When is it necessary to show your Covid pass when returning to England?

Simon Calder answers your questions on coming through airports with a vaccine cert, visiting Italy and the 90/180 rule for UK citizens

The check will take place at the airport before you board a plane to the UK (Reuters)

Q At what point do you have to show your Covid vaccination pass when returning to England? Is it at the English airport? And is it a case of sometimes they ask for proof, sometimes they don’t?

Bart K

A As you know, the rules for travelling to the UK from the vast majority of countries differ depending on whether you are regarded as fully vaccinated or not. Assuming you are not coming in from a “red list” nation, from which hotel quarantine is required, or from Ireland, from which there are no restrictions, it works as follows. Travellers to England who have been vaccinated in a country whose jabs are recognised by the UK – which includes the European Union, US and Canada and around 50 other nations – are required only to take a lateral flow test on arrival or on one of the two following days.

Unvaccinated travellers, or those who have the misfortune to have been jabbed in one of the 100-plus countries which the UK does not recognise, must go into 10 days of self-isolation and take multiple PCR tests.

You must declare your Covid status when completing the passenger locator form for the UK, but you can upload proof to this document only “if you have been fully vaccinated in the UK or Isle of Man” according to the government. If you can’t or don’t upload it, there is no problem – you have to provide paper or online proof.

The main check will take place at the airport, ferry port or international rail station before you board a plane, boat or train to the UK. And it will not be carried out by the authorities, but by staff working for the transport provider you are using. Effectively, the UK is outsourcing the burden of checking your vaccination status to them.

It seems that once you have your passenger locator form completed and a QR code emailed to you, the only UK Border Force checks are identity verification. On multiple trips to England recently, I have got through passport control in seconds. But there is always the chance you may be asked to show proof of your status, so keep it ready.

Tower power: the Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa (Simon Calder)

Q I am thinking of going to Italy for a week in November. My basic plan is: fly to Pisa, then travel straight to Florence by train, followed by Bologna and Venice. I would fly home from Venice. I have a decent guidebook. But what do you think about the overall timing and logistics?

Silas W

A November is an excellent month to be in the great cities you mention. Very few fellow tourists will stand between you and a rich experience. Therefore combining these locations inside a week looks perfectly feasible.

My first recommendation is not to bypass Pisa, a fine city that is far more than a one-trick pony. The Leaning Tower is just one component of the magnificent Campo dei Miracoli (“field of miracles”) is magnificent. The city walls, accessible from here, are also spectacular.

Away from the Leaning Tower area you can find plenty of good-value places to eat and stay. Lucca, half-an-hour north by train, is a worthwhile excursion – or you can travel to Florence with a brief walk around this walled city.

The best way to approach Pisa from the airport is on foot; it is one of the few terminals in Europe from which walking into the city is feasible and a good warm-up for the wonders to come.

For the tourist, Italy’s excellent railways are best experienced in their “classic” form. While you could take a high-speed train over the 55 miles between Florence and Bologna, for example, in just 37 minutes. Yet much of that trip takes place in tunnels, which makes it scenically disappointing. Better to take the slow line.

The best source of timetable and fare information I know of is italiarail.com (even though the default currency for prices is the US dollar). After you conduct an initial search, select “slower train” to get the lowest fares and the prettier routes.

You can also build in extra stops on a whim – perhaps Ferrara and Padua, on the journey from Bologna to Venice.

Finally, I recommend not booking any accommodation besides the first night, so you can move at whatever pace you like; in November there will never be any shortage of rooms.

Place in the sun: A reader asks how often they can visit their house in Spain (iStock)

Q Could you please explain how the “90/180 rule” for travel to the European Union works? No one seems to be able to advise me in the event of using it for the maximum number of days in a year.

We own a house in Spain. If I start with a week’s holiday on, say, 4 January, will that mean I only have 180 days from that date? So I wouldn’t be able to go in August, September or October?

Sue Spain

A The referendum on leaving the European Union has brought many changes for travellers, almost all of them negative. One of the most significant outcomes was the decision by the UK to limit the amount of time that can be spent in the EU (and associated Schengen area countries, such as Switzerland and Norway) – by dint of becoming a “third country”.

The top rule for such locations is the 90/180 limit. It is easy to express but difficult to interpret. Basically, in any spell of 180 days (just short of six months) you cannot spend more than 90 days (three months) in the Schengen area.

It follows that you cannot have a stay in the European Union longer than 90 days, and that if you go for the maximum, you must then leave the EU for a further 90 days.

In your case, though, it may just work. If you spend a week in Spain in January, all that happens is that – in the ensuing 173 days, say to the end of June – you cannot spend more than 83 days (almost 12 weeks) in the Schengen area.

To spend a continuous 90-day spell from the beginning of August through September until almost the end of October, you would need to avoid the EU entirely in May, June and July (give or take a day or two).

Do share this response with your fellow property owners in Spain: I am getting more and more questions about it as winter approaches, from people concerned that their normal November to Easter stays are no longer possible.

They are, but only if you apply for residence or a long-stay visa.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @SimonCalder