Will I still be able to travel to Aruba in September?

Simon Calder answers your questions on Caribbean getaways, taking trips on the Italian coast and whether Britain really is the sick man of Europe

The island has zero active cases of coronavirus (Getty/iStock)

Q We are booked to travel to Aruba on 5 September, flying from the UK to Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, then on to Aruba. Do you think we will be able to go?

Tracey M

A Aruba is in the enviable position of having “zero active cases” of Covid-19, according to the island’s government bulletin issued on Saturday. While three people have sadly died as a result of coronavirus, the remaining 98 confirmed cases have all recovered.

The Dutch-speaking island off the coast of Venezuela is much further ahead than many locations around the world. From 1 June, it is reopening restaurants with inside seating – though why anyone would sit inside rather than outside in the warm Caribbean air escapes me. Crucially for a certain segment of travellers, spas, massage salons and saunas are also opening up. But visitors who want to gamble and stay out late should note: “Casinos and nightclubs will not be allowed to reopen just yet.”

All of which is academic right now because, to quote the government: “A definite date for reopening Aruba’s borders has not yet been announced.” The current restrictions on flights to the island run to 1 July.

Like other holiday nations with low incidences of Covid-19, Aruba has to choose between keeping its tourism industry suppressed and tolerating the risk that some visitors will arrive with the infection. It has a significant number of elderly inhabitants as well as limited medical facilities – and the fact that Venezuela is only 18 miles away across the sea is not at all helpful, given the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in what was previously South America’s richest country.

Much can happen in the three months before your trip. If, as we all hope, infection rates in the UK and the rest of Europe continue to decline, then I am confident that you will be able to travel as planned; it may be that Aruba delays admitting US citizens for a while longer.

But if the first tentative steps of opening up to tourism results in a local outbreak on the island, Aruba could swiftly close its doors once again. I suggest you bide your time until the start of August.

Sun, sea and good food: Tuscany is a joy to travel to (iStock)

Q I have easyJet flights to Pisa booked, outward on 10 August and return on 23 August, which I’m assuming still stand. I haven’t heard to the contrary.

I was originally going to attend an English immersion programme near Siena to help Italian professionals improve their English with an organisation called Speakinitaly.

In the likely event of the programme being cancelled, I am hoping to hang on to my flights and perhaps spend the time on the Tuscan coast.

I believe, as it currently stands, that I will be obliged to stay within the region and possibly be quarantined when I get back, which would be no great hardship.

I probably won’t book a hotel or Airbnb yet. With your experienced eye, can you see any holes in this plan?

Mary E

A I am delighted to hear that you are still planning to travel in August; in a series of polls I have conducted, a significant majority say they do not want to go abroad this summer.

I wouldn’t be 100 per cent sure your easyJet flights will go as planned; although the airline is starting up operations in earnest from July, it will be flying a reduced service compared with what was originally sold. The best way to see if your flight is likely to be affected is to make a test booking online at easyJet.com; if your departure is shown greyed out, and described as “sold out”, then I can say with confidence that it has not been sold out but is actually likely to be cancelled. Most of my easyJet bookings since the coronavirus pandemic began have been officially cancelled between two weeks and 10 days ahead.

But if yours is grounded, easyJet must still find a way to fly you to Pisa and back on your intended dates, using other airlines.

The Tuscan coast is a joy, and if the language programme is cancelled then heading for the sea is most worthwhile. However, I suggest you consider one of the islands – particularly Giglio, which came to attention following the loss of the Costa Concordia in 2012. It is a beautiful backwater with easy ferry connections to the mainland south of Pisa.

Italy is officially opening up very significantly from tomorrow, and by August I imagine there will be much more fluidity about where you can go and what you can do. Regarding the UK’s quarantine plans: the chances that the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days upon return will still be in place in August is vanishingly low. This policy is being brought in as a piece of political populism with shoddy scientific justification, and is likely to be a three-week wonder that is quietly forgotten from July onwards.

Finally, I agree there is no need to book any accommodation just yet. It will be a buyers’ market in Italy and elsewhere this summer.

Most of us will probably be holidaying at home this summer... (Getty)

Q Is it really the case that, from a travel point of view, the UK is “the sick man of Europe?” How many continental countries actually don’t want us to visit?

Julian P

A At the moment, many of them – but not necessarily because we’re British.

Until mid-June most European countries are heavily restricting who comes in, with many of them still insisting on quarantine. One notable exception is Croatia, which says anyone from the UK or anywhere else can come on holiday as long as they have a confirmed accommodation booking. Italy is likely to be next to open up, from 2 June, with the nation’s ambassador to Britain telling the BBC: “We know how much they love Italy. We are still open, welcoming them.”

However, those relaxations are currently academic because no one in the UK can reach an airport, seaport or international rail station for a non-essential purpose such as going on holiday. In addition, the Foreign Office warns against all overseas travel indefinitely. However, I expect both of those restrictions to be eased during the course of June. If this happens, the attitudes of individual countries become relevant.

Greece has a calibrated approach, with a list of 29 nations eligible to fly to the country from 15 June onwards. British holidaymakers, as well as those from France, Italy and Spain, are not on the list. When UK visitors are allowed, they will face the possibility of a random test for Covid-19 on arrival. Cyprus and Malta have also left the UK off their lists of “preferred tourists” for the time being.

Spain, which has suffered greatly during the coronavirus lockdown, is set to welcome travellers from 1 July – with no apparent restriction on nationalities, although of course that may change in the coming month.

Portugal is in an official “state of calamity” until 31 May but will gradually open up during June, with mainstream tourism expected to begin on 1 July. Madeira is a special case: holidaymakers will be tested for Covid-19 on arrival, at the expense of the island’s government.

France, normally second-favourite nation for British holidaymakers after Spain, is making no promises about this summer. If the health situation permits, it will lift internal EU barriers on 15 June. Beyond that, a July resumption is likely with no specific restrictions on British travellers.

But the French embassy in London warns a 14-day quarantine obligation will be imposed for travellers arriving from the UK, whatever their nationality, from 8 June. This is not for any medical reason but simply a tit-for-tat reaction to the British quarantine that comes into force on that day.

Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder