European Travel During Covid

After a long 9 months of no travel and a cancelled backpacking trip, I was finally in a position to be able to fly to Rome, Italy for a 4 day city break. Some will say that foreign travel during a pandemic is irresponsible and others are still booking flights wherever possible. My view is that if you’re as safe as you can be and follow all guidance and processes, it should be fine. Read on for some tips and details on my experience!

A friend and I booked the trip last minute, literally two days before flying. We did this because of the frequently changing travel advice coming from the UK. Countries are being added and removed from the travel corridors like no tomorrow so we did our research and aimed to chose a location that wasn’t likely to be cut short due to an increase in numbers resorting to quarantine measures being introduced. While away; we watched several counties be taken away from the list so I would recommend to watch the infection rate carefully before leaving! We were very fortunate that Italy has so far been dealing with tourism well.

Overall, we were impressed with Italy’s precautions. At all of the main tourist hotspots there were mandatory temperature checks on entry, many antibacterial stations and authorities that would enforce you to wear masks. Of course at view points and parks this was less closely monitored, but at these places it is up to you to be responsible and keep your distance from others and/or wear a mask.

My safety tips

1. Bring the essential hygiene items such as antibac gel, wipes and enough clean masks. After touching anything and before eating we would use antibac gel and the wipes came in really useful for when using the motorised scooters or for wiping down my phone, hands or bag entry points. It may sound excessive but in these times is necessary for extra safety.
2. Pick accommodation wisely. We opted for an Air Bnb, my lead on this was more so due to the fact I knew who was in an out of our apartment. Although I’m sure many hotels are very clean and perfectly safe, I was happier knowing it was only my friend and I entering our apartment and sharing the space. If you do go for a hotel, check the cleanliness ratings before hand.
3. Don’t become too complacent. It is so easy to forget to antibac when grabbing some quick food or remembering to keep 1m distance when trying to capture an incredible picture at a tourist hotspot but these are essential for prevention. Try to keep the basics at the forefront of your mind.

Airports were also really good with all social distance guides/stickers in place with constant voice overs reminding you to keep distance and wear a mask at all times.

Overall, I felt a lot more comfortable travelling than I thought I would and proving you’re sensible and adhere to guidelines, would recommend still travelling to support local economies, the travel industry and for your own sanity as a travel addict.

Next up: 3 day Rome itinerary! Checkout my Instagram for more @lucystraveldiary