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TRAVEL NEWS

What you need to know about Denmark’s colour-coded travel rules

Denmark’s new colour system for classing travel restrictions went into effect at 4pm on Saturday, June 25th. Here’s what you need to know—including the new "shaded orange" category. 

At a glance: travel to and from the UK, US, and Australia

The UK is still technically classed as orange at the time of updating this article, meaning travellers need a worthy purpose to travel to Denmark unless they’re fully vaccinated. However, only Wales is actually classed as orange as of July 17th, with everywhere else now a red region within the UK. This means all travellers from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland will need to present a PCR test taken within the past 72 hours before boarding a plane to Denmark and will need to isolate upon arrival, even if previously vaccinated or infected. Danes are strongly discouraged against travel to the UK.

Travellers from the US and Australia will not have to isolate upon arrival and only people who are neither vaccinated nor previously infected need to be tested before entry.  Danes may find travel to the US and Australia difficult or impossible.

Green countries 

This update introduces a green risk category that applies to EU/Schengen countries with fewer than 50 cases per week per 100,000 inhabitants.

Travellers from green countries will no longer need to take a coronavirus test on arrival in Denmark, as they did when these countries were classed as yellow. 

Green countries currently cover most of the EU: Belgium, Bulgaria Cyprus, France (excluding the overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique and Mayotte), Greece, Italy, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria.

Some regions in otherwise yellow countries are also considered green: Portugal’s Madeira and Spain’s Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Ceuta, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia and Valencia.

Yellow countries 

EU/Schengen countries with 60 or more new COVID cases per week per 100,000 inhabitants are now yellow: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Portugal, San Marino, Spain and Vatican City. 

EU residents travelling to Denmark from yellow countries and regions no longer need to isolate after arrival, or take a test before boarding their planes, but Danes considering travel to yellow countries are urged to be cautious. 

Outside the EU/Schengen area, Albania, Lebanon, Northern Macedonia, Rwanda and Serbia are yellow. 

Orange countries 

All countries outside the EU/Schengen area with a high risk of infection—but without significant levels of dangerous variants circulating—are orange. Travellers from orange countries need a worthy purpose to enter Denmark unless they are fully vaccinated and from an OECD country. Vaccinated people from non-OECD countries need a worthy purpose and a negative COVID test prior to entry, according to the Ministry of Justice. The Danish government advises Danes against unnecessary travel to orange countries.

Red countries

Red denotes areas where worrisome levels of coronavirus variants are circulating. Travellers from red countries and regions will need a PCR test from within the previous 72 hours before boarding an aircraft to Denmark and will have to isolate upon arrival. Within the EU/Schengen area, Reunion in France and three regions in the UK (Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Bolton and Rossendale) are red. 

Farther afield, Bangladesh, Brazil, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Nepal, India, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe are all red. 

Danes are strongly encouraged to avoid travel to red countries and should consult with a doctor if it’s unavoidable. 

‘Shaded orange’ countries 

Shaded orange now designates an area or country with low virus circulation, but entry restrictions that would make it difficult or impossible for Danes to visit. In the opposite direction of travel—from shaded orange countries to Denmark—they’re functionally yellow. 

The Danish Ministry of Foreign affairs currently discourages travel to the following: Australia, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. 

Member comments

  1. Good morning,
    I live in British Columbia Canada, our COVID numbers are low!
    You mention travel from the US but never mention Canadian travellers. I am Danish born and visit my homeland quite often. We cancelled our trip home for this year but plan to come next year! I’m sure all will be well by then. Do you include Canada in your reference to US citizens traveling to Denmark! I feel Canada is even safer than the US!! Thank you, Inger

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TRAVEL NEWS

Everything you need to know about travel to, from and around Denmark this Easter

Whether you're driving to the in-laws in northern Jutland, taking the train, or flying to your family elsewhere in the world, here's everything we know about travel to, from, or around Denmark this Easter.

Everything you need to know about travel to, from and around Denmark this Easter

Track work between Copenhagen and Odense 

From 11pm on Maundy Thursday (April 6th) till midnight on Easter Sunday (April 9th) there are replacement buses on the line between Copenhagen and Odense, as Denmark’s track operator Banedanmark carries out renovation work on the tracks. 

Express InterCity trains between Copenhagen and Aalborg and Esbjerg will also no longer stop in Valby, Ny Ellebjerg or Køge Nord from March 31st until April 10th.

From Easter Monday until April 29th, the InterCity InterCityLyn+ to Aarhus is suspended, with travellers instead advised to take the PendlerLyn during rush hour. 

You can find the details of the disruptions between Copenhagen and Slagelse here, and between Slagelse and Odense here

Check your journey on DSB’s Rejseplaner web app for the latest information. 

Roads 

The Danish Road Directorate warned in its Easter traffic forecast of heavy traffic on Friday March 31st, particularly during the evening rush hour, when normal commuting traffic in and out of Copenhagen will be made even worse by people travelling to visit relatives over Easter.

Traffic is also expected to be heavier than usual on Saturday April 1st, Wednesday April 5th, and Thursday, April 6th.

The directorate expects return trips to Copenhagen after Easter Sunday on April 10th to be spread over several days, reducing the risk of traffic problems.  

It expects particularly heavy traffic on the E20 between Copenhagen, Odense and Esbjerg on the Jutland coast, and also on the E45 between Kolding and the German border at Padborg.

The coastal roads where many Danes have summer houses are also likely to be affected, with the directorate warning of traffic on national road 11 on the west coast of Jutland between Ribe and Ringkøbing, national road 16 between Hillerød on the outskirts of Copenhagen and northern Zealand, and national road 21 between Copenhagen and the Sjællands Odde peninsular in northwest Zealand. 

Here are the roads where heavy traffic is expected. 

Source: Danish Roads Directorate

Air 

While there are no strikes planned at Danish airports or among staff at the airlines servicing them, anyone flying to Spain, Germany, Italy, or the UK’s Heathrow airport should check to make sure that their flight is not going to be disrupted. 

Between now and April 13th, ground services and cargo handling unions in Spain working for Swissport are mounting 24-hour walkouts every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. 

This will impact most Spanish airports, including Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Reus, Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería, Salamanca, Valladolid, Burgos, Logroño, Zaragoza, Huesca, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur airports. It is not yet clear which flights will be affected. 

The German transport unions Ver.di and EVG mounted a 24-hour mega strike on March 27th and have threatened further strikes around Easter if they do not get a better pay offer from transport operators. 

Those flying to Italy should keep in mind that air traffic controllers working for the company Enav are planning to strike from 1pm to 5pm on April 2nd. 

READ ALSO: Calendar of the transport strikes expected in Italy this spring

Finally, 1,400 security guards at Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport plan to hold rolling strikes for 10 days from March 31st until April 9th, threatening “huge disruption and delays… throughout Easter.”

Heathrow’s management have said that they aim to keep the airport “open and operational despite unnecessary threats of strike action by Unite”.

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