Covid & driving Germany-NL-Belgium-France-UK

[AdHa 52]

OK, this is proving to be a bit of a nightmare to organize (versus 1 year ago) to drive across to visit my ill father.

Has anyone driven from Germany to the UK going via the Netherlands, Belgium, France in the last couple of months with experiences to share?

 

I'm fully vaccinated with last Comirnaty injection more than 14 days ago with EU Covid Pass.

 

On the outbound trip from Germany to the UK it looks like I need:

- German/Dutch border: No docs for transiting through The Netherlands.

- Dutch/Belgian border: A Belgian govt sworn statement that I am only transiting through Belgium.

- Belgian/French border: French Govt sworn statement that I am only transiting through France.

- French/UK border at ferry: UK Locator Form with Day 2 PCR test code + EU Covid Pass + Negative PCR Test newer than 72 hours

- In UK on 2nd day: Submit PCR Test

 

Cheers.

[Cheekyfox 219]

Why not travel from the Hook and cut out two lots of paperwork.

[AdHa 52]

46 minutes ago, Cheekyfox said:

Why not travel from the Hook and cut out two lots of paperwork.

 

Valid point - I've done that route in the distant past and I'd prefer not to do the much longer ferry trip from the Hook to Harwich but I'm considering it again.

Main issue is Belgium. Their government websites are an inconsistent mess on transit border check requirements. I did the same trip almost exactly 1 year ago and there were no Covid checks at all anywhere - now despite all the vaccinations there are a lot more hoops than before - crazy.

[AdHa 52]

For anyone doing this - at time of writing there were no checks on the DE/NL nor NL/BE land borders.

 

There was a checkpoint on the BE/FR border but I didn't get stopped as the gendarmes were having their siesta.

 

The DFDS jobsworths were a different story... but I'm on the ferry at least.

[Cheekyfox 219]

I am glad thet all this worked out for you AdHa.

[dstanners 1,241]

On 22/09/2021, 18:08:05, AdHa said:

The DFDS jobsworths were a different story...

What did they ask for?

[AdHa 52]

On 06/10/2021, 10:13:37, dstanners said:

What did they ask for?

 

The problem I had was that on the UK Locator Form I put my departure country as Germany - the DFDS guys insisted it be France (France is/was Orange and Germany is/Was Green) as the last country I was in before arriving in the UK though you're in France about 30 minutes with no stops when driving from northern Germany. I had to leave their check-in, park up and re-do the application on my phone then present the result back to the DFDS check-in again.

So they ask to see that UK passenger locator form, proof of completed vaccination (I took my Impfausweis) and a negative Corona test result (not older than 72 hours).

 

Something else - take your car's Fahrzeugschein (Part I) and insurance because if you get stopped in Dover by UK border control they do ask if it's your vehicle and expect to see proof of ownership and your insurance green card.

 

Something else #2 - There's a form you need for France - both on the way to UK and on the way back. If you check out the DFDS website it gives a link to an English version. It's a sworn statement that you're vaccinated etc. You can fill it out and print it out beforehand. I wasn't stopped on the way into France from Belgium but I saw them checking other vehicles, so could be a random check. You will lose time at that border crossing because there are long queues there as traffic is slowed to single file and due to the random checks. French border control didn't check me at Dover either but in theory they could do.

[dstanners 1,241]

Thanks for the info @AdHa, I'm coming around to the idea of a trip back at some point, so that update is useful. 

[Cheekyfox 219]

Thanks for the feedback, I have just booked my ferry to the UK (Amsterdam-Newcastle). This is so I only need to transit the Netherlands. Planning to stay overnight on the German border and drive straight to the port.