Portugal allows Brits to travel without PCR test - but you'll still need a negative test before boarding plane

Britons who do travel to Portugal despite the country being placed on the amber list will no longer have to take a PCR test to go on holiday.

The Foreign Office has confirmed, following a change in guidelines in Portugal, that while you will still need to provide a negative test to enter the country, it can be either a PCR test or the cheaper lateral flow, antigen test.

PCR tests need to have been taken 72 hours before arrival, while lateral flow tests can be taken 24 hours beforehand.

FO advice states: "With the exception of children up to the age of 2, you must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test to travel to or through Portugal. The test can be:

• a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT), including RT-PCR, taken within 72 hours of travel, or

• an Antigen test that meets the performance standards set out in the EU common list of Rapid Antigen Tests, taken within 24 hours of travel.

"You must show your test certificate before you board your flight to Portugal. Your airline is likely to deny boarding if you cannot show this at check-in. Check with your airline before you travel."

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Regardless of whether Britons do travel, they will still have to self-isolate on return for a period of 10 days now that Portugal is on the amber list.

Thousands of Britons had to scramble back to the UK from Portugal a week ago to beat the deadline as the threat of the Delta variant prompted ministers to move the country from the green travel list.

Tourists wanting to beat the deadline were hit by a combination of many flights being sold out, and the handful of available seats being sold at inflated prices.Many holidaymakers and travel firms expressed anger when the announcement on Portugal was made, as it came just 17 days after the ban on international leisure travel was lifted.