Iceland has reopened to all travellers for the first time since March 2020 and joined the line-up of countries Brits can visit without Covid tests.
Until now, the country had only been open to those who were fully vaccinated against Covid. However as of today (February 25), the holiday hotspot has ditched all of its Covid restrictions, both for foreign travel and domestically.
The country has scrapped all of its Covid travel rules, and is now welcoming back all visitors no matter what their vaccination status, meaning that Brits won't need tests or vaccination documents if they want to go and explore Iceland's most beautiful places.
It's not the only country which won't require Covid tests or vaccination proof for holidays; Mexico and Costa Rica also operate similar border rules.
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Minister of Health, Willum Þór Þórsson spoke of the decision and said: "We can truly rejoice at this turning-point, but nonetheless I encourage people to be careful, practice personal infection prevention measures and not to interact with others if they notice symptoms."
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2 welcomed the news in a statement: "This is an enormous step towards normality for international travel as it represents a country saying that travel is back to how it looked before the pandemic.
"We applaud the Icelandic Government for leading the way when it comes to reopening international travel and we are confident that other nations will follow suit. We are already seeing very strong demand for flights and trips to Iceland and we expect that demand to step up even further following this extremely positive news."
A number of countries have been easing their travel rules in recent months. For example Greece, Portugal, France and Belgium all axed Covid test rules for vaccinated travellers, although some testing rules have been kept in place for those who have not been double jabbed. (Meanwhile, we've put together a guide to France's complex vaccine rules which left some holidaymakers stumped!).
Brits were also dealt a boost when Spain announced that it would ease rules for unvaccinated kids aged 12 and over, so that they could visit for holidays with their vaccinated parents and guardians.
It's not just in Europe where restrictions are being relaxed. Vietnam recently announced plans to welcome back holidaymakers three months earlier than planned, while Australia began to welcome back tourists this month including Brits.
Meanwhile, New Zealand has unveiled a phased reopening of its borders. Under 'step four' of this plan which the country's government said would take place 'no later than July', visitors and business travellers who can normally enter New Zealand without a visa will once again be able to travel - and this will apply to the majority of Brits.
Do you think all countries should be lifting their Covid travel restrictions now? Let us know in the comments below.
