September is a great time to travel to Italy this 2021, but with Italy reinstating Covid-19 restrictions for American visitors, here’s what you should know before heading to Italy.

Umbrellas are closing, summer in Italy is coming to an end. But the summer season isn’t officially over yet. Often times, that makes for the best time to visit the country. My first time in Le Cinque Terre was in September as a study abroad student. It was a trip free from crowds; I had a much easier time booking a B&B and got to really hang with locals. But before you book those last minute trips and travel to Italy in 2021, here are a few things you should know.

Italy has indeed taken the EU’s advice and reinstated some restrictions for Americans. In my opinion, this is part Delta, part politics, part economics. The summer season is over, the US did not reciprocate. Other countries removed from the safe travel list include Israel, Japan and Canada.

• Any traveler that’s been in the US in the last two weeks must present a negative Covid test taken within 3 days of their arrival in the Italy, regardless of vaccination status.

• If you’re unvaccinated, you can travel but you MUST quarantine for 5 days and then take ANOTHER test, regardless of if your initial test was negative.

• You must fill out passenger locator forms for contact tracing purposes.

Also important: what is that visit going to be like? Some Summer 2021 popular visitor spots like areas in Sicily recently have faced a surge in Covid cases. They changed from the Italian color coded system of white to yellow and in some cases orange. Think curfews and non-essential business closures.

Here is a zone breakdown from the Italian Health Ministry.

As I was leaving Sicily earlier this week, there were long lines at the Catania airport. They were requiring Covid tests upon landing for people coming from Spain, France, Malta and a few other countries.

Travel safely!