Italy Travel has Opened Back Up! (Here are the Travel Rules for Visiting Italy 2021)

On Sunday, Italy officially re-opened their borders to vaccinated travelers from several destinations, including The United States. This decision comes just weeks after the country first announced its intentions to begin welcoming travelers from outside the European Union again.

Italy has slowly been easing their lockdown restrictions that have been set in place due to Covid-19. Over the past month restaurants and popular tourist destinations like the Colosseum have begun to open back up across the country, though there is still a 10 p.m. curfew in place.

Travelers wishing to visit Italy must travel on a “COVID-free” flight, a flight that requires all passengers to get tested before departure and again upon arrival. Covid testing for these flights are mandatory regardless of vaccination status. On the positive side, passengers on Covid-free flights no longer have to quarantine when they land.

According to Travel and Leisure, Delta Air Lines currently offers Covid-free flights between Atlanta and Rome, New York and Milan, and New York and Rome, and plans to expand their offerings this summer with flights between New York and Venice, Atlanta and Venice, and Boston and Rome. American Airlines also announced on Sunday that it would be offering two Covid-free flight options from New York to Milan and Rome.

Currently, 14.3% of the Italian population is considered fully vaccinated with another 31.6% of people who have received at least one vaccine shot. Italians must hold a Covid-19 green certification proving that they have been vaccinated, recovered fully from Covid, or have tested negative within the past 48 hours in order travel between regions.

Uber is also now fully operational in Italy for travelers looking to get around by car. Further, Uber has started an “Uber takes you to the museum” campaign which gives passengers 50% off rides to popular museums in order to help boost Italy’s tourism economy.  To use the offer, users must enter the promotional code UBERMUSEI in their app before booking a trip. When the destination or arrival of the trip is a museum on the list, the fare is automatically deducted by 50%. The code can be used a maximum of two times by each user of the app, and it’s valid until May 23. Planning a trip to Italy this summer? Find the cost of your Uber rides using the RideGuru Fare Calculator.

Several other European countries have also opened their borders to tourists in recent weeks, including Greece and Croatia, after the EU has formally recommended member countries reopen borders to vaccinated tourists. Hopefully, this is a the start of a resurgence of international travel after a year of quarantining and social distancing has kept everyone at home.