France to welcome fully vaccinated UK tourists

On Friday, June 4, European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said that people under the ‘orange’ category can travel to France on few conditions. Countries like Britain and the US are under this category and, as such, people from the UK can travel to France if they are fully vaccinated and can provide a recent negative coronavirus report. The new border rules will take effect from June 9.

However, UK citizens who are not vaccinated will still need to provide a ‘compelling reason’ to enter France as the EU is worried about the transmissibility of new COVID-19 variants. These reasons could range from a medical emergency, child care to legal cases excluding leisure travel from the list.

What you need to know before travelling to France

France falls under the UK’s ‘amber’ list and, thus, the British government has its own restrictions for travelling to France. While the UK doesn’t suggest people to travel for leisure purposes to the countries on the amber list, France has no such restrictions. UK citizens can travel and enjoy France two weeks after they are fully vaccinated including children.

Children accompanying adults are not required to be fully vaccinated but must provide a negative test result. Although there is no specific age cut-off, it is anticipated to be valid for children below 11 years. It could be a piece of good news for parents with children below 11 years but is problematic for parents with older children since they are unlikely to receive both the jabs before the end of summer.

UK Restrictions

Like France, the UK has its own restrictions as well. As per UK’s amber list restrictions, citizens will have to take a COVID-19 test before travel and quarantine themselves on return for 10 days. Additionally, they would also have to take a COVID-19 test on day 2 and day 8 after they arrive from France. For children under 4 years of age, day 2 and day 8 tests are not necessary. While the UK would lay these restrictions on every citizen, France has decided to make it compulsory for only a category of tourists. People who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated will have to self-isolate for 7 days after they arrive in France.