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A few days at the beach, a city break or a holiday home somewhere in the country: all of this remains difficult or even impossible during the Easter holidays.
In view of the increasing number of infections, the federal and state governments agreed on Tuesday night to continue advising against tourist travel at home and abroad.
That doesn't mean that you can't and shouldn't travel at all.
But not much is possible anymore.
Where to go in Germany
You can travel anywhere, you just can't find a place to stay.
Because hotels and holiday apartments remain closed to tourists in all federal states even at Easter.
Overnight stays are still only permitted in special cases, for example when traveling on business.
In the vast majority of countries you are also not allowed to stay in hotels to visit relatives - only if there is an urgent reason to do so.
This also applies to Easter.
The details are regulated in the state regulations.
Can you visit relatives?
Basically nothing stands in the way of an Easter visit to the family.
However, even then, a maximum of five people from two households may come together, children up to 14 years of age not counting.
A relaxation of the contact restrictions over the holidays - such as at Christmas, when meetings with four people beyond one's own household were possible - there will not be at Easter.
Citizens are also encouraged to use the free test offers - that is, to have themselves tested before meeting.
Where can I stay overnight?
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If you want to travel at Easter, you have to find private accommodation, for example with family members or friends.
The federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Rhineland-Palatinate had advocated enabling a "low-contact vacation" (for example in a self-catering holiday home) in their own federal state over Easter, but failed in the negotiations her suggestion.
What about day trips?
Day trips are allowed, but the federal and state governments advise caution here as well.
Restaurants and cafes will remain closed.
In a few selected regions with a low incidence, individual areas of public life may be opened as part of temporary model projects with strict protective measures and a test concept in order to test the feasibility of opening steps.
The requirements for so-called outdoor catering are strict.
Coastal countries advocate vacation in Germany
Spending your vacation in Mallorca is not a problem, it is not allowed within Germany.
The northern German federal states are committed to ensuring that vacation is also possible in Germany.
Source: WELT / Christoph Hipp
Does Mallorca remain an alternative to vacationing at home?
In principle yes.
When they return, the tourists should at least be tested for Corona before they get on the plane on the island.
In the future, this should basically apply to all flights to Germany and to all travelers - regardless of whether they start in Corona risk areas or for what purpose they come to Germany.
In addition, the federal and state governments expect the airlines not to offer any additional flights to the Germans' favorite island during the Easter holidays.
The quarantine for Mallorca returnees will not be reintroduced.
With the deletion of the island from the list of risk areas, it no longer existed on March 14th.
Where else can you travel abroad?
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There is no travel ban for any destination.
In principle, you can travel to all countries in which there are no entry restrictions for Germany and to which there are flight connections.
For around 160 of around 200 countries worldwide, however, the quarantine obligation on return applies because they are classified as a risk area.
In addition to Mallorca and the other Balearic Islands such as Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera, only a few holiday areas in Europe are not on the risk list.
These include the Croatian holiday peninsula of Istria, parts of mainland Spain and Portugal's Algarve coast.
In the Algarve, for example, the hotels - as in Germany - are not allowed to accept tourists.
Going on vacation in the risk area?
That is not forbidden either.
And there are flight connections to such areas as well.
For example in the Canary Islands.
Many hotels are open there.
However, you then have to take on the quarantine when you return to Germany - and maybe also critical questions from your employer and other people.
Why is vacation abroad controversial?
Virologists warn that increasing mobility and carelessness on vacation are driving up the number of infections.
“As travel activity increases, so will incidence rates.
That is relatively clear, ”says the Mainz virologist Bodo Plachter.
“On vacation you want to relax, then you want to forget about Corona.
And that leads to (...) that caution falls and the infection rates rise. ”This effect already existed last summer.
The tour operators, on the other hand, argue that there are distance rules and hygiene concepts and that package holidays are therefore relatively safe.
In view of the new wave of infections, does anyone even want to travel?
A large majority of Germans do not want that. In a survey carried out by the opinion research institute “YouGov” on behalf of the German Press Agency, 79 percent of those questioned said last week that they did not want to travel. Only 2 percent had planned a vacation abroad at the time of the survey (March 16-18), another 4 percent wanted to travel in Germany, 10 percent had not yet made a decision.