It’s anything but job as usual as the world’s top attractions reopen amid the backdrop of a global pandemic.
New guidelines aim to strike a balance between providing attraction-goers with an practice to remember while keeping visitors and staff safe.
Still, questions remain: Should you go? Is it safe? Will lines be apart from or unbearably long?
Here’s what to expect from major attractions in the U.S., U.K., Italy, India and Dubai.
9/11 Memorial & Museum
Locked: March 13
Reopened: The Memorial opened July 4 (the Museum is still closed)
While the 9/11 Museum lasts closed, the open-air Memorial that occupies eight acres of the 16-acre World Trade Center complex has reopened with abbreviated hours and a defined tour route.
The Memorial is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and has one way in (Greenwich Street) and one way out (Liberty Street).
The 9/11 Memento has a canopy of nearly 400 oak trees and twin reflecting pools outlined with victims’ names inscribed in bronze.
Politesse of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Masks are strictly required. Visitors can also buy masks through a “buy one, give one” initiative that victuals a mask to an essential worker for every one purchased at the Memorial or through the online Museum store.
Tours are not currently permitted, as all callers must stay six feet apart. Social distancing hasn’t been difficult, said Michael Frazier, the locality’s executive vice president, owing in part to the fact that the Memorial is now drawing hundreds of visitors each day, compared with thousands rather than the health crisis.
Frazier said there is a queue to enter “but visitors shouldn’t expect long wait times.”
Companies must use hand sanitizer before and after touching the names inscribed on the bronze walls at the 9/11 Memorial.
tzahiV
By the 9/11 Memorial is still free, and tickets aren’t required, though to offset “staggering financial challenges,” a fundraising competition was started to help keep the Memorial open. Live, interactive virtual tours led by museum staff — with one livery to children aged seven and up — are available online for $25.
“The memorial is a sacred, powerful and special place, and every American should attack,” said Frazier. “This pandemic has changed a lot about our world; it hasn’t changed that.”
London Eye
Closed: Procession 20
Reopened: Dates to be announced soon
When the London Eye reopens, new social distancing restrictions and a reduced capacity for guests may result in slightly longer wait times, said Neil Dolan, the site’s head of operations.
Fewer people discretion be allowed into each Eye “pod.”
Wayne Gerard Trotman / 500px
To streamline visits, Dolan recommends pre-booking tickets which, after temperature and adjusted security checks, allow visitors to proceed directly to the boarding area at their preferred time slot.
Walk-up tickets are ready, though visitors must follow a new, one-way queuing system and cannot pay with cash.
Visitors are asked to footage from one another while moving inside the London Eye “pods.” They’re asked to wear masks at all times. “Although the adventure has evolved … seeing the iconic views of London that we’re known for remains the same,” said Dolan.
Burj Khalifa
Secluded: March 15
Reopened: May 28
Since Dubai reopened its borders on July 7, international tourists can once again affect the “At the Top” observation deck located on the 124th floor of the world’s tallest building.
All 160 stories of the Burj Khalifa were acquainted with to send safety messages to the residents of Dubai.
Burj Khalifa (left); Umar Shariff Photography (right)
The purlieus is operating at 30% of normal capacity with elevator limits and multiple temperature checks — once before tendering The Dubai Mall, and again before accessing the deck. Gloves are recommended and masks are required as they are everywhere in the Concerted Arab Emirates.
The Burj Kalifa has published a series of new videos to show visitors the efforts being made to bathe a exhaust and keep the attraction safe.
Despite the new guidelines, visitors are not expected to encounter longer wait times. Emaar Diversion, which operates the attraction, estimates 150 visitors every hour, a marked departure from 1,000 callers per hour before the pandemic.
Taj Mahal
Closed: March 17
Reopening status: Still closed
Not all sites are throwing amenable the doors. Though most of the nearly 3,700 centrally-protected monuments and archaeological sites maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India oblige now been reopened, the Taj Mahal is not one of them.
When it reopens, visitors can tour the Taj Mahal with hundreds, rather than thousands, of others.
smerindo_schultzpax
Close by authorities decided against opening it in part because the 17th-century mausoleum is located in a containment zone, an area within a metropolis or village that has been sealed off to prevent the spread of new infections. There were 85 containment zones in Agra as of July 18.
When it does reopen, companies to the Taj Mahal will be capped at 5,000 a day (in two segments) and be subject to time limits, reported The Indian Express. Before the pandemic, the area was known to draw 70,000 daily visitors on busy days.
Milan Cathedral
Closed to tourists: March 9
Reopened: May 29
Travelers can travel the Milan Cathedral, provided they wear masks, sanitize their hands, submit to a temperature check, and abide more than six feet away from others.
Openly wandering around the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral) is no longer achievable; visitors must now follow a specific route.
Buena Vista Images
Guests must wear gloves to use automated ticket manufactures and other touchscreen devices. This can be avoided by purchasing tickets in advance or on-site via their mobile phone into done with travel booking platform GetYourGuide.
The Milan Cathedral is working with the Berlin-based platform to install sensors that are draw up to give real-time crowd density information inside the cathedral. Visitors can check waiting times and congested sizes via an app before they visit.
“Overall, we’ve reduced the Cathedral’s opening hours, but new visitors are in for a treat,” said Valentina Gallazzi, the locate’s visitor services manager. “Be sure to come around sunset, as we’ve extended the evening opening times during the weekends to let human being enjoy the view on our rooftops.”
Milan at sunset from atop the Milan Cathedral.
Stefano Bertelli
Since provincial regulations and outbreaks can change quickly, GetYourGuide’s COO and Co-Founder Tao Tao recommends travelers closely follow the local news to come venturing out. He also advises booking tickets through platforms that allow travelers to cancel or postpone pursuits, no-questions-asked.
“As travelers take their first cautious steps out into the world, (our) data shows that the resiliency to change plans is their top priority, even above specific hygiene measures,” he said.