We’re off. We just don’t know where.

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | April 09, 2021 Hello, and thank you for signing up to The Independent’s weekly travel newsletter. So meticulous was the government’s briefing in advance of the [prime minister’s Easter Monday announcement about foreign travel]( that I had prepared a question-and-answer article in advance. I sat back and waited to add the detail of how exactly international aviation for non-essential purposes would resume from 17 May. The data, after all, showed every indicator declining fast: new coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19. Nice if you can get there: a reminder of what the fabulous French city looks like Certainly some of the welcome decline was down to the third lockdown – which by Monday had lasted for three months – but increasingly the remarkable NHS vaccination programme is responsible. Yet instead of revealing the plan for resuming international travel with the help of a “traffic light” risk-assessment system, Boris Johnson kicked the can further down the road to utter despondency. The bosses of Britain’s biggest travel firms watched with mounting horror as they realised they may not even get six weeks’ notice of a resumption in overseas operations. Travel is an extremely complex business which normally works months and years ahead. [As travel firms grimly rewrote their press releases to insert the term “disappointed” at least once](, a leak from Monday morning’s cabinet meeting suggested the health secretary, Matt Hancock, had “thrown his toys out of the pram” at the prospect that the vaccine roll-out could be undermined by importations from abroad. New wave: the route of a trio of planes from Islamabad (ISB) via Moscow (DME) to Birmingham (BHX) Many senior epidemiologists had expressed concern about travellers returning with new variants of coronavirus, and they had won the day. Yet in this increasingly strange world, the government gave a week’s notice to people travelling from Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Kenya that those countries would be joining the high-risk red list – triggering a planespotter’s dream as planes from Senegal, Poland and Bulgaria joined the airlift from Pakistan to Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester airports via Moscow and assorted other cities. Finally, as Thursday turned into Friday, [the government revealed its cunning plan for resuming international travel](. Many terms and conditions apply, and we won't find out for several weeks where is on the "green list". But it is at least better than the current no-go regime. Destination of the week: Jersey Paddle power: St Brelade's Bay in Jersey The summer 1961 edition of the British European Airways timetable reveals that on a summer Saturday, no fewer than 13 flights operated each way between London Gatwick and Jersey, with a further four from Heathrow (which, in the olden days, was the busiest airport in Europe). As the horizons of British travellers extended, the popularity of the island dwindled. But with the recalibration that Covid-19 has brought about, Jersey is back in holidaymakers' sights. The latest airline to announce new links is British Airways CityFlyer, which will link London City airport with the island from 25 June. As previously revealed, [the largest of the Channel Islands is due to reconnect with UK visitors on 26 April]( – with a well-considered and publicised [traffic light system](. Jersey is an outdoor island: try paddleboarding in St Brelade's Bay, hiking along the northern coast or cycling along the Corbière cycle track that has superseded the old railway. Deals of the week - As England opens up and (give it a few days) warms up, the value of the [North West Rover]( increases. This is one of a number of regional rail passes that don’t get the attention they deserve. A week’s unlimited travel costs £100 for adults and £50 for children, though a family of four with a railcard will pay only £160 in total. The area covered includes the spectacular Settle-Carlisle Railway across the Pennines; the Cumbrian Coast line; Leeds to Blackpool; and great cities including Chester, Liverpool, Manchester and Bradford. Countryside options include Hexham in Northumberland, Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and Windermere in Cumbria. And when Scotland opens, you can stray across the border as far as Dumfries and Lockerbie. - If you, like me, believe there's a sporting chance that European nations will be in reasonable shape by the school summer holidays, I have found what I think is the best deal around for Saturday 24 July: flying Jet2 from Newcastle to Fuerteventura in the Canaries, with a week's self-catering at the Elba Castillo San Jorge, for £369 per person for a family of four. And it's a proper package holiday: flights (with baggage), accommodation and transfers are included, and if it can't go ahead then you will get a full refund. Question of the week: What's the deal with "aparthotels"? Question: Does an apartment in an “aparthotel” count as self-contained accommodation from 12 April? Answer: From Monday, overnight stays away from home in England for non-essential purposes will be permitted for the first time in 14 weeks. What the government calls “self-contained accommodation” can reopen – so long as each property is used by members of the same household (which for this purpose includes another person in your “bubble”). The definition of self-contained accommodation is: “Those that do not require shared use of bathing, entry/exit, catering or sleeping facilities.” Aparthotels, which deliver more home comforts and amenities that the average hotel room, are sadly a bit too “hotel” to qualify. I agree it’s a harsh definition. As one disappointed traveller put it: “It seems ridiculous that I can go to the supermarket and mix with loads of people but I can’t walk the short distance between the entrance and my apartment.” Unsurprisingly, Airbnb rates for properly self-contained places to stay are soaring. Stories you might like [Race to the sun: how international travel will work from 17 May]( [Race to the sun: how international travel will work from 17 May]( [Ministers give green light to international travel – at a cost]( Ministers give green light to international travel – at a cost]( [Race to the Sun event]( More stories [The vaccine is not the route to normality Boris Johnson promised | Andrew Grice]( The vaccine is not the route to normality Boris Johnson promised | Andrew Grice]( [Where can you travel from 12 April?]( Where can you travel from 12 April?]( Other newsletters you might like [Adam Forrest]( Inside Politics Every weekday, 8am (UK time) Written by Adam Forrest [Join now >]( [Joe Sommerlad]( Daily News Briefing Every weekday, 8am (UK time) Written by Joe Sommerlad [Join now >]( Let me know your thoughts on Twitter [@SimonCalder](. If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. 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