Now that the world is starting to reopen, we're helping you plan for 2021 and beyond with these weekly travel news roundups.
Check back here to find out which countries are easing entry rules, which attractions are opening their doors, and which places have sadly shut down because of Covid.
Opening up
We can almost smell the sunscreen.
Partner links: booking through them supports the blog at no extra cost to you.
After a year of closed borders, the European Union is set to welcome vaccinated travelers from countries with low infection rates, raising hopes of espresso in the piazza and a dip in the Mediterranean this summer.
An approved list of "safe" destinations is expected to be signed off this week, though there's still no word on when the changes will actually take effect.
Some members of the EU bloc are already announcing their own easing of restrictions.
The Netherlands is welcoming tourists from "safe countries with a low Covid-19 risk," Greece is allowing in vaccinated travelers or those with a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken more than 72 hours before arrival, while Iceland, a member of the European Economic Area, opened its borders to vaccinated travelers back in April.
Croatia is also welcoming vaccinated travelers, along with anyone who can show a negative PCR test or proof they've recovered from Covid-19 within the past 180 days and no fewer than 11 days before arrival.
Earlier this month Cyprus reopened to vaccinated travelers from 65 countries, including the US and the UK, while Portugal began allowing visitors from England, Scotland and Wales after being added to the UK's "green" list of countries where quarantine-free travel is permitted.
The EU Digital Covid Certificate, a "vaccine passport" meant to make travel within the bloc easier, is expected to come into force on July 1.
Britain, famously no longer in the EU, lifted its ban on overseas holidays for residents on Monday. Its "amber list" of countries, however, is already causing confusion among travelers and frustration in the tourism industry.
Under this traffic-light system, where green means "yes," red means "no," and amber means "hmm, maybe or maybe not," there are around 170 destinations, including tourist hotspots like France and Greece, that you can legally travel to but the government advises against.
There are deterrents for travelers beyond the officially sanctioned finger-wagging. Anyone heading to an amber-list country will have to take a Covid-19 test on return, quarantine for 10 days, book and pay for two additional tests, and fill out a passenger locator form.
While much of the world remains off-limits to UK travelers, a glimmer of hope appeared this week as the country's first cruise ship in more than a year set sail.
MSC Cruises departed the English port of Southampton on Thursday for a four-day voyage along the British coast.
In the United States, New Jersey reopened on May 17, with capacity limits largely dropped but masks still required indoors.
In Washington, DC, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Holocaust Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture have all reopened, and the Smithsonian's National Zoo will welcome visitors from May 21.
The city plans to fully reopen by June 11, though mask restrictions will still be in place.
New York's legendary Plaza Hotel, next to Central Park, reopened on May 20, while The Peninsula, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, will welcome guests on June 1.
Circle Line will resume sightseeing cruises to the Statue of Liberty and other New York landmarks on May 22. The iconic Radio City Music Hall reopens on June 19, offering full-capacity events for a mask-free audience.
On the West Coast, the Broad museum in Los Angeles returns to business on May 26.
The Caribbean paradise island of Anguilla, dotted with luxury resorts, has reopened to visitors as of May 25, after a month-long closure triggered by a Covid cluster.
Over in the Asia-Pacific region, the two-way travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Islands finally opened on May 17 after months of planning.
In another burst of good neighborliness, the Cook Islands also began their vaccination rollout this week, using vaccines supplied by New Zealand.
In Hong Kong, Art Basel runs through May 23. The multi-day celebration of modern and contemporary art is the region's first in-person event since the pandemic began.
That may help make up for this week's disappointment, when the travel bubble linking Hong Kong and Singapore was postponed from its planned May 26 start date because of new Covid cases in Singapore. There's no rescheduled date yet.
Looking ahead
Boutique hotel brand NoMad opens its first international outpost on May 25 in London's Covent Garden. The 92-room hotel occupies a former Magistrates' Court and police station on Bow Street.
Elsewhere in the UK capital, the strip club The Windmill was once a jewel in Soho's rather dubious crown. The area was cleaned up long ago, and now the club has been polished up too. After a £10 million ($14 million) refurbishment, it reopens as a glamorous spot for drinks and dining in June. Naked dancers, however, are off the menu.
England's Glastonbury Festival is one of the longest-running and best-loved music festivals in the world. The usual five-day in-person event has been cancelled for the second year in a row, but a license has just been granted for a one-day festival, called Equinox, taking place this September. Naked dancers are hopefully off the menu here too, but at Glastonbury you never quite know.
In Florida, Walt Disney World made masks "optional in outdoor public spaces" last Saturday, and this week came news that Disneyland Paris will reopen on June 17.
A few days later, the first Disney hotel themed around Marvel characters, Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel, opens on June 21.
In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi will end mandatory quarantine for international travelers on July 1.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, which in happier times welcomed 7 million visitors a year, reopens on July 16. Visitor numbers will be capped at 10,000 a day.
Lockdown project of the week
Feel like you wasted 2020 binge-watching "Tiger King" and developing a beer-and-doughnut habit? Brace yourself to feel even more regretful.
When English artist Tom Napper got stranded in New Zealand during lockdown, he used the time to create a series of artworks illustrating the places he'd visited on a cycling tour around the country.
Says Napper: "I don't think I've been bored once in the last 14 months."
