France to allow vaccinated Brits to arrive without quarantining from next week

4 June 2021, 14:35

France is allowing vaccinated Brits, but at present the rules in the UK mean you cannot travel to France without a good reason. Picture: Getty

By Daisy Stephens

Fully vaccinated Brits can travel to France without the need for quarantine from next Wednesday, although at present they will still need to quarantine when they get home.

France has announced that vaccinated British tourists will be able to travel to France without quarantining provided they can show a negative test from June 9, the Times reports.

But with France on Britain's amber list, tourists will still need to quarantine when they return.

The rules in the UK also mean that Brits should not travel to France unless they have a good reason, for example to visit a dying relative.

The French measures are the first step to easing border controls to try and resurrect France's tourism industry as the European country emerges from its third lockdown.

France has employed a traffic light system similar to Britain’s, although they have special arrangements for EU countries where only unvaccinated residents need to provide a negative test.

Britain is on the amber list, which is slightly different to the UK’s equivalent in that if you are vaccinated you do not need to quarantine, nor do you need a compelling reason to travel.

However, French rules say that British tourists who have not been vaccinated should only visit if they have a good reason.

North America and most of Asia and Africa are also on France’s amber list, and sixteen countries including India and South Africa are on the red list.

The traffic light system in the UK has fallen under fire recently, after the first review saw no new countries added to the green list and Portugal moved from green to amber.

Because the European country was one of the few viable holiday destinations on the green list, many people had holidays booked and faced disappointment when they were told that they would need to quarantine from Tuesday.

Many were already on holiday when the rules changed, which has resulted in a frantic struggle to return before the rules change next week.

Communities secretary Robert Jenrick defended the government’s decision, arguing that people were aware of the risk of Portugal’s classification changing.

"If you do book a holiday to a country that's on the green list, you do have to be aware that we are reviewing it every three weeks,” he said to LBC’s Nick Ferrari on Friday.

“If you do choose to book to a country currently on the green list, be careful because things can change as you've seen."