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Warnings and insurance

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ( FCDO ) provides advice about risks of travel to help British nationals make informed decisions. Find out more about FCDO travel advice .

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No travel can be guaranteed safe. Read all the advice in this guide as well as support for British nationals abroad which includes:

• advice on preparing for travel abroad and reducing risks
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Can I go to Germany? Rules for travelling from the UK

By Sarah James and Becky Lucas

In England , international travel for leisure has been permitted since Monday 17 May 2021. Germany was previously on the UK 's green list – but what are the rules for travelling there now? 

What are the entry requirements for Germany?

Fully vaccinated travellers – those who received their final dose at least 14 days before travelling – may enter Germany from the UK for any purpose. Anyone aged 12 or over must possess either proof of vaccination (find out the acceptable forms on the German government website ), proof of recovery from Covid for at least 28 days and no more than 90 days, or a negative Covid test prior to arrival. 

Those who are not considered fully vaccinated can only enter Germany if they are a resident or citizen, a spouse or other family member of a resident, serve in an important role or have ‘an urgent need to travel’, and they must have proof of a negative Covid test taken before entry (within 48 hours before departure for Germany if it's a PCR test, or 48 hours before the time of arrival if it's a rapid antigen test). Unvaccinated children up to the age of 11 are allowed to enter Germany from the UK, as long as they travel with at least one fully vaccinated parent. Children aged 12 to 17 can only enter if they are fully vaccinated, a resident (or the child of a resident), or have an urgent need to travel.

If you are fully vaccinated and have spent any of the previous 10 days in a country designated high-risk by the German government, you must complete pre-departure digital registration . If you have done so and are not fully vaccinated, you must quarantine for 10 days – with test and release available after five days. For more details, go to the UK government website . 

Can I travel to the UK from Germany?

As of 18 March 2022, there are no Covid travel rules in the UK, which means that anyone returning to the country does not need to test, quarantine or fill in a passenger locator form , regardless of their vaccination status. The government is also no longer managing any quarantine hotels in the UK, as of the end of March.

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Germany to ease Covid travel restrictions on UK travellers from Wednesday

Travellers from UK who are double-vaccinated or have recovered from an infection will no longer require quarantine

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Travel restrictions for arrivals from the UK to Germany will be eased from Wednesday, after Germany’s disease control agency announced plans to downgrade the “virus variant area” status of the UK alongside Portugal, Russia, India and Nepal.

UK travellers who have either received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, or can prove that they have recovered from an infection with the virus, will no longer be required to quarantine upon their arrival.

Those who are not vaccinated or have received only one shot will be required to quarantine for 10 days, but can leave quarantine from the fifth day after arrival with a negative test result.

Travellers from Germany arriving in the UK currently still face a quarantine of 10 days, with an option to test to release on day 6. The German foreign office has warned football fans who plan to travel to the UK for Euro 2020 that they will be turned away at the border if they have tickets for matches before the end of their quarantine period.

Rising infection rates and the wide spread of the more contagious Delta variant had led Germany to drastically tighten restrictions on travel between the two countries from 23 May. Currently travellers must still quarantine for 14 days, irrespective of their vaccination status.

But following a meeting with the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, last Friday, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, hinted that quarantine rules could be relaxed as the Delta variant became more dominant in Germany. The health minister, Jens Spahn, also hinted at a change in policy last week.

Most recently available data, for the week of 14-20 June, shows the Delta variant makes up 37% of cases detected in Germany, up from 17% the week before. The variant of the virus, which was first detected in India, already makes up about 95% of cases in India.

Even though the rate of coronavirus infections in Germany has dropped steeply since the end of April, with the Robert Koch Institute recording 419 cases on Tuesday, the Delta variant has been a cause for concern.

In view of Delta’s higher transmissibility, the institute on Monday revised upwards the recommended level of vaccination required to prevent a fourth wave of the virus in the autumn, to 85% of 12-59-year-olds.

“If this level of vaccinations can be reached in time,” a paper published by the German disease control agency said, “a pronounced fourth wave in the coming autumn/winter looks unlikely.”

As of Monday morning, 56.5% of the German public have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 38.9 % of the population are fully immunised.

Following the UK’s downgrade to a “high-incidence area” for coronavirus infections, 11 countries remain on Germany’s virus variant area list, namely Botswana, Brazil, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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Information on entering germany, covid-19-related restrictions for entry into germany lifted with effect as of saturday, 11 june 2022.

Since Saturday, 11 June 2022, all COVID-19-related restrictions on entry into Germany have provisionally been lifted. Since that date, travel from the United Kingdom to Germany is permitted for all purposes (including tourism and visits). For entry into Germany proof of vaccination, recovery or testing is no longer required.

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Current information for travelers

The Ordinance on Coronavirus Entry Regulations (Coronavirus-Einreiseverordnung – CoronaEinreiseV) regulates a uniform, nation-wide obligation to test, quarantine and furnish proof, as well as a ban on carriage from areas of variants of concern. The goal of the Ordinance on Coronavirus Entry Regulations is to reduce the risk of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, since travel movements and border traffic can introduce infections and lead to new hot spots of infection.

The Ordinance on Coronavirus Entry Regulations ( CoronaEinreiseV ) expires on 7 April 2023. After that date, entry into Germany will again be possible without coronavirus-related entry restrictions while observing the general entry requirements under the law of residence and relating to the border police (information from the Federal Ministry of the Interior " Lifting of COVID-19-related restrictions ").

CoronaEinreiseV - Overview and download of all versions of the regulation (German)

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Germany: The perfect destination with beautiful nature and cultural attractions for every taste

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