Day trips allowed from April 12 – with outdoor attractions like zoos and theme parks reopening
DAY trips will be able to go ahead from April, the government has announced as part of England's road map out of lockdown.
This means outdoor venues such as zoos, drive-in cinemas and theme parks will be able to welcome guests from April 12 after Easter.
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At the same time, overnight stays at self-catered accommodation will also reopen, although this must be with your own household.
Indoor entertainment will restart from May 17, along with hotels and mixed household holidays with up to six people, while more than six people or three household holidays will start again from June 21.
It is great news for the hospitality industry, with pubs and restaurants also able to serve outside from April as well.
Hospitality venues will be able to open for outdoor service, with no requirement for a substantial meal to be served alongside alcoholic drinks, and no curfew.
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The Prime Minister told MPs the approach was "cautious but also irreversible", with the impact of the vaccination programme replacing the need for lockdown measures.
He said a "wretched year would give way to a spring and a summer that will be very different and incomparably better".
Modelling by the Sage scientific advisory panel showed "we cannot escape the fact that lifting lockdown will result in more cases, more hospitalisations and sadly more deaths".
"And this would happen whenever lockdown is lifted - whether now or in six or nine months - because there will always be some vulnerable people who are not protected by the vaccines.
When will holidays resume
- April 12 - self catered holiday homes can be let to single households
- April 12 - decision on foreign holidays to be announced
- May 17 - hotels reopen and holiday homes can be let to groups of up to six people from different households or groups from two households with no cap on size
- June 21 - holiday homes can be let to groups of all sizes
"There is therefore no credible route to a zero Covid Britain, or indeed, a zero Covid world and we cannot persist indefinitely with restrictions that debilitate our economy, our physical and mental wellbeing and the life chances of our children."
The first date for your diary will be March 8 when schools reopen and you'll once again be able to meet one friend or family member in an outside space for a picnic or a coffee.
Assuming all goes well with that easing, the next major milestone will be March 29 when six people or two households will be allowed to meet outdoors, reuniting friends for the first time in months.
Holiday demand from Brits is there for the summer - with some families even put on waiting lists for Cornwall.
One travel company warned Brits to book holidays before the lockdown end date is announced, as this is when prices jump.
We've rounded up some of the pubs with huge outdoor spaces to visit when lockdown lifts.