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I will soon travel from France to Austria via Switzerland, and am unsure about the status of border controls. As a UK citizen, I am in principle permitted to travel to Austria (at the current date) as long as I can prove that my journey is "essential" and that I recently tested negative for coronavirus, unless I have a residency permit and am travelling via a 'safe' country.

But I am curious about whether anyone will anyone actually check my passport/details if I am traveling from one 'safe' Schengen country (Switzerland) to another (Austria) via night train, or whether all passengers must present proof of residency or other documentation. I did not have to give my nationality or passport number to the train company when making the bookings.

So my question: is there a site that I can refer to for up-to-date information about which borders within the EU (specifically the Schengen area) are subject to checks due to Covid-19? E.g. UK-France is possible subject to some paperwork, France-Switzerland appears to be fine, and Switzerland-Austria depends on residency status.

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  • As not your question, but mentioned as curiosity: Yes there were reports in the media sind March that travelers from Schengen country A to Schengen country C, moving through Schengen country B on their way, were rejected from entering C at the moment of their passport check. E.g. using a plane they were send back immediately after landing in C (but where allowed to travel there as country B didn't have outgoing restrictions).
    – NextThursday
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 13:10

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Is there a site that I can refer to for up-to-date information about which borders within the EU (specifically the Schengen area) are subject to checks due to Covid-19?

https://reopen.europa.eu/. Europa.eu is the official website of the European Union. For each country, they provide the information on air/train/car/bike/boat/etc. entry. Seems decently up-to-date, though I've seen some inconsistencies with IATA.

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  • I don't think they have specific cycling information, I assume rules for entering on foot or by bicycle are equal to entering by car. You might add it also includes information for Switzerland and Norway (but not the United Kingdom or, surprisingly, Iceland).
    – gerrit
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 16:23
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App in the Air, a cell phone app which also has a web presence here, might work for you. The website lets the user specify a departure and arrival country, including EU and inter-Schengen pairs, and displays the exit and entry protocols of the governments involved. The few pairs I tried also showed links to the various countries' governmental website.

I have not used it for travel, and have no affiliation.

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  • thanks, this is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, and it seems to provide some useful information (and interestingly does not make the distinction between "Swiss person" and "person departing from Switzerland" for the purposes of restrictions). In my (pre-Covid) experience, train travel within Europe also seems to have much less border security than air travel in general, but it would be interesting to see any train-specific answers as well.
    – user13536357
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 4:28
  • @user13536357 You're welcome. While visa issuance is still based on citizenship/residency factors, what I've seen of Covid restrictions relate instead to where the traveler has been, and is coming from.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 4:45

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