Photo by Mistervlad/ShutterstockAs of April 1, all travelers can visit visit Sweden (and Stockholm’s Old Town) without having to meet any pandemic-era measures.Sweden has recently announced that it has joined numerous European nations (including Italy, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, among others) in reopening its borders to all foreign travelers with few to no pandemic restrictions.
Starting April 1, travelers to the land of scenic archipelagoes, sleek design houses, and cafés galore will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination or come with a negative COVID test to visit. In a statement made by the Ministry of Justice, Sweden’s government said it no longer considers entry restriction a “proportionate infection control measure.”
Since early February, the country has allowed travelers from the EU and other Nordic countries to enter without restrictions and let those visiting from what were deemed “third countries” (or countries from outside the EU) to visit provided they were vaccinated or had proof of a negative COVID test.
“This will make it much easier for everyone who has been prevented from coming to Sweden in recent years due to the pandemic,” said Morgan Johansson, minister for justice and home affairs, in the statement.
The announcement comes nearly two months after Sweden scrapped rules for face masks on public transit and in restaurants (and allowed all public establishments, from bars to museums to amusement parks, to open at full capacity). Masks are also not required on domestic flights; however, as of March 31, they are still required on all international flights.
As for those returning to the United States from Sweden, all international arrivals entering the U.S., vaccinated or not, need to be tested for COVID no more than one calendar day before their flight to the U.S., a requirement that remains in place as of press time. And all foreign arrivals into the U.S. must be vaccinated.
