Home from two weeks in Germany and Italy and I thought I’d share my experience. I filled out the German passenger locator form online and sometimes I wonder where these actually go because no one ever mentions them or asks for them, although I had a digital QR code on my phone that I received after submitting the PLF form. Entering Germany at the airport was quite easy, I showed my passport and CDC vaccination card and it was rather quick. I took several trains over my week in Germany and I was asked to show proof of vaccination each time. No one blinked an eye at my CDC card. However each of the hotels I stayed at didn’t really even want to have a conversation until they had studied my vaccination card. Hotel breakfast seating was spaced apart and wearing plastic gloves to the breakfast buffets was keenly observed. Three days before I departed Germany I strolled around the town I was in and located a place to take a rapid antigen test for my departure to Italy. €15 euros, results emailed in 20 minutes. I downloaded the test results onto the Luca app; it was scanned prior to indoor restaurant seating and when boarding a boat on the Rhine.
In Italy I was asked to show my proof of vaccination everywhere, even for entrance to the Boboli Gardens in Florence. Once again I received a digital acknowledgement that I’d filled out the Italian PLF and once again it was never asked for. I spent five nights in Florence and on the street it seemed to be about 50-50 for masking. Each day I had a meal at the Mercado Centrale , there were several folks who roamed the market stopping at each table and scanning the EU passes to ensure compliance and once again no one questioned my CDC card. There is a pharmacy on practically every corner in Florence and many of them had signs advertising availability for Covid testing. I walked into one and made an appointment for the next day and once again,€15 euros and my results in 15 minutes. These results were only in Italian and on paper but I have no problem with them during my return to the USA.
“Negativo” is easily recognized.
It was a wonderful trip. I spent my time walking through the vineyards in each country and didn’t enter any museums or tourist attractions because my whole Journey was about being outside, so I can’t comment on the ease of entry to those things. In conclusion, I felt very comfortable as a traveler. I went online to each EU country, read the entrance requirements and filled out forms 3 days before each segment of my trip. Different airlines requested information via different venues but it wasn’t cumbersome. I hope you enjoy your journeys and feel as safe as I did. Thank you to all of the travelers who posted links on this forum to access country to country information, and for all of the reassuring posts I read before I left.