DXBtoDOH

The whole prospect of taking a ferry from Egypt to Turkey is enough to turn me off the road trip to UK concept though it couldn't be any worse than the ferry I took in Indonesia once.

nottmbantam

There are two routes - one that has been mentioned- Ferry from Egypt to Turkey, the other is ferry from Israel to Greece.

Bit of a pain having to go around Syria, wish they'd hurry up and sort it out :-)

scrubbedexpat141

That's ambitious.

Nottm - go for it. There are a few websites / blogs from people who've done it before. I'd love to do something like that.

scrubbedexpat141

Via Iran?

UAE to UK, via Iran and Iraq .....on an R1 - Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB

nottmbantam

Thanks for that Scamp and for the encouragement, appreciated. Thought I'd try something like that whilst I've got the opportunity to do it, life's too short as they say. Might be even shorter if I go through Iraq these days...

FriendlyExpat

As mentioned above, don't assume you can easily import and sell in the UK without making extensive and expensive modifications...sometimes more than the car is worth, sadly.

ottotheboar

It is not that difficult I have an ex Saudi car here in Virginia.
What make and model are you planning to bring into the UK ?

scrubbedexpat141

I've driven with my Dad across Europe to Crete and back a few times. We've always bottled it on the route though...always down through France or Switzerland into Italy to Ancona, ferry to Patras, drive to Athens, ferry to Crete.

We've always said we should go Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Greece....(or something similar)....just for fun.

Once you've got to Turkey or mainland Europe etc, it is a breeze.

If you're in KSA surely the easy route is ferry / drive to Egypt then up to Turkey (or Greece?) then you're homeward bound depending which way you want to go?

The other option of going North doesn't look much fun. Iraq or Iran (neither will be easy I don't expect?), then Azerbaijan or Georgia into Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany. In fact, that might be a lot of fun.

nottmbantam

A lot of the cars that are here in KSA are originally American anyway, so would think that there are virtually no adjustments required for use back in the States?

The car I'm thinking of is a Ford Expedition EL. Around 2012/13 model. The main reason for this is that its one the few trucks where all the seats will fold flat into the floor, allowing us to sleep in it where required. The plan is to take our time driving home and stop off where we fancy in mainland Europe - mainly Western Europe.

There are a couple for sale in the UK, as a LHD, so I know people do import them into Blighty. I'm assuming the adjustments are minimal, but this is without any further research.

I've looked through the registration process for DVLA, and it takes some time with the different processes - inspection, V5 registration, tax, insurance etc.

nottmbantam

Yes, that's the main plan. Either Egypt to Turkey, or Israel to Greece. By all accounts, entry to Israel on a Brit passport is straightforward. Ferry from Haifa takes three days, so tempted to fly from Tel Aviv to Athens ( 2hr flight ) and collect the car from the port three days later :-) Already got a quote for the Haifa ferry direct from the shipping company.

I'd like a Plan A and Plan B in case something goes Pete Tong....

scrubbedexpat141

Shipping / Flying it somewhere easier might be wise....

Big difference between driving to UK from Turkey than from Greece.

Greece has the option of hopping to Ancona, then it's just a pootle up through Italy and France, the only difficult bit is whether you go Mont Blanc tunnel or not - which I always wanted to as it's fun.

Maybe going through Turkey and the Eastern Bloc will be a laugh though.

We never booked hotels for parts of the trip, just stopped when we saw one, but in reality if you're up early and beyond Paris before rush hour we might not have even needed to stop for the night before Italy. Depends how we went.

Will you blast it or take your time and drive a bit and stop for the day / night?

I'm getting more and more jealous.

weasel decentral

From KSA to Egypt are you going to take a ferry (is that possible) or go through Aqaba in Jordan, through Eilat Israel and then into Taba in Egypt?

That's a fairly interesting crossing I bet and might be difficult entering on the Egypt side. Around the Taba area is a really nice place to stay for a day or two also.

Crossing the Sinai is a bit hairy, you'll be held by the Egyptians until there are at least 4 or 5 cars that can convoy together.

nottmbantam

Yes, go down to south Jordan to Aqaba, there's a ferry direct to Neweibah Egypt. From there, might go down to Sharm for a few days, and then drive back up north to Cairo and either Alexandria or Port Said for the ferry to Turkey.

Alternatively - from Jordan straight into Israel, spend some time in Jerusalem etc and then ship the car from Haifa, flight to Athens.

weasel decentral

First one sounds good. Give sharm a wide berth though, imo its pretty horrible. If you drive north from Neweibah towards Taba there is a place called basata ('simplicity') which is really cool. Some sort of beach houses and cook your own food kitchen, its a bit thailand-ish

nottmbantam

Sounds good - thank for the tip, appreciated.