UKH

Hi

I intend to fly from England to Geneva and get a Coach to Chamonix this January- but was wondering if anyone had any knowledge and experience of crossing boarders during the covid pandemic.

Am I going to get stopped? What are the restrictions on crossing boarders via coach/roads etc - I’m really struggling to understand how it will work out.

Thanks for your help  

Right now it's not a problem I think, but you'll have to have a look at both countries you intend to visit, ie. France and Switzerland. Covid policy this side of the pond is a patchwork of national and sometimes even regional or local measures.

One very big caveat is that it's anyone's guess what the policy will be come January. Right now a lot of European countries are experiencing high case loads, sometimes even cripplingly so, although that's only Eastern Europe right now, due to shockingly low vaccine uptake. 

This summer we crossed from Germany to France, Belgium and Switzerland at various time. No checks on any of them.

Good luck in January!

Right now it's not a problem at all. There is a declaration sur l'honeur to enter France if you are double vaxxed and at the border when I drove from France to Switzerland I was not stopped despite having UK plates. 

The uphill person still has responsibility for avoiding a collision, that hasn't changed. It's now frowned upon to cut them up though — you should be looking to keep 2m away at all times through your crossing manoeuvre.

whilst it 'almost' never happens, they do very rarely stop coaches at the border going from the airport in geneva into france, so have your passport and paperwork to hand, not in the hold! my friends swisstours coach got stopped a week or so ago.

as to what the regulations will be come january, that is anybodies guess!

We travelled repeatedly between France, Italy, Switzerland through all of June-Sept this summer and were never stopped, though were travelling in private cars. Apparently the French Passé Sanitere applies to long-distance coaches and trains, but not to transfer buses, hence it’s fine to take Alpybus, Mountain Dropoffs, Cham Express, etc, without having one. Alpybus are the second cheapest but actually good, whereas avoid Easybus.

I’ll add that I took Alpybus from Cham to Geneva Airport for my flight back to the U.K. in Sept and no stops and apparently they almost never stop transfer buses. Check with Alpybus, etc, but at the time passengers didn’t need to be vaccinated, tested, etc, just a mask.

I did that exact same journey 6 weeks ago.  You’ll need your proof of double vaccination (printed NHS QR codes are fine and were easier than fiddling with a phone).  These were only asked for at Geneva customs on arrival and the airline departure desk when returning.  To transit through switzerland you also needed to fill out a form on the Swiss government site which also gives you a QR code to print but nobody asked for that.  Technically you are transiting through Switzerland twice, once out and then return so you need two forms that nobody will look at.  You’ll also need the french declaration that someone else mentioned, but nobody asked for that either when I was there.

To enter any restaurant, or sit at a bar you’ll need to show proof of vaccination.  The french TousAntiCovid app is best for that and you can scan your NHS QR codes into it.

I also had to do the pre-departure test in Chamonix but that’s been cancelled now I think.

I didn’t need to show any paperwork for the Alpybus transfer.  Every transfer bus I’ve been on from Geneva to Chamonix (must be 20+ now) has never stopped at the border.

Also, get used to wearing a mask.  You’ll have one on pretty much from the moment you enter the UK airport to the moment you get off the coach in Chamonix.

*Note that while many of the forms I had weren’t checked, I also didn’t have (or contract Covid).  I suspect that if I had, the paperwork would have been examined a bit more thoroughly by the appropriate authorities !!

We crossed French-German border just two weeks ago. Police stopped random cars and asked to show tests/proof of vaccination. They stopped is, the whole conversations was about 2 minutes, nothing to worry about.And of course if you are not European they can ask you to show your visa etc

We are planning a trip to France this Jan. As well as completing the "passenger locator form" for Switzerland (flying UK to Geneva) does anyone know if I also need to complete one for France as well? I'm also passing through Italy for a few miles.. So again does anyone know if I need to complete another form to enter Italy...

Do I need to fill out all the forms again 5 days later when I return the same way?

From what I can see if I'm double jabbed I don't need to carry out a pre departure Covid test?? Seems they are happy for me to get on a plane without testing which seems strange!

Since the whole pandemic started i always use two websites before my travels: 

- https://evisa.express/ - shows me if i need a visa to a certain country and if i am eligible to apply for it online

- kayak travel map - shows all the restrictions which every single country has at the moment. You just need to enter where are you traveling from, what passport holder you are and you will see all the countries divided in different colors: green - free entry, yellow - you can travel there with some restrictions, red - closed for tourism. 

Hope it will be helpful and have a nice trip! 

A friend recently flew into and back from Geneva. The passport was not stamped on arrival as it should have been and this created problems when she wanted to come home. Effectively, they wanted to know how she had got into Switzerland. Her husband whose passport was stamped by the guard  had no problems.

Brexit bonus rather than COVID related!

You'll almost certainly be required to jump through hoops when entering the Schengen zone. Travelling within the zone - less likely, but who knows what the situation will be like when you go - individual nations are already putting in restrictions due to the Botswana variant.