Just did our passenger locator form last night for the emerald isle trip which is at 0900hrs tomorrow! It has to be done within 72 hours travel. I thought I had all basis covered but no… my 14 year old needs a negative PCR test or proof of vaccination, otherwise need to isolate. So rush rush rush last night to get one booked in first thing this morning to get the results back within the 24 hours (fingers crossed) oh and £99 lighter now! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Sounds like a proper nightmare. My youngest is going to Seville in two weeks, third year of his degree, he has to study/work out there for eight months. Thanks to the joy that is Brexit he now has to have a student visa, and full medical insurance. The Spanish embassy is being slower than can be, he’s had three visits and they change their mind as to what documents they need each time. Unbelievable. He has friends going to other European countries and each one has a different set of requirements. Utter chaos. Even the Uni has had to step in, yet he still doesn’t have the go ahead. And that’s before they start on the Covid tests to fly……
Yes I was pretty worried yesterday. Most PCR test sites are geared up for flight travel as seem to be near airports etc. Sounds like you have a task as well making sure everything is good and in place. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
We are heading to Seville during the week (well hopefully anyway). Daughter is coming home after a couple of days due work whilst we are making a mini holiday out of it. She had awful trouble organising PCR for homebound trip, no guarantee results will be ready by travel time “ we aim to have results within 24-48 hrs” and I think that may only refer to the working week. Re the son and insurance... we have had both daughters over in Spain studying one before Brexit, and the other straddling the magic date. I never got a satisfactory answer on medical cover pre-brexit as EHIC may have limitations so have always opted to play it safe and had them both covered. One has to be pretty motivated to bother with international travel atm, it certainly has taken the shine off for me.
Been travelling worldwide all over during pandemic, have to get PCR before all flights, some at short notice £285 !!! results within 12 hours, good job i get re imbursed. Now sat in quarantine hotel in Kuala Lumpur, day 8 of 14 .............
Good luck with the travel @aldo Hats off @Ian BW Aside from my Missus heading backwards and forwards to Ireland most recently to visit her family, we've decided against travelling this year. For me I feel like the stress of all the various testing and immigration processes would outweigh any relaxation benefit. That said, I am really keen to leave these shores and to get to somewhere different. After the best part of 12years of commuting backwards and forwards between Germany, UK and Scandinavia, it feels very odd having spent nearly 2yrs stuck in one place.
We're heading off to Bosna i Hercegovina tomorrow. This is a route we've been running at least twice a year for the last 25 plus years but obviously haven't been able to do since 2019. The amount of extra paperwork is astounding - Austria was a sticking point until last week but countries such as Slovenia and Croatia still need advance warning of our arrival - even if we are transiting. They give a max amount of time you have to complete the transit and even state which motorways you may use and which service areas you may stop at for toilets refuelling etc. After Germany each country will only let you cross the border if you have proof that the next country down the line will let you in. Travelling across Europe to leave the EU at some point South or East has never been so complicated. I have a briefcase full of all the bumf that they deem necessary and even have Transit stickers for the windscreen. It was easier than this during the Jugoslav war(s)
We arrived ok, cutting it fine though as the PCR results for my son didn’t come through by email. So I was literally calling the company on the A55 coming in to Holyhead. As luck would have it, it was negative and they resent the email. I was asked by Stena line for proof of our vaccinations and they didn’t really scrutinise the screen shot on my phone for the PCR test. On the other side of the water, same story, in fact even less so with the PCR test which I was surprised about as Ireland are very strict. Every food place we have gone in to has asked for proof of our vaccinations only. Sod’s law if I didn’t get PCR done, we would have had someone doing their job properly and got stuck. Result lovely week away in our cottage. Oh and the X5 hasn’t missed a beat Check out this classic too spotted over here Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Thank you, Down in the south west County Kerry Killarney, also will do Waterford and back up to Dublin. It’s very busy still, it’s interesting to see more Irish doing their equivalent of a staycation. A lot have come from the big cities. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Thank you, that was one of the main points that attracted me to the car. It was also more of a heart over head choice as sometimes I wish I waited for one with a bit more spec, although sometimes more to go wrong so maybe was the right choice. Totally appreciating the car this week, it’ll be staying for a while longer yet. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
If you are still there ... I always preferred Tralee and the Dingle peninsula. Killarney tends to be a bit smarmy/cute for my taste. I'm Irish but not from the “kingdom”
Good to hear. You know my previous feelings on spec/options, but I have to say I think the X5s are so well specced even on base M Sport, there’s not much sense chasing huge options lists.
