Conflicting advice for travelling to Portugal

Gillcot

I'm travelling with my family to Madeira in 3 weeks (which seems to have slightly different rules to mainland Portugal) due to last year's rebooked holiday.
The Government's website says I need a PCR test to travel to Portugal as does any child over 2 years. But Madeira's website says, when travelling there, under 12 years are exempt from testing and so are adults with both vaccines.
I've asked for help from the travel agent but they say that they know as much as I do and are also just guessing. Has anyone already been or got further knowledge that can shed some light on the conflicting advice?

Grumpy_chap

Is it just simplest to get everyone tested?

Voyager2002

Have you asked your airline?

I can confirm that the rules for Madeira are different from those for mainland Portugal but would not want to say exactly what they are.

epm-84

With foreign governments constantly changing advice and it being different for different countries e.g. someone from Italy in Madeira may not have to meet the same requirements as someone from the UK, the UK FCDO website isn't always 100% accurate.

The official information for Madeira seems to be in Portuguese only, I'm not sure what information you found and whether it's more recent than this dated 27 April 2021:
https://www.madeira.gov.pt/Governo-Regional-Madeira/ctl/Read/mid/4829/InformacaoId/68784/UnidadeOrganicaId/9/CatalogoId/0

Doing a Google Translate on it doesn't return a perfect result but it sounds like you need to register at www.madeirasafe.com and if you can prove you're full vaccinated or proof that you've recovered from COVID in the last 90 days then no test is needed. I can't see any mention of an exemption for children who are tourists, it does say passengers without the relevant proof will be tested on arrival but you'd still have to pass any testing requirements your airline sets.

bagpussofsussex

Madeira has separate rules - we are going out about a week before you and were out there last October. 

Firstly each adult needs to register on the madeirasafe website. Its easy to do, and taking a screenshot of your personal QR code from there is a good idea as you need it to travel smoothly through the airport but the wifi is a bit patchy. 

If you’ve had two doses of vaccine, with the second being a minimum of 15 days before you fly then you’re exempt from testing to enter madeira. I’ve uploaded my vaccine evidence from the NHS app to madeirasafe, but I’m planning to take a paper copy just in case. 

If you’re unvaccinated then you have a choice.
-You can have a PCR test up to 72 hours before your flight, and present your negative test result (this can be uploaded to the madeirasafe website) - in this case you’d go straight through and you would also be able to book a free covid test for your return flight. 
- Travel without a test, and they’ll offer you a free test at the airport on madeira. Following the test you need to go straight to your accommodation and await the result, which usually arrives within 12 hours. Last year mine took 7 hours but my husband’s took longer, we had dinner from room service on our balcony. In this situation you wouldn’t be eligible for a free test prior to your flight home. The testing process was very efficient, we went from sitting on the aircraft to sitting outside the airport waiting for a bus in under 40 minutes- passport control, baggage collection and covid testing all done. 

For the return flight, I understand that several clinics in funchal are offering lateral flow tests with the requisite documentation for €15-20. I have a couple of websites saved for this, but I’m also planning to ask at our hotel for recommendations.  

Before you travel, you need to book your day 2 test for when you get home, the passenger locator form that needs to be completed before boarding you homeward flight will ask for your booking reference for this test. 

I’m not sure about children, but the visitmadeira website will have the information you need - I believe you can click in a flag at the top of the page to get it translated.