With availability all up and down Italy, Covid restrictions slackening and normality returning, this is shaping up to be a proper Italian summer. We looked into what’s not only viable but beautiful right now—for those seeking wide-open countryside, languid tables and the keys to rooms and houses (even in cities) typically reserved years in advance. We break down the rules here and offer a helping hand.
GETTING IN, GETTING ON WITH IT
The Covid situation
Italy’s last infection spike was in March. Since then, cases across the country have dropped more than 80 percent and continue to decline steeply. As of May 27, more than 41 percent of adults are at least partly vaccinated, according to the E.C.D.C.
Rules for entry
Americans (as well as those coming from other low-risk, non-EU countries such as Canada) require proof of a negative Covid test and a 10-day quarantine on arrival. But wait—there’s an end-around: quarantine can be avoided by flying one of a growing number of Covid-tested flights on several airlines—currently from Atlanta and New York to Rome and Milan, with Venice coming in July—with proof of a negative PCR test within 48 hours before, and another test on arrival. (Travelers must also fill out an E.U. digital passenger locator form or a self-declaration form. And no, the vaccinated are not currently exempted from any of this.)
Visitors from elsewhere in Europe or from Britain—lucky them—can enter without quarantining and with proof of a negative Covid test.
What’s open, what’s on
All Italian regions are currently in the “Yellow Zone” (according to Italy’s risk classification system, in which white is low, and orange and red are highest). Drinking and eating will feel almost entirely normal this season, as bars and restaurants continue to open with capacity limits and with table service permitted outdoors only (except in hotels) until June 1, when indoor dining resumes. Bon vivants will have to wait until June 21 to be able to stay out past the stroke of midnight, though “discotecas” will remain closed—sorry, no hilarious Italian dance parties to 1970s classics. Museums are open across the country and most are running at reduced capacity (HEAVEN!); on the weekends, it’s wise to book advanced-entry online (seriously, do it). By the sea, beach clubs may request reservations, and at any rate, there’ll be a greater distance between striped beach umbrellas, not a bad thing in any year, in our opinion. Oh, and face masks are required indoors in public places (including museums and transit hubs), which, after all, we are used to by now. Read more about that here.
WHERE TO GO? WE’VE GOT SOME THOUGHTS
With a handful of anticipated hotel openings, a fraction of Italy’s normal visitors and a hunch about where those people will be turning up, these thought-starters in different regions offer a sense of place with peace of mind. (Of course, PRIOR can book the whole thing.)
Italy: A distanced dream
One of our favorite summer escapes, Sicily tends to draw most of its crowds to the east coast—the stately baroque town of Noto, Syracuse with its ancient Roman amphitheater, and Catania, of the splendorous opera house and massive fish market. Instead, set off for the less-traveled western route. Fly into Palermo, the grand and gritty city of Renaissance palaces, where Rocco Forte has polished up the historic Villa Igiea, a palazzo with tiered villa gardens on the water and the chef Fulvio Pierangelini at the helm (opening in June). From here, explore Sicily’s sandy beach side, heading down the coast to the Phoenician port town of Trapani with its view of the Egadi Islands (don’t miss the Tonnara di Scopello, a walled medieval tuna-fishing estate), the white-sand beaches of San Vito lo Capo, and the wine town of Marsala with its meticulously restored old-town center.
Puglia is also on our minds. This year we’d head straight to Salento at the heel tip of Italy’s boot, leapfrogging the busier north. The surroundings are wide, isolated expanses of olive groves and vineyards, with an endless choice for beaches—the rocky and wild Adriatic or the blue shallows of the Gulf of Taranto.
