Slowly coming back to normal?

European countries are gradually returning to a new “post-epidemic” reality, which gives all sailors and yachting enthusiasts the chance to spend their free time in their favourite way, which is on the water 🙂 Every day new information appears and more limitations are being removed. Everything seems to indicate that after the 1st of July some of Europe’s most popular yacht charter areas will be available for sailors. It is also noted that spending your holidays on a yacht is a great alternative to spending it in a crowded hotel or on the beach.

Situation in Europe

Currently, the situation in Croatia is most promising. You can already enter Croatia today on the basis of a document confirming that you have bought and paid for your yacht charter, without having to quarantine. [Update 22.05.2020 – Croatia has decided to completely open its borders from 15.06, i.e. from that day everyone will be able to enter Croatia freely without quarantine] Airlines are gradually restoring connections to Croatia and you can drive your car through Slovenia and Austria without any problems. In case of travelling by car the only problem, in central Europe, is Czech Republic but it is unofficially known that limitations there are going to be lifted on 25th of May (for now transit through Germany is possible). However, pressure from the European Union to restore freedom of travel in Europe by mid-June, is likely to contribute to the removal of these restrictions soon.

The situation in Italy is also changing rapidly, where there will be no more restrictions for sailors at the beginning of June.

In the case of Greece, the restrictions are also being slowly lifted and the full unfreezing of tourist traffic is expected to take place in early July. [Update 22.05.2020 – Greece has decided to completely open tourist traffic on 15.06 – entry to Greece will be possible for citizens of countries where the epidemiological situation has been controlled, until the end of June international flights will only be accepted by the airport Athens. From 1.07 international traffic will start at other airports]

The situation is slightly worse in France and Spain, where the lifting of restrictions is not expected until the second half of July.

Flight connections

Another issue is the speed of restoring connections by airlines. However, most airlines are bringing back connections with popular tourist destinations in south of Europe by the beginning of July.

The possibility to travel does not mean that everything on the spot will be “as always”, some sanitary restrictions will still apply. We will see over time what it will be like and how long it will last. The most important thing is that today everything indicates that we do not have to give up our holidays on the water this year 🙂