After a long and uncertain few months, it finally seems that there is a light at the end of the tunnel to the coronavirus lockdown. Europe, despite being one of the worst affected areas is starting to see the curve flattening and making attempts to resume life in the ‘new normal’. I’ve been in exile from our Bulgarian office since March and have now been given the all-clear to return this month, albeit with a 14 day quarantine period.
In this article, we’re going to look at the European countries on our tour list opening back up for travel. With our unbeatable 50 Euro deposit scheme for future tours, it’s time to start planning your long-awaited travel goals!
Russia
Unfortunately, Russia is one of the worst affected countries that has been hit with coronavirus. Its international borders remain closed for the time being with severe restrictions in place. It is not clear when it will reopen.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria is reopened to foreign visitors albeit with a 14 day quarantine period. On the ground, restaurants, bars, and other venues have reopened provided they have an outdoor seating area. Museums have reopened with a limit to the amount of people allowed inside.
We are confident that our much loved Communist Bulgarian Tour will be going ahead.
Romania
Despite the state of emergency being lifted, Romania has now shifted into a state of alert and remains largely locked down with borders closed. We hope this situation will improve soon and we can resume running our Communist Romania tour.
Moldova and Transnistria
Europe’s least visited country and it’s breakaway brother of Transnistria luckily closed their borders quickly during the initial outbreak of coronavirus so it thankfully hasn’t suffered as much as others. Moldova and Transnistria have lifted its state of emergency and are restarting economic activity. However, hotels and restaurants remain closed for the time being but there is hope on the horizon for us to restart our Transnistria tours again.
Ukraine
Chernobyl, the place many said was ironically the safest place to be during the coronavirus outbreak, is open again! Ukraine acted early in locking down the country and is opening its international borders this month and flights are resuming. Hotels and indoor restaurants remain closed for now, but that is likely to change.
The Balkans
A staple of our Eurasian and Ultimate Yugoslavia tours, the countries of the Balkans locked down severely during the outbreak and are slowly beginning to reopen. We hope that by mid-July, there will be a possibility of continuing tours there.
The Baltics
The three EU countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Baltics have been the first post-lockdown states to create what’s been branded as a coronavirus “travel bubble” which means that anybody already in the region can travel freely between the three countries with no restrictions. However, anybody arriving from outside must quarantine for 14 days as standard.
This positive progress gives us hope that we can bring you all on our popular Soviet Baltics tour sometime in the near future!
We hope this article has given you some positivity and hope in being able to resume your travel plans in the near future. Let’s hope we can get back to normality soon. Above all, stay safe and we hope to see you on the road in the not too distant future!
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