Updated: 60 UK Approved Travel Destinations Without 14 Day Quarantine

September 18th Update: Arrivals from Slovenia and Guadeloupe will now be required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the UK, from September 11th, 2020. Arrivals from Thailand and Singapore, however, will not! Read up more below.

If you think Netflix is full of drama, you need to pay more attention to the news. The UK Government became the washing machine of solutions to safely resume travel, with new ideas tossed and overturned by the minute. But now, there’s finally some clarity for travel, with an official published list of countries which won’t be subject to the 14 day quarantine upon arrival into the UK, both for returning residents and visitors.

From the days of a curious quarantine; to talks of air bridges, here’s the fresh list of 66 places, made up of countries and British Territories from which travelers will not have to quarantine when they land in the UK, and all the answers to all the questions you may inevitably have, like travel insurance.

Official: 60 Approved Destinations Without UK Quarantine, 57 No Longer Only For Essential Travel

On June 8th, 2020, the UK initiated a mandatory 14 day quarantine for any visitors and returning residents coming from abroad from all destinations.

The move, which was highly unpopular with nearly all in the business and travel communities was said to have gone too far, and instead, simply creating quarantine requirements for travelers returning or coming from a few select “at risk” destinations, like the USA, Brazil and Russia, would’ve been the easier approach, and enabled travel to destinations with lower rates of infection or concern.

The now: The UK has scrapped air bridge plans, and instead, offers a list of countries where 14 days of quarantine on arrival into the UK won’t be necessary. It’s basically back to square one, but with a newly designed makeover to add clarity about where you can travel from, or return from, without quarantine on arrival into the UK, via a traffic light system. Green and orange mean go, red means quarantine.

Separately, we will be adding SINGAPORE and THAILAND to the Travel Corridor list. Please check before you travel as both countries may have extra requirements before entering.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) September 17, 2020

Who does this apply to? Anyone entering the UK, including citizens, visitors, returning residents, family members and so forth. Unlike most of Europe, the UK is still accepting visitors from the United States, but anyone coming from the USA would be required to quarantine, since the country isn’t on the approved ‘quarantine free’ list below.

Stoplight System For Travel Countries

The UK has a new stoplight system with green, yellow and red countries. Those in the “green” or “orange” will be able to enter the UK without quarantine.

To make things simple, the UK Government added a dedicated web page highlighting the current countries where no quarantine will apply to returning Brits, or to visitors coming from these countries. Basically, you can travel like the old days, if you’re coming from one of these places.

It’s worth noting that the 60 destination list includes many countries where Brits, and travelers from many other nations are not currently welcomed, or may face quarantine of their own when they get there – like Singapore, or Australia. The list just means that they won’t face one when they return to the UK, or if they wish to visit the UK from any of these countries. Here’s how to know if you’re eligible to enter a country right now.

The newly published list of countries exempt from essential travel, meaning countries where leisure travel is ok, and travel insurance will once again be valid has also been published. In the latest update, Serbia and Spain were removed.

Data shows we need to remove the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland from our list of #Coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN. If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) August 27, 2020

The UK has also published its highly anticipated list of “Travel Corridors” from which you won’t need to quarantine on arrival into the United Kingdom. The no quarantine policy applies to both visitors from these countries and also to UK residents returning from these selected countries, and includes…

You can view the latest up to date list of countries where a quarantine upon return to the UK isn’t required below…

Update: Singapore and Thailand are now part of the UK travel corridor list, though neither will let UK visitors in right now, unless they hold residency or passport from one of the countries.

• Akrotiri and Dhekelia
• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba
• British Antarctic Territory
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands
• Brunei
• Cayman Islands
• the Channel Islands
• Curaçao
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Dominica
• Estonia 
• Falkland Islands
• Faroe Islands
• Fiji
• Finland
• Gibraltar
• Germany
• Greece (quarantine is now required for arrivals from: Crete, Lesvos, Tinos, Serifos, Mykonos, Santorini, and Zakynthos, but mainland and other islands are now excluded)
• Greenland
• Grenada
• Hong Kong
• Iceland
• Ireland
• the Isle of Man
• Italy
• Japan
• Latvia 
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Macao (Macau)
• Malaysia 
• Mauritius
• Montserrat
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
• Poland
• San Marino
• Seychelles
• Singapore
• Slovakia 
• South Korea
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• St Barthélemy
• St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Pierre and Miquelon
• St Vincent and the Grenadines 
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Turkey
• Vatican City State
• Vietnam

It’s worth noting that if you’ve had to transit in a country not on this approved list, you’re still expected to isolate. In other words, if you flew from a country on the list, but had an airline stop in a country not on the list and changed planes, you’d still need to isolate.

What about all the other countries?

“Red” countries, with rates of covid-19 infection higher than the UK will still need to quarantine, and if the country you’d like to visit, or visit from, is not currently on the list, it means you can expect a mandatory 14 day quarantine upon arrival into the UK. Here’s full details on what the 14 day quarantine entails.

When Is It OK For Brits To Travel Again, And Visitors To Arrive?

The new UK list of 71 destinations where travellers will not face quarantine upon return or entry into the UK kicked off July 10th, 2020 and is in effect until any changes are made, as they regularly are. Countries can be added or taken off the list based on a variety of factors, but any countries currently on the list are expected to stay.

Basically, you can travel any time from July 10th, 2020 or later to or from these destinations without quarantine on arrival into the UK. Since July 10th has passed, you can now travel to or from these places.

For the UK Foreign Office list of countries list where all but essential travel is no longer banned, those changes kicked in July 4th, 2020, so you can travel to those areas from that date without breaking government travel advice.

Virtually all airlines are requiring passengers to wear a mask, and we’ve got a variety of safety tips if you do plan on flying.

What About Travel Insurance For The UK Approved Country List?

Crucially, the new system eases government advice on travel to the list of 71 destinations, where essential travel only no longer applies. The Foreign Travel Office no longer states essential travel only, which will make travel insurance valid again for places on the approved list, and allow leisure travel to return. This has been a key hurdle in resuming traveler confidence.

Notably, Sweden, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and the USA are expected to be on the “red” list of countries where a mandatory quarantine will continue, which creates a significant impact on travel between key trading partners.

GSTP Take

A cynic could say that if you closed your eyes and imagined a time before covid-19, as infections increased, the UK could’ve just created a list of countries for which a mandatory quarantine, or entire travel ban would exist.

The move would’ve taken a matter of hours, rather than months, and enacted months ago could’ve done a lot of good, without spooking people about booking future travel.

Travel for the rest of the world, the majority of which had far lower rates of infection could’ve carried on as normal, but that ship has sailed, and hopefully on the good, and impressively clear news from the UK Government people will be able to travel with confidence once again. The question is: where?