The Short Version (as of May 12, 2022)

“Scotland’s travel rules for people arriving from abroad ended at 4am on Friday 18 March 2022. If you’re arriving in Scotland after this time, no COVID-19 travel rules apply.”  https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-international-travel-quarantine/

You will need a test to return to the USA – it is currently required to be within 1 day of your return flight.  There are 2 solutions but the second option requires you to be a bit more tech savy and you need to order it ahead of time:
1) You can sign up for a test in the country that you’re leaving from or
2) You can take a test with you and use a phone or tablet to sign in and have it monitored.

Also see my blog on How To Reduce Your Chances Of Getting Covid When Traveling

Signing Up For A Test

In the UK, you can sign up for the tests at Boots (a Walgreens like store): https://www.boots.com/covid-19-testing
Note: You have to order and pay for the test before you can register for a time slot.  But they only make the dates/times available about 7-10 days prior to when you need the test.

Note: You want to choose the In-Store Rapid Antigen test.

Note: The postal code for the B+B Edinburgh is EH37RY

In Ireland you can also go to Boots but it’s boots.ie so https://www.boots.ie/covid-19-rapid-test-service

Or there is a whole list of places in Ireland here at gov.ie antigen tests.

Ordering A Test

Note: The test for returning to the USA needs to be monitored while you are doing it and recorded electronically. You cannot just buy a home test at your local pharmacy. You should order the test kit no less than 2 weeks before your date of travel. There are multiple options

1) You can order the test that needs to be monitored from eMed. There are 6 in a pack, but that’s ok because I would recommend taking more than one test per person in case you mess it up. I didn’t shove the cotton bit far enough one time and got and inconclusive result and had to redo it and another time my husband dropped the cotton swab and they made him open another test.

2) Someone traveling in May 2022 posted the following:  We “did a bit of exploring about the Covid test needed to get back into the US the day before returning from Scotland. One thing led to another and we ended up booking our appointments for our test video observation. It took a patient customer service rep to help us (two tech challenged people) but we persevered. We ended up with the same test that we had gotten free from the USA government so if you have one of them hanging around you can save some money and just pay the $20 for the test observation. You’d have to set up your own account ( we used the AZOVA test site).”
https://www.azova.com/traveltesting/index.html

More Information – Returning to the USA

The United States currently requires all travelers entering the country from abroad via air, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, to present a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than 1 day before travel.

From  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

“The 1-day period is 1 day before the flight’s departure. The Order uses a 1-day time frame instead of 24 hours to provide more flexibility to the air passenger and aircraft operator. By using a 1-day window, test acceptability does not depend on the time of the flight or the time of day that the test sample was taken.

For example, if your flight is at 1pm on a Friday, you could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the prior Thursday.”

More Information – Traveling through other countries to Scotland

For the most up to date entry requirements, use this Sherpa site to enter your Departure country, any Connection countries, your vaccination status, and your Destination.  

NOTE:  Vaccination status differs in the UK and other countries in Europe.  In March of 2022, the UK accepted the initial shots of a vaccine as being vaccinated but Europe required boosters. Be sure to read the documentation provided by Sherpa to determine vaccination requirements of the country that you will be in or passing through.

From April 6, 2022

Here is what I have been able to find for the countries listed below.Information is current as of this document date. Requirements may change at any time, including during travel. Please reverify requirements immediately prior to and during your trip.

Transiting thorough Iceland

FAQ about COVID-19 and flying with Icelandair | Icelandair
https://www.icelandair.com/support/covid-19/faq/

Transiting through Germany

New Entry Regulation
“As of Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 0:00 a.m., with the enactment of the “Third Amendment to the Coronavirus Entry Regulations, („Dritte Änderungsverordnung der Coronavirus-Einreiseverordnung“)” no states or regions will be considered high-risk areas.” And “Consequently, the spread of the Omicron variant is no longer a criterion for classifying an area as high-risk.” See this link.

PLEASE READ:  https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/coronavirus/2317268

there is an exemption to the travel ban for “persons catching a connecting flight who do not leave the transit zone of a passenger airport”

And there is an exemption to the Digital Entry Registration for persons who “are only passing through Germany.”

Mandatory testing or proof of immunity from COVID-19

From 3 March 2022, every person over the age of 12 is obliged to carry proof of their COVID‑19 status when entering Germany. Persons over the age of 12 must therefore have a negative test result or proof of recovery or vaccination when entering Germany.  From the US, vaccines accepted are Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J.

Travellers who are only transferring at an airport in Germany are also required to present proof of their COVID‑19 status.

The negative test result, proof of recovery or proof of vaccination must be shown to the carrier for examination prior to departure. Proof must also be shown to the German border authorities upon entry if requested.

Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in German, English, French, Italian or Spanish in digital (e.g. EU Digital COVID certificate; WHO vaccination booklet) or paper form. Note that a photo of a proof in paper form is not sufficient.

The vaccination must have taken place with one or different vaccines approved by the European Union with at least two doses. In countries outside the European Union equivalent vaccines may be used. A list of these vaccines is available here.

High Risk Areas are here.

Up to date requirements using Sherpa departing USA, transiting through Germany to Scotland (the UK) being fully vaccinated are here.

Transiting through Amsterdam

From this Sherpa link.

Fully vaccinated travelers from United States (see 185 additional countries) must bring proof of vaccination to transit via the Netherlands.

Proof of vaccination is valid only if it has passed 28 days after the vaccination schedule of a single dose and this single dose has been administered (Janssen), or the vaccination schedule of 2 doses and both doses have been administered 14 days before arrival, or 1 dose has been administered and it has been confirmed that the person vaccinated had previously been infected with COVID-19.

Starting February 1st, 2022, travelers must have received their last vaccination dose in the past 270 days for a valid vaccination certificate.

The vaccine must be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or is on the Emergency Use Listing of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Non-EU residents can present valid paper vaccination certificates.

Travelers have the option to present proof via EU Digital Certificate. Travelers without the Digital Certificate must show a valid paper vaccination certificate.

For more details please check the source.

Going on an Alaskan Cruise from Canada

Most Cruise lines still require you to be vaccinated and take have a negative covid test before boarding.  Here is Celebrity’s webpage.  And here is Disney Cruise Line’s webpage.

And from the CDC : CDC’s Temporary Extension & Modification of Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) expired on January 15, 2022.

Regarding entering Canada from the Sherpa site:

Description

Details and exemptions

Which links to the Canada travel site:

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/domestic-travel?utm_campaign=gac-amc-covid-21-22&utm_source=travel-covid_travel-restrictions_flying&utm_medium=redirect&utm_content=en#health-check