Eurostar to Belgium and back - what do we need?

Saria

My husband and I are going to Belgium in less than 2 weeks to see my family. We haven't travelled since the whole pandemic started, and with the constant rule changes we are a bit unsure on what we need to provide to be able to travel. Could anyone give us some advice please? 

We will be travelling by Eurostar, obviously the train travels through France as well but I assume as we don't get off the train in France, we don't need to do anything specific for entry through France, right? 

These are the things which I think we are required to provide (please let me know if I'm missing something):
To Belgium:
- Passenger Locator Form
- Proof of Vaccination
- Proof of a negative pre-travel Covid test (PCR or RAT)

To UK:
- Passenger Locator Form
- Proof of Vaccination
- Proof of a negative PCR or LFT
- PCR test on Day 2

Does anyone know if we would be able to take a Rapid Antigen Test with us from the UK to Belgium and then use that one before coming back to the UK? I contacted a pharmacy in Belgium about their tests and they said the results would be in Dutch, so can't be used for our re-entry into the UK. 

How do the Rapid Antigen Tests with a certificate work exactly? And is there a company you can recommend, or ones you would steer away from?

And are there any PCR providers with a home test you can recommend? I would prefer to have the test sent to our home before we go to Belgium, so we can simply take it as soon as we get back and post it. Testing locations seem to be hard to find where we are, so a home test might be easiest.

Thanks for any help/advice! 

zagfles

If the train stops anywhere in France you'll probably need to comply with French rules, you could be sitting near people who get off or on in France.

See https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belgium/entry-requirements

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements

And to travel back https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

There are links to providers in the above. I've used testingforall and expresstest who were both good (not the cheapest) but only for LFT not PCR as PCR wasn't required when I travelled.

Eurostar should be able to confirm whether you need to comply with French rules.

Saria

zagfles said:

If the train stops anywhere in France you'll probably need to comply with French rules, you could be sitting near people who get off or on in France.

See https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belgium/entry-requirements

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements

And to travel back https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

There are links to providers in the above. I've used testingforall and expresstest who were both good (not the cheapest) but only for LFT not PCR as PCR wasn't required when I travelled.

Eurostar should be able to confirm whether you need to comply with French rules.

Thanks, I checked with Eurostar and they said as we don't get off the train in France (it's just a transit), we only have to comply with the departure and arrival countries.

Annoyingly, it seems that the rules have changed again yesterday. We now apparently also need to do a PCR test on day 1 and day 7 in Belgium. We are now looking at an extra cost of around £400-£500 for all the testing, which is more than we paid for our tickets. And being unemployed because of the pandemic, it is simply becoming unaffordable now...