS Portugal tour in October. If the tour runs then we will go. If the tour doesn’t run then we will take a trip on our own to revisit some of our favorite places in Italy. The lockdowns have made us miss Italy especially.

I guess that I see each step of reopening as a positive thing, rather than the opposite. Of course the virus is still there and will remain so from now on. We just have to deal with it Safely and as a matter of fact in our lives now. So, I will continue to celebrate the reopenings all over the world. We could all use some positivety and hope.

You can get insurance that will cover you for Covid. . I am covered for an upcoming trip

You just have to look around

You can get insurance that will cover you for Covid.

You may be right according to this article. https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/travel-insurers-make-policy-changes-to-address-covid19-223888.aspx

This is wonderful news as it seems to be moving in the right direction. Baby steps.

I'm not getting on a plane this week, but I hope by the fall, when I want to travel, more and more places will open. Portugal was not on my itinerary this fall but it could be a replacement.