With travellers tangled in restrictions, summer is slipping away

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | August 06, 2021 Seventeen months ago today, I embarked on a foolhardy mission to the Middle East. As the coronavirus pandemic triggered widespread airline cancellations and border closures, the trip unexpectedly evolved to include Jordan and Israel as well as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. My most memorable journey of the 2020s (so far) concluded with an early exit from the exquisite Indian Ocean island of Socotra and a hastily arranged and painfully expensive flight home from Cairo. Since then I have mainly written about the many and various ways in which travel plans can be thwarted. Plus the inevitable corollary: the always stressful and often expensive consequences when a trip goes, in the travel industry vernacular, Tango Uniform. Beach boys: on the sands of Socotra, the Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean I have done as much as I can, though not as much as I would wish, to respond to individual questions. As the travel crisis has deepened, each wave of queries has shown which way the bitter breeze is blowing for prospective holidaymakers. Refund concerns for the millions of trips that were washed away in the first rush of cancellations gave way to requests for predictions on holiday quarantine roulette; each Thursday teatime announcement from the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, dispatching France, Italy or Portugal from our plans, triggering despair and a scramble for a flight home. The winter of 2020-21 stretched, in travel terms, to mid-May, with a 19-week ban on holidays abroad. Yet the zeitgeist was all about anticipation – what the summer held in Europe and beyond. In early August, though, when millions of us should be revelling in a much-needed and well-deserved escape, I have become a machine for responding to frequently asked questions on travel bureaucracy. People deserve to find answers from sources that are more reliably available and official than an overtired and generally grumpy travel journalist. Distant dreams: a signpost at Gretna Green, southwest Scotland Even as the vaccination programme brings benefits in the UK and around the world, apprehension is the order of the day. This is a snapshot of the last five social media messages I have answered. "Do I need to take a PCR test to leave England?" No, unless your destination demands it. "If I have started quarantine on return from France must I continue beyond 4am on Sunday?" Yes, unless you leave the UK again. "If I leave Mexico before 4am on Sunday and travel via a third country to the UK, do I avoid hotel quarantine?" No, unless you spend 10 days in said nation. "How do I launder red list status?" Spend 10 complete calendar days outside the country in question. "Do I need to take a PCR test to return to England?" No, lateral flow will do, but you must book at least one PCR test after your arrival. As travellers tangle with confusion and uncertainty, summer slips away Destination of the week: Chania, Crete Romantic setting: Chania in the west of Crete One question I was glad to answer on Thursday was from a friend whose brother and new sister-in-law were booked to Mexico for their honeymoon – only to discover that all holidays to the glorious Latin American nation are off for a while due to its red list status. "Could you suggest somewhere else, equally as romantic, that’s on the amber or green list?" The cogs paused momentarily on the green list gems of Croatia's Istrian peninsula and a Lake Bled/Piran combo in Slovenia, but settled on the Greek island of Crete – amber listed, but presenting problems for vaccinated travellers. "So much to see and do, or simply to sit in the sun and bask in the wonder or life: stay in Elounda in the east or Chania in the west," I responded. Also works for non-newlyweds. Deals of the week: Crete and Normandy - if by magic, Ryanair chose Thursday to announce a new base at Newcastle airport – including flights to Chania. The link, one of a dozen new routes from the northeast airport, does not begin until 28 March 2022. The one-way flight on launch day is just £27 – which works out at less than 1.5p per mile. - At last: a ferry deal to France that I can recommend for anyone who has been fully vaccinated. The very pleasant four-hour link between Newhaven and Dieppe on DFDS is generally available at £70 each way for a car and four adults. The route offers the most direct connection between London and Paris. Question of the week: is travel insurance essential Question: We are both in our seventies and in good health. Must we take out travel insurance for a trip to the European Union? Answer: No. Most EU countries have excellent public medical services. The European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) and its post-Brexit successor, the Ghic, are valid across the EU, providing emergency health care in public hospitals on the same basis as for local people. Therefore it is perfectly rational to decide not to take out additional travel insurance, so long as you are prepared to forego benefits such as air ambulance rescue – and have the financial resources to support yourselves in the unlikely event that you test positive for coronavirus before returning to the UK. Stories you might like [Government urged to ditch expensive PCR tests ‘ripping off’ travellers]( [Government urged to ditch expensive PCR tests ‘ripping off’ travellers]( [Couple’s honeymoon cut to two days as Mexico red list escape gets under way]( Couple’s honeymoon cut to two days as Mexico red list escape gets under way]( More stories [What are the rules for travelling to Spain and will it join the green list this summer?]( What are the rules for travelling to Spain and will it join the green list this summer?]( [Giving lots of money to Tory party ‘not an immoral act’, says minister]( Giving lots of money to Tory party ‘not an immoral act’, says minister]( 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. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email. You are currently registered to receive The Independent's Travel email. Add us to your safe list of senders . If you do not want to receive The Independent's Travel email, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Travel_Newsletter_CDP). If you no longer wish to receive any newsletters or promotional emails from The Independent, you can unsubscribe [here](. This email was sent by Independent Digital News and Media Ltd, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF. Registered in England and Wales with company number 07320345. Read our [privacy notice]( and [cookie policy](.