Traveling to Greece: borders open to negative-tested and vaccinated tourists

Borders open to negative-tested and vaccinated tourists

frontiere Grecia aperte a vaccinati o test molecolari negativi

Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis made it clear that this year Greece will be open to all visitors holding a negative Covid-19 molecular test or vaccination certificate.

On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, the minister told the radio channel “ΘΕΜΑ Radio 104.6” that “The prerequisite for someone to travel to our country (and stay) will be a negative molecular test or vaccination certificate”, thus ending rumors according to which Covid-19 vaccination will be the exclusive prerequisite for traveling to Greece. Minister Harry Theoharis also assured that “In any case, personal data will be protected”.

During the interview, Minister Theoharis expressed his optimism for tourism and said that he expects 2021 to be a better year than 2020 for Greece and estimated that travel could resume after the Easter holidays. It is recalled that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis a few months ago proposed to the European Commission the establishment of an EU-wide vaccination certificate to facilitate travel to Europe.

For now, Member States have agreed on a set of guidelines that will allow for the establishment of an EU-wide accepted vaccination certificate to be used for “medical purposes”. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recently said that the Greek Prime Minister’s proposal will be discussed again. Meanwhile, Greece has already discussed introducing a vaccination certificate with Israel, Cyprus and Serbia to allow unrestricted entry for travelers.

Note that Greece has not yet set a date from which vaccination certificates will be accepted for entry.

Requirements to enter Greece: updated on 19.02.2021

At the moment to enter Greece it is necessary to fill in the PLF form and submit a laboratory test with the PCR method using a laryngopharyngeal or nasopharyngeal swab with negative results, carried out in the 72 hours prior to arrival in Greece. The certificate must be written in English and indicate the details of the traveler’s identity document. Furthermore, until 22 February, there is an obligation to comply with a precautionary quarantine period of seven days (or, in case of stay for shorter periods, for the entire period of stay).