Hotel prices for the end of June on booking.com don't suggest that it will be worth travelling to Amsterdam at that time. Way too "cheap" for this city... ;)

Hi,

I have seen this for frankfurt which is why I booked 5 nights for June.Free cancellation so I took it down now no trip.
Ok if your going for work some cheap deals around.I really miss everything which I have taken for granted until last year.

better to book during the lockdown than after. Prices will sky rock over the night once we have a date for the end of all this.

if booking with free cancellation or being sure you can change dates later on, you are fine.

I have been hearing that there is going to be restrictions for a longtime yet in the form of a traffic light system.

Red yellow green.

Red quarintine countries etc and there status can be changed at anytime this is going to be the system thst Boris will enforce anyway.There will be no certainty in booking your holidays this year.

If the place you are staying in changes and becomes red getting back in the UK will be quarantine.

Also covid test when leaving and returning which will be making short trips very expensive.

yes 250Euro extra for PCR test (150euro) + RAPID test ((100euro). both tests are needed to enter the Netherlands. if one needs same test to get back into UK again, I dont really see any point i travelleling.

As they have said travelling is to be a rich man's game.
I just wont be going anymore at that price £300 for test £100 for travel then another £150 for a hotel.£500 to £600 for a short trip.

Only way covid test are ok if its a 2 or 3 week break but then you have a bigger risk of where your staying becoming a red zone.I haven't looked into insurances for travel but no doubt to cover covid will be more .


They are saying some places like Greece require 5 tests lol also you could book then get a false positive show up lol.

I could be wrong but here in the states things are opening up We no longer wear masks in Texas and all numbers are going down . I checked the daily count yesterday less then 1000 new cases. The travel and hospitality industry we all know is huge so the these businesses are needing business. The B&B we stay at in Amsterdam had zero customers some months last summer. . We rented a beach house over Easter in Galveston it was hard to find one available. This is a lot of money that Europeons are missing.

from this weeks NL update:
Lockdown - Extended
Curfew - extended


new info around 28th of april

dosen't look good for some european countries at the moment.

that being said, we also can see that , lets say, Russia is opening up. Concerts / pubs are allowed since this weekend in Russia.
the numbers are higher in Russia than most European countries like the Netherlands, Belgium , Germany etc.... I guess they can't afford a longer lockdown. I dont know...

Does anyone think August will be open for Americans to visit Netherlands ? We have airline tickets .

Based on little other than a gut feeling, I think there's a good chance. We've been relatively slow to roll out the various vaccines here. The last time I checked on a government website it seems I'll likely be eligible to receive one around mid-June (as someone in his 40s without major health issues.) So I have to imagine that, by August, nearly everyone who wants one will have had one. I'm sure Amsterdam in particular is hurting in terms of lost tourist revenue. Although the friends I have who still live there (I left last year and moved to the Netherlands!) tell me they love it right now, without tourists. Anyway, best of luck. For better or worse, this can't continue forever I suppose.

I agree with BlutoBlutarsky


we see some really bad numbers at the moment but if this third wave follows the same pattern of the first and second wave - then june or july should be good to go.
third wave started in February. Its april now.


btw,
EU is back on track regarding vaccinations. Not all countries but the welthiest like scandinavia etc..
I think NL isnt far behind.

that means that
Denmark is opening up for vaccinated people in may. (in 3weeks).

(they have RLDs in at least 2 cities as far as I know , even if I haven't been there myself)

Uk government is hinting about another lockdown.
Boris has changed the ballpark in saying its not the vaccine that has brought infections down its the lockdown.

Traffic light system on quarantine countries,pcr test there and back.Not for me.

I will wait now this year has gone for travel without worries or extra costs.

Greece looks like they are opening up next month to tourists from UK and US . I wonder if the rest of Europe is right behind them . Sounds good

The EU IS NOT back on track with vaccinations.
The Netherlands IS NOT doing well .

The leader in vaccinations is the UK, with 60 doses per 100 people delivered.
The US is at 58 per 100.
The Netherlands is at 22 per 100. So is Canada. And France. And Germany.

The Netherlands bought relatively few mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna) because of the difficulty with ultracold storage.
They put big money into J&J (developed in Leiden), and Larsson, a Dutch company.
J&J is now on hold over clotting concerns (1/4 of the rate seen from oral contraceptives)
Larsson has yet to get their vaccine to market, and if I remember correctly, they have been paid for 10 million doses by the Dutch. The Netherlands will be at the back of the line when trying to buy replacement vaccines elsewhere.

The good news: It seemed so smart. Buy vaccines that are easy to store and deliver. Buy single dose vaccines. Buy domestic. Buy established technology at a low price.
The bad news: Buying drugs in the developmental stage is always a risk. The logic was sound, but it just didn't work.

I am watching how reopening goes in the UK and US. So far, so good. Maybe they are approaching herd immunity. If they pull it off, then Europe will follow quickly.
I'm concerned about the bad press on Astrazeneca and J&J. Clotting appears to be almost exclusively in women of childbearing age. Contraceptive related? Estrogen related? If this is the case, would they allow these vaccines to be used in the elderly or in men? How would that go over in the press? Would we really just throw these vaccines away?

There are going to be a significant number of people that won't get vaccinated. 20-30%? Will more people refuse over complications? I'm afraid that reopening will be dictated by how this last group behaves. Many of them are already immune from native exposure. If half of them are already exposed, then we are in great shape. But what if that number is only 10%, and they continue to show up in hospitals in large numbers for another 2 years?

I'm stunned that I hear very little about reopening travel to Europe. If they intend to have tourists this summer, then I would expect to be hearing more by now. I'm afraid it is because they have no intention of reopening this summer.
At some point, politicians are going to have to have an honest discussion with the large and rapidly growing number of immunized citizens. Can you really hold back that many people when you get to 70-80% immunized? Can you continue to beg people to get vaccines if you ignore the value of being vaccinated?

I'm normally very impressed with the Dutch political system, but they seem to be less interested in reopening travel than just about every other country.

Weasel

Very good post.

According to Dutch news sites compulsory quarantine will finally be introduced from 15th May.

Friends in Amsterdam just got their first shot astrazenica Tuesday . They have no clue about the Netherlands opening ....but they are coming to Fantasy Fest in Fla. in Oct.

Rev up your engines , French president Macron said yesterday France will open to American travelers in May . Could Netherlands be coming soon .....Those tickets for August could happen.

That’s great news. If they are requiring you to have a vaccine to travel to the Netherlands I will not be going. But if they allow you in with a negative test I will probably go.

We both have now got the vaccine ...no problem .