Hi. Just moved to Italy and signed up for a loyalty card at the local Ali (carta fedelta). I’ve successfully registered on the web site and have my card. Can anyone explain how the system works please?
We are doing some building work on a house near Ostellato, Ferrara and need to find a local builders merchant who can deliver bricks, sand and timber. Does anyone know of such a place? Also what is the Italian translation for builders merchant?
I understand that snow chains or snow tyres are a requirement in some parts of Northern Italy. We will be driving a van from the UK down to Ferrara on 13th November and returning around 16th December. Does anyone know if we will need snow chains?
We have just bought a house in Emilia Romagna which has Apple TV. Can anyone advise how we can view UK TV channels such as BBC or ITV. We have Amazon Prime and Virgin subscriptions back in the U.K. Many thanks.
Yes- 5 days quarantine. Next review 31st August. Although our daughter has just finished her 5 days and nobody contacted her to check. They had their day 6 test st a local pharmacy but weren’t sure why they bothered as no one had asked them about it. We are on Day 3 of isolation but quite happy as the sun is shining!
Re entering Switzerland, I just read that Switzerland is only accepting Astro Zeneca vaccinations from within EU.
When we drove to/from Italy last month we didn’t have a trailer but the car was packed to the gunnels and no one was interested in what we were carrying.
Bologna airport has testing facilities but the website states that it is only for those who are flying. As we drive I checked out the free Red Cross testing at Bologna train station (also at many other major stations). It seems that the antigen test they offer meets U.K. entry requirements with results in half an hour and in English. For us, this seems to be the best option.
We asked about getting the tampone per viaggio at a large city centre pharmacy today. They said they can’t do it and referred us to a private clinic. The cost would be €110. This contradicts your experience Castelforte.
We asked about getting the tampone per viaggio at a large city centre pharmacy today. They said they can’t do it and referred us to a private clinic. The cost would be €110. This contradicts your experience Castelforte.
Hi. I said I’d let you know how we got on last week when driving from the U.K. to Emilia Romagna.
The journey itself was very straightforward although we had to avoid the French 9 pm curfew and we found out the night before we departed that we wouldn't be allowed to transit through Switzerland (went via the Mt Blanc tunnel which was particularly gruelling as we’d bought our vignettes in advance).
At Eurotunnel we were asked if we’d had a negative PCR tests but didn’t have to show the results. At no point on the journey did we need to produce the wealth of paperwork we’d had to complete and the France/Italy border was unmanned.
The only other potential problem was that the PCR test to enter italy which should be taken within 48 hours of arrival in italy. As most tests take 24 hours to get the results (which are also required to enter France) it was impossible for us to meet this timing. So we had our test at 3pm on Tuesday and entered italy around 7pm on Thursday. As I said, no one checked.
Restrictions have now changed for entering France from the U.K. and I haven’t been able to find out for sure whether transit to italy is permitted. Going back we’ll be fine as we’ll be entering France from an EU but thereafter we may need to resort to flying out.
I found this website very useful in checking what documents were required for each country. https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions
Btw as regards Brexit, we had a car full of ‘stuff’, old and new, as well as food and encountered no problems.
Comments posted
We also sent off to the NHS for a paper copy and requested a copy of the accompanying explanation in Italian. Not used it yet but might be handy.
Yes- 5 days quarantine. Next review 31st August. Although our daughter has just finished her 5 days and nobody contacted her to check. They had their day 6 test st a local pharmacy but weren’t sure why they bothered as no one had asked them about it. We are on Day 3 of isolation but quite happy as the sun is shining!
We found the bar codes on our NHS App.
under Get Your NHS Covid Pass- Travel- Covid Records Found- Details (use the second bar code).
I was amazed it worked although we e not been asked to show it in italy yet - just in France on the way down.
We have printed copies but not tried to use them yet
Thank you for all this information- it’s good to hear as we are heading back next week. Which testing centre did you use- we too live in Guildford?
Thank you for all this information- it’s good to hear as we are heading back next week. Which testing centre did you use- we too live in Guildford?
Re entering Switzerland, I just read that Switzerland is only accepting Astro Zeneca vaccinations from within EU.
When we drove to/from Italy last month we didn’t have a trailer but the car was packed to the gunnels and no one was interested in what we were carrying.
Bologna airport has testing facilities but the website states that it is only for those who are flying. As we drive I checked out the free Red Cross testing at Bologna train station (also at many other major stations). It seems that the antigen test they offer meets U.K. entry requirements with results in half an hour and in English. For us, this seems to be the best option.
We asked about getting the tampone per viaggio at a large city centre pharmacy today. They said they can’t do it and referred us to a private clinic. The cost would be €110. This contradicts your experience Castelforte.
We asked about getting the tampone per viaggio at a large city centre pharmacy today. They said they can’t do it and referred us to a private clinic. The cost would be €110. This contradicts your experience Castelforte.
Hi. I said I’d let you know how we got on last week when driving from the U.K. to Emilia Romagna.
The journey itself was very straightforward although we had to avoid the French 9 pm curfew and we found out the night before we departed that we wouldn't be allowed to transit through Switzerland (went via the Mt Blanc tunnel which was particularly gruelling as we’d bought our vignettes in advance).
At Eurotunnel we were asked if we’d had a negative PCR tests but didn’t have to show the results. At no point on the journey did we need to produce the wealth of paperwork we’d had to complete and the France/Italy border was unmanned.
The only other potential problem was that the PCR test to enter italy which should be taken within 48 hours of arrival in italy. As most tests take 24 hours to get the results (which are also required to enter France) it was impossible for us to meet this timing. So we had our test at 3pm on Tuesday and entered italy around 7pm on Thursday. As I said, no one checked.
Restrictions have now changed for entering France from the U.K. and I haven’t been able to find out for sure whether transit to italy is permitted. Going back we’ll be fine as we’ll be entering France from an EU but thereafter we may need to resort to flying out.
I found this website very useful in checking what documents were required for each country. https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions
Btw as regards Brexit, we had a car full of ‘stuff’, old and new, as well as food and encountered no problems.