The government has announced the countries on its list of ‘safe’ destinations for UK citizens to travel to without quarantine restrictions on their return.
The publication followed an announcement this morning that 14-day quarantine rules on arrivals in England will be relaxed from July 10 – and blanket Foreign Office advice against all non-essential travel be dropped from tomorrow (Saturday, July 4).
Countries are due to be ranked as green, amber or red in a ‘traffic light’ system highlighting their Covid-19 risk, but the initial list does not make those differentiations clear.
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Portugal is a notable absentee on the list of 59 destinations in the government’s ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): travel corridors’ list.
However, Madeira and the Azores appear on a separate Foreign Office (FCO) list of 67 destinations to which the FCO no longer advises against all but essential travel.
The Foreign Office list also includes Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia and some smaller states which do not appear on the ‘corridors’ list.
The reason for the discrepancy in listed countries is unclear.
As expected, the US and Sweden are left off the corridors list. UAE states Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also excluded.
Turkey is included, despite being left out of an EU list of ‘safe’ destinations this week. Greece is also included despite extending quarantine restrictions on UK arrivals to July 15.
Germany, France, Spain and Italy had already been confirmed as on the list in the government’s previous announcement.
The government’s full list of ‘safe’ quarantine-free destinations includes:
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Croatia
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominica
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Polynesia
Germany
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malta
Mauritius
Monaco
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Réunion
San Marino
Serbia
Seychelles
South Korea
Spain
St Barthélemy
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Pierre and Miquelon
Switzerland
Taiwan
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Vatican City
Vietnam
Ireland was already exempt as part of the common travel area, as are the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
In addition, the government will exempt the 14 British Overseas Territories.
The list may be added to over the coming days following further discussions between the UK and international partners.
Information for travel into Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be published “in due course” by the devolved administrations.
The separate Foreign Office was also published today with a statement saying: “The FCO has updated its global advisory against ‘all but essential’ travel, exempting destinations that no longer pose an unacceptably high risk for British travellers.
“These exemptions come into effect on 4 July.”
Countries and territories exempt from advice against ‘all but essential’ international travel
Europe
Austria
Andorra
Belgium
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France (overseas territories of France are listed separately, where included in the exemption)
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
The Netherlands (not including the constituent countries and special municipalities located in the Dutch Caribbean)
Norway
Poland
Portugal (only The Azores and Madeira)
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland
Turkey
Americas
Antigua & Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
Canada
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
Martinique
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Pierre and Miquelon
St Vincent and The Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Asia-Pacific
Australia
Brunei
French Polynesia
Hong Kong
Japan
Macao
Malaysia
New Zealand
Taiwan
Thailand
Singapore
South Korea
Vietnam
Wallis and Futuna
Africa
Reunion
Antarctica
British Antarctic Territory
