UK tourists have been advised not to travel to certain areas of Turkey, Mexico, Egypt and Thailand, among other destinations, for safety reasons.
The British Foreign Office helps ten of thousands of UK travellers who have got into difficulties abroad each year and said ‘in many cases, these difficulties could have been avoided’.
While the Foreign Office does not enforce its travel advice, it does advise against all travel or ‘all but essential travel’ to specific areas where it has deemed ‘the level of risk is unacceptably high’. The reasons behind this can include terrorist threats, civil unrest or disease outbreaks.
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Travellers risk having their travel insurance invalidated if they travel against Foreign Office advice. See below for a full list of the Foreign Office warning areas and the latest travel advice for Turkey, Mexico, Egypt and Thailand.
Turkey
The Foreign Office advises against all travel to within 10km of the Turkey-Syria border with Syria, which affects parts of Antakya, Kilis, Akçakale and Ceylanpinar. This is due to fighting and a ‘heightened risk of terrorism’.
Travellers heading to Turkey have been advised to research their destination and ‘get appropriate travel insurance’, which should cover your itinerary, planned activities and expenses in an emergency.
Egypt
The Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of Egypt. It advises against all travel to:
- Within 20km of the Egypt-Libya border, except for the town of El Salloum, where it advises against all but essential travel
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The North Sinai Governorate
All but essential travel warnings apply to the following areas:
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The northern part of the South Sinai Governorate, beyond the St Catherine-Nuweibaa road, apart from the coastal areas along the west and east of the peninsula
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The Ismailiyah Governorate east of the Suez Canal
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The area west of the Nile Valley and Nile Delta regions, except for Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings, the Faiyum Governorate, the coastal areas between the Nile Delta and Marsa Matruh, the Marsa Matruh-Siwa road, the oasis town of Siwa, the Giza Governorate north-east of the Bahariya Oasis, the White Desert and Black Desert and the oasis towns of Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla (Mut) and Kharga. Some roads and the deserted area between them and the Nile valley are also okay for travel.
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The Hala’ib Triangle and the Bir Tawil Trapezoid
Mexico
The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of Mexico. See the full list below:
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The city of Tijuana, except airside transit through Tijuana airport, the Cross Border Xpress bridge from the airport linking terminals across the Mexican-US border and the federal toll road 1D and Via Rápida through Tijuana to the border
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The city of Tecate in Baja California, including roads between Tijuana and Tecate
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The state of Chihuahua, except for the city of Chihuahua, the border crossing in Ciudad Juárez, the federal toll road 45D connecting the cities of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez, the Copper Canyon rail route to and from Chihuahua and towns immediately on this route including Creel, the road from Creel via San Juanito to San Pedro and state highway 16 from San Pedro to Chihuahua
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The state of Sinaloa, apart from the cities of Los Mochis and Mazatlán, road 32 that runs between El Fuerte and Los Mochis, the 15D federal toll road, the Copper Canyon rail route to and from Los Mochis, El Fuerte and the towns immediately on this route
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The state of Tamaulipas, except for the border crossing at Nuevo Laredo accessed by federal toll road 85D from Monterrey and the federal highways 80, 81 and 85 between Tampico, Ciudad de Victoria and Magueyes, and the entire area of Tamaulipas south of these highways
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The state of Zacatecas
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Areas south-west of road 45D in the state of Guanajuato
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The state of Michoacán, except the city of Morelia accessed by federal toll roads 15D, 126 and 43; and the federal toll road 48D between the city of Morelia and the General Francisco Mujica airport, the town of Pátzcuaro accessed by federal toll roads 14D and 15 from Morelia, and boat trips out to islands on Lake Pátzcuaro and Federal Highway 15D
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The areas south and south-west of Lake Chapala to the border with the state of Colima, plus the northern municipalities of Bolaños, Chimaltitán, Colotlán, Hostotipaquillo, Huejúcar, Huequilla el Alto, Mezquitic, San Martin de Bolaños, Santa Maria de los Ángeles, Totatiche and Villa Guerrero
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The state of Colima, except the city of Manzanillo accessed by sea or air via the Manzanillo-Costalegre International Airport and direct travel via road 200 from the airport to Manzanillo
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The state of Guerrero, except the town of Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa accessed by air
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Within 40km of the Guatemalan border between the Pacific Coast up to and including the border crossing at Gracias a Dio, plus the Federal Highway 199 (Carretera Federal 199) between Rancho Nuevo (just outside San Cristobal de las Casas) and the Chancalá junction just outside Palenque (where Federal Highway 199 meets Federal Highway 307)
Thailand
British holidaymakers planning trips to Thailand should be aware that the Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of the south, near the Thailand-Malaysia border. This includes:
- Pattani Province
- Yala Province
- Narathiwat Province
- southern Songkhla Province – south of the A43 road between Hat Yai and Sakom, and south of the train line which runs between Hat Yai and Padang Besar
The Foreign Office also advises against all but essential travel on the Hat Yai to Padang Besar train line that runs through these provinces. This is due to regular terrorist attacks in the provinces by the border with Malaysia.
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