Let's hit the south! Travelling to Italy during Covid-19 times

Can we travel again to Italy in May? What about the entry requirements? Are there things to be aware of?

Friends and family asked me these questions recently and actually it is very difficult to do a prediction. I hope that in the end of May/beginning of June entering Italy will be easier. At the moment it is actually possible to enter Italy from a UE country without a valid reason (like work reasons, necessity, health). Here you find the different country lists.

In this article I will describe you my personal experience leaving and entering Italy in mid-April 2021 (I had to travel to Austria for work reasons). Of course, I can only offer you a snapshot as the entry requirements change nearly weekly.

In order to travel to Austria, I had to inform Austria about my arrival by filling out a Pre-Travel-Clearance-form (here the link https://entry.ptc.gv.at/ ), on the other handside I had to fill in a selfdeclaration for Italy indicating the reason why I was travelling (here). The antigen test for entering Austria could be done either before my departure (max 48 hours for the antigen test) or within 24 hours after entering Austria.

What about my return to Italy?

Austria and Germany (like other EU countries) are at the moment in the list of “C countries” of the Italian health authority, thus persons entering Italy from these countries have to stay 5 days in quarantine. Valid until the 15 May. I will update this article as soon as the duration of the quarantine changes.

Since the 16th of May the quarantine is not any more necessary when you come to Italy from EU/Schengen Countries, Great Britain and Isreal, but it’s mandatory to have an antigen test/PCR test that is not older than 48 hours to enter Italy. (Update: It has to presented with a green certificate. Valid until the 30th of July.) If you enter without an antigenic test you have to quarantine 10 days. ATTENTION: When I reentered Italy by train on the 18th of May one of the passengers on board didn’t have an antigenic test with her prefering to do the quarantine, but she was sent back to Austria by Italian authorities to do an antigenic test.

Day 1 of the quarantine is the day of arrival. (That is actually very interesting as in Austria the day 1 is actually the day after your arrival.)

On the 5th day you have to (!) do an antigen test.

But let’s begin at the start:

In order to turn back to Italy I had to inform Italy about my arrival before my departure and so I had (on Saturday) to fill out this form

~~This is the „old“ form („self declaration form“) that you have to print and take with you.~~(This form is not valid any more.)

Since mid-April Italy uses this online form (Yes, unfortunately you have to register your own profile with a password. We don’t have already enough passwords, don’t we?) This is the form you have to use starting from the 24th of May. Valid until the 30th of July.

I filled in both (just in case).

Furthermore, it is only possible to enter Italy with a negative antigen test that is not older than 48 hours. This test must be shown to authorities upon entering Italy.

Now the million dollar question: Are they really checking on the border?

I travelled by train to Italy. The train was stopped on the Brenner pass for 30 minutes and travellers were checked. Single persons without a test result were invited to leave the train.

Before my return I also had to inform the local health authority (in my case in the Veneto region) per mail to infocovid-19@aulss3.veneto.it that I would turn back on day X from Austria. In the automated answer I was asked to send the negative test result per mail beforehand and to fill in another form to announce my return to the Region of Veneto. In this case it was a Google Docs form. Update: Here you find the different contacts in the Italian Regions. Valid until the 30th of June.

Here you can find the links for entering the different Italian regions and in order to communicate your arrival to the local health authorities. Some regions, like Tuscany, have online forms to make registration easier.

Furthermore there was a link with travel information for the Veneto region.

Thus I needed 2 forms (1 for the Italian administration and 1 for the Veneto region) and 1 antigen test for my return.

On Monday after my return I was called by the local health authority: The lady asked me how I was feeling „Fine, thank you. No symptoms.“) and told me that on the fifth day I had to go to the city centre of Mestre/Venice for a Covid test. Therefore I had to print a form that is actually a selfdeclaration permitting me to do the antigen test for free. The result would be uploaded automatically to the database of the health authority. If the result would not reach her, she would recall me.

The test in the citycentre of Mestre/Venice can only be done for free when turning back/entering from a foreign country be filling in a selfdeclaration („autocertificazione“ on the bottom of the page). The form can be downloaded right here.

The website is in Italian only, but you are for sure fluent in Italian, right? 😉

Then I was asked if I live alone or with someone else (the quarantine should be done alone). “I’m living together with my partner”. „You know that you should sleep in a separate bedroom and use a second bathroom.” My answer: „Sure, as far as possible I will respect these measures.“ She had to laugh. I think it is very interesting that the politicians who plan these regulations think we are all living in huge villas with numerous bedrooms and bathrooms. “Honey, I will now go to our west wing for my quarantine. We will see each other again in 5 days.“ That much for our politicians “the friends of the common people”.

The colours of Italy

The Italian regions are devided in different colours from white up to red: Every colour means different Covid-19 measures.

What about your return journey?

Well, here you have to check the regulations of your own country because the regulations are different (antigen test, quarantine, …) for each and every country.

A very helpful link of the Italian ministry of health (There is even an English version).

List C countries (English Version).

This article broaches the issue of travelling to Italy in April 2021. Please always check on the official governmental websites on current entry requirements, as these unfortunately change quickly.

Let’s hit the south! Travelling to Italy during Covid-19 times