I’m looking into taking a Sprinter size van down to Kyrenia, N. Cyprus with furniture & domestic items owned by me. Jumping off point would be Tacusu, Turkey.
I need to look at route, time taken (4 days? - 2 drivers), and cost.
What route would you suggest?
Probably use DFDS Norfolkline Dover - Dunkerque. Anybody know van rates?
So far I have 2800 miles (one way) at a return cost of around £1600 excluding any food and acccommodation enroute.
I’ve reckoned on 27mpg (van owner says 30 possible), average Euro DERV price of Euro 1.30 (112p), £100 each way UK ferry, £100 peage & tunnels. (a pure guess).
That would make for an easy drive. How would he stand trying to get across to northern Cyprus though? Is the border open for a van full of stuff, allbeit his own things?
That would make for an easy drive. How would he stand trying to get across to northern Cyprus though? Is the border open for a van full of stuff, allbeit his own things?
isn’t the border a green zone controlled by the UN?
also old school drivers used to tell me of keeping 2 passports for this very reason, if he leaves turkey for northern cyprus then he won’t be welcome in greece any time soon?
I’ve been checking various editions of the Grimaldi website and I can see a scheduled sailing leaving Bristol/Portbury dock that will take you to selection of Turkish mainland ports. You could disembark there, then drive to where ever the ferry leaves the Turkish mainland to northern Cyprus. Would be worth looking in to. Also, you would not need to pay for a cabin necesarily, just ship the van out, fly to Turkey and do the last leg. I’m sure there would be considerable paperwork involved, but surely no more than if you did the whole trip by road any way.
That would make for an easy drive. How would he stand trying to get across to northern Cyprus though? Is the border open for a van full of stuff, allbeit his own things?
Driving over the border from south to North with a van full of new IKEA furniture is a no no. Nothing to stop you buying in the South, but the point is they want you to buy it in the North.
There’s an IKEA in Nicosia (border town, South) so would be pointless to buy it in the UK and drive it all the way there to then be refused at the border. Might as well buy it in Nicosia.
But thanks for the thought Harry.
Welshboy, they don’t stamp your passport.
Robinhood to ship the van both ways then 2 - 3 people fly out sounds expensive to me.
(Incidentally I’ve always wanted to go to sea on a freight ship. Grimaldi stopped taking passengers a few years back, but I believe have started again. They were always that bit cheaper than other lines).
Driveroneuk:
Robinhood to ship the van both ways then 2 - 3 people fly out sounds expensive to me.
(Incidentally I’ve always wanted to go to sea on freight ship. Grimaldi stopped taking passengers a few years back, but I believe have started again. They were always that bit cheaper than other lines).
Thats probably the deciding point here, the fact its not just you but two or three more people, hence making the Grimaldi ship / flight option not worth it. Still, an over land trip to Turkey and on to Cyprus would be an adventure and a half!!
Well, if you went overland, I would say, probably Dover-Calais, then to Luxembourg via your choice of route for some cheap diesel, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria then in into Turkey at Kapikule.
With two drivers, maybe four days although you will be pretty knackered at the end of it.
Still, an over land trip to Turkey and on to Cyprus would be an adventure and a half!!
Quite so and my friend the van owner sees it that way too.
Just been talking to another friend on the phone who pointed out that although they don’t stamp passports coming from South to North Cyprus, they may stamp it at the Turkish land border?
The biggest problem with the van owner is he has no knowledge of all the various things to be complied with. i.e. Buying road tax etc. and is of an “Oh it’ll be right” outlook. Not realising how much difficulty/very large fines one could run into.
Another suggestion that’s been thrown into the mix is looking at getting it on a groupage load to Istanbul then onwards by local haulier from there.
By the way TN members, is there still a trailer load of bullets and a broken DAF unit sitting somewhere out there part way to Cyprus? We never did get the final outcome.
Harry Monk:
With two drivers, maybe four days although you will be pretty knackered at the end of it.
I’d tend to agree. Its 700 miles a day, every day.
In 1999 I did Brooklands racing circuit to Thessalonika via Bari - Igumenitsa (Kosovo war was on) with a new Land Rover for Save the Children in a comfortable 3 days, alone.
If that’s anything to judge