10 countries you can travel to from Germany without restrictions

While the travel warning that applied to all 160 countries outside of the EU and Schengen Zone has been removed, each country now has specific travel advice from the Federal Foreign Office.

Areas with particularly high infection rates are deemed as ‘risk zones’. If travellers return to Germany from these areas, they have to be tested for the virus and self-isolate until receiving their results. 

READ ALSO: What you need to know about changes to travel and quarantine rules in Germany in October

Currently, there are region-specific or country-wide warnings against travel to 183 out of 193 states that are members of the United Nations, either due to high infection risk or travel restrictions on entry. 

Poland is currently the only of Germany’s nine neighbouring countries that isn’t fully or partially classified as a risk area.

However, travellers from the non-EU countries Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay are able to travel into Germany without any restrictions at the moment.

READ ALSO: Who is currently allowed to travel to Germany from outside of the EU?

Countries which are not subject to any travel warnings as of October 2nd are:

• Georgia

• Greece

• Italy

• Lichtenstein

• Malta

• Monaco*

• Poland

• San Marino 

• Sweden

• Slovakia

READ ALSO: Who is currently allowed to travel to Germany from outside the EU?

What else should you know?

*Monaco may be on the ‘restriction-free’ list, but travellers returning from the country will have to be tested and go into self-isolation regardless. Due to the growing case numbers in the surrounding French region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, German authorities deem the risk of infection to be significant enough to warrant stricter measures. 

The same is not the case for the microstate Vatican City, however: as it is the only country in the world that does not belong to the UN, there are no travel restrictions or quarantine requirements upon entry or return.

While the United Kingdom has been taken off the ‘restriction free’ list, travel warnings currently apply to Wales, Northern Ireland, North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber. Those returning from Scotland and some parts of England do not have to self-isolate upon arrival.

It is likely, however, that the list of countries free from restrictions will continue to change as the pandemic develops: the infection rate in each country is under constant surveillance by the Robert Koch Institute and the German Foreign Office. 

READ ALSO: These are the countries and regions on Germany's 'high risk' quarantine list

Countries or regions that exceed the limit of 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days are then declared as risk areas.