With river cruising abroad resuming, many of us have plans to travel to Europe in the coming months. One vexing issue, particularly for those of us from North America, is how to obtain the European Union Covid Certificate, which effectively provides freedom of mobility while in Europe. While, yes, anecdotally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control vaccination card can suffice in some cases, assuming that you’re fully vaccinated (which in France includes the booster), the paper card is not guaranteed to work when stepping off an international flight in Paris, for example, and hoping to catch the train to the Strasbourg or Bordeaux. From our understanding, doing such will likely require the QR codes representing the EU Covid Certificate or France’s Pass Sanitaire.
The CDC card can be converted to the Pass Sanitaire, but that requires locating a pharmacy and paying 36 euros for the service. It’s the cost so much as it is the inconvenience. When we checked, we found no pharmacies offering the service in the airport. That means hailing a taxi, with luggage in tow, to find a pharmacy near the airport to obtain the pass, and hoping you have a data connection to download the app required to display the QR code.
As we often do, we are reaching out to our community of savvy travelers to see if they can shed insights into how to obtain the QR codes necessary for travel once in Europe.
This article was originally published at River Cruise Advisor.
An avid traveler and an award-winning journalist, Ralph Grizzle produces articles, video and photos that are inspiring and informative, personal and passionate. A journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ralph has specialized in travel writing for more than two decades. To read more cruise and port reviews by Ralph Grizzle, visit his website at www.avidcruiser.com.
