on visiting Mandello this year

[Motormike]

Try and book a seat to Italy if and when it opens up.  Five months is nothing. 

[bad Chad]

Book and pay the extra to cancel if things are crap come late August.   It doesn’t have to be made extra hard.

[LowRyter]

All in all, good news to -perhaps- travel.  No one can predict the future.  But we're getting -'d and might accepted in the EU. 

I think the bigger questions is whether the EU will be -'s to accept US visitors.  It looks like they are planning to be.

I've been -'d and have my "papers" in my wallet.   

[erice]

I live less than an hour's ride from Mandello, so I thought I'd share a bit about the current situation.

At the moment I can travel to most places in Italy without any issue, just having to be mindful of overnight curfews and restaurant/bar hours. That's because the regions are mostly below a "red" level.

Here in Italy the ability to do inter-regional travel changes depending on the current "colour" of each region. The four colours are white, yellow, orange and red, with red having the most restrictions and white the least. Sardinia was the only white region about a month ago, now it's the only red region, so it's a fluid situation. The colours change depending on current infection rates to try to maintain capacity in the hospitals. Travel, even outside the local community within a region, is restricted in red zones. 

Can you get away with travel in red regions?  Probably, but the fines can be large if you're caught. I've travelled between red regions (under the limited exemptions) and was not stopped, but you can be stopped at random.

Of more importance to tourists, the ability to eat in a restaurant or bar is also impacted by the colour of the region. In a red zone, they're mostly closed, in others they are only open certain hours or for takeout, so it can be confusing for a tourist (or a local) to know the rules. Since tourists have little choice for eating, not being able to access restaurants or bars could be a problem. Grocery stores are generally open with few restrictions though.

There is also a curfew in place at the moment from 22:00 to 05:00 daily (although that may go away).

There is a strong movement to try to open things up to tourists by summer, but that doesn't mean it will happen, or that it will happen everywhere. Tourism is a huge industry though, and the number of people who rely on it for a living puts a lot of pressure on the government (rightly or wrongly) to open up quickly.

So, will it be open by September? Everyone hopes so, and efforts are being made to open it up, but it's not a certainty. I'd be hesitant to book anything that wasn't cancelable. The key concept in this thread is that this is all based on plans. As we've seen, plans have changed unexpectedly in the past so be cautious about locking in travel that can't be changed.

Eric

[jacksonracingcomau]

I live less than an hour's ride from Mandello, so I thought I'd share a bit about the current situation.

At the moment I can travel to most places in Italy without any issue, just having to be mindful of overnight curfews and restaurant/bar hours. That's because the regions are mostly below a "red" level.

Here in Italy the ability to do inter-regional travel changes depending on the current "colour" of each region. The four colours are white, yellow, orange and red, with red having the most restrictions and white the least. Sardinia was the only white region about a month ago, now it's the only red region, so it's a fluid situation. The colours change depending on current infection rates to try to maintain capacity in the hospitals. Travel, even outside the local community within a region, is restricted in red zones. 

Can you get away with travel in red regions?  Probably, but the fines can be large if you're caught. I've travelled between red regions (under the limited exemptions) and was not stopped, but you can be stopped at random.

Of more importance to tourists, the ability to eat in a restaurant or bar is also impacted by the colour of the region. In a red zone, they're mostly closed, in others they are only open certain hours or for takeout, so it can be confusing for a tourist (or a local) to know the rules. Since tourists have little choice for eating, not being able to access restaurants or bars could be a problem. Grocery stores are generally open with few restrictions though.

There is also a curfew in place at the moment from 22:00 to 05:00 daily (although that may go away).

There is a strong movement to try to open things up to tourists by summer, but that doesn't mean it will happen, or that it will happen everywhere. Tourism is a huge industry though, and the number of people who rely on it for a living puts a lot of pressure on the government (rightly or wrongly) to open up quickly.

So, will it be open by September? Everyone hopes so, and efforts are being made to open it up, but it's not a certainty. I'd be hesitant to book anything that wasn't cancelable. The key concept in this thread is that this is all based on plans. As we've seen, plans have changed unexpectedly in the past so be cautious about locking in travel that can't be changed.

Eric

Thank you
Situation similar here, move an inch and take the risk, instant lockdowns the new reality
I’m out

[Tusayan]

Thank you Eric for the comprehensive first hand report.

Americans without residence can’t travel to Italy on vacation for now but as with everything else that can change, at which point first hand info becomes very useful.

I’m looking forward to being in Italy in 2022, which will at that point be after a three year break.