Europe Will Open to Vaccinated American Travelers This Summer

Fully vaccinated and planning your summer vacation? American travelers can go ahead and add Europe to the list of potential destinations for summer 2021.

In an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, indicated that the European Union will allow American tourists to visit this summer, as long as they have been fully vaccinated. “The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” said von der Leyen. “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union.”

It seems likely that some sort of vaccine passport will be required for travel from the U.S. to the E.U. Currently, officials from the E.U. and U.S. are in discussions as to how best to enforce a vaccine-related entry requirement.

Although von der Leyen did not give an estimated date for the E.U. to lift travel restrictions, some countries, like Croatia and Greece, have already opened to fully vaccinated tourists.

However, countries within the European Union could still impose their own entry requirements for fully vaccinated American travelers, including mandatory quarantine or testing, so it will be important to directly check the requirements at your destination before booking tickets.