Double-jabbed UK holidaymakers rush to book Italy breaks, says travel expert

Lily Waddell1 September 2021

There has been a rush of double-jabbed Britons to book holidays to Italy after a change to the travel regulations, experts have said.

It comes as UK families faced Heathrow Airport chaos over the weekend with queues of up to four hours.

Fully vaccinated holidaymakers don’t need to self-isolate in the country if they provide a negative PCR taken 48 hours before their arrival and it must be at least 14 days since their second vaccination.

Rome, Milan, Naples and Venice were among the most booked cities since the changes were unveiled on Saturday, according to reports.

Italy’s Puglia also cropped up as a potential holiday destination for the autumnal months ahead for sun-starved holidaymakers.

Flight comparison website Skyscanner said there was an increase in searches for flights from Britain to Italy.

Skyscanner spokesman Laura Lindsay told MailOnline: “This is welcome news for double vaccinated UK travellers who have been eager to get back to il bel paese with quarantine free travel, but also a welcome change for those who will now be able to travel to be reunited with loved ones in Italy.

“Autumn is a fantastic time to visit the famous sights in Rome, Florence and Venice when they’re less crowded - or why not try some lesser explored regions like Puglia or Sicily to catch some late summer sun.”

Italy has always been a favourite holiday destination for UK travellers with up to four million Britons visiting year-on-year before the pandemic.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, added: “It’s proven that when countries open their doors more widely, then visitors respond positively and start booking. Italy’s move to abandon 5-day quarantine for fully-jabbed British visitors will pay off, creating a stronger, late summer season, especially in southern areas such as Puglia.”

Italy remains on the UK’s Amber list following the latest changes to the travel rules here.

Double-jabbed Britons don’t need to quarantine but they must take a COVID-19 pre-departure test as well as a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in