We arrived in Bosnia and Hercegovina last night - one of the easiest trips ever. Last Wednesday afternoon in Dover only the French PAFs (Police aux Frontières) were interested in checking anything. So after they had had a good look at our Scottish Vaccination Certificates which have no QR code on them, and our 'Declaration sur l'Honneur' stating we didn't have Covid or had any contact with someone who did, they stamped our passports for entry into Shengen land and we were off on the 14.00 to Dunkirk - with the new on-board rules and regulations evident, as well as free meals for all passengers. In Dunkirk we simply drove straight off the boat and on to the Autoroute and headed to our hotel in Valenciennes. Easy. Very safe due to the high security surrounding the hotel which has given an entire floor over to the French military who are still on 'Operation VigiPirate' - an expensive exercise to deter migrants heading for the Channel Ports - heavily funded by gov.uk I believe. The next day we had a 980km (620 miles) run across Belgium and Germany to a little town in Austria just over the border from Passau. The 330d was designed for such journeys and we arrived fresh and relaxed after some 9 hours on the autobahnen. I had kept the speed down to cruise at around 125kph (80mph) rather than the higher speeds we usually do on account of the roof-box we have on this time. The roof box does increase noise, especially if there is a side wind, and fuel consumption suffers by approx 2mpg from 47 to 45mpg which is of little interest or consequence to us. From France to Belgium and from Belgium to Germany there are no border checks whatsoever. From Germany into Austria we were just waved through but on the other side of the road there was a queue of more than 10kms going into Germany from Austria. Most places/situations in Germany require the use of face-masks - but any old mask will not do - it has to be a FFP2 or better specification - we had FFP3 - that's the ones with the red filter disc on the side. After a couple of days with the relatives we headed South - again absolutely no controls going from Austria to Slovenia - we had the 'necessary' PDF download statement as the Slovenian gov websites say it is essential but no one was there to check them. So on to Croatia where there is a completely different set-up as that is where one exits the Shengen area as Croatia didn't sign the agreement. On showing passports we were asked only one question, "Where are you going?" On hearing that we were headed to Bosnia and would be less than 12 hours in Croatia we were waved on. Had we been intending to spend any time in Croatia we would have had to send a PDF with full details of names, passport numbers, dates and addresses beforehand - and receive a confirmation e-mail from the Croatian dedicated tourist system called 'Enter Croatia'. Seeing our numberplate and assuming we were aspiring tourists they tried to direct us into the long and slow line of incoming tourists who need to have all their documents carefully and painstakingly checked. They were quite surprised to be greeted in fluent Bosnian/Croatian and told very politely that we were actually in transit and couldn't stay any longer than necessary to get to our destination. Somehow I get the impression that not a lot of Brits are visiting Croatia or Bosnia at the moment, but the roads are full of campervans mainly from Germany, Scandinavia and The Netherlands. The border from Croatia into BiH was a dawdle - a simple glance at the Vaccination Certificates and our passports and we were in. Then we had a hour or so on the totally deserted new motorway in Republika Srpska - that's not a country but an ethic Serbian controlled region of Bosnia i Hercegovina - very confusing to those who are unaware of the history and civil war antics of the early 1990s. The total journey was some 2600km - 1600 miles. Once out of the UK we saw only a handful of UK registered vehicles and suspect that most of them had occupants with passports from countries other than the UK and were at long last headed home to visit relatives now that the Covid regs have eased. So that us - feet up in the sun with a glass of Slivovica or two until it's time to move on to the Adriatic Coast in a week or so.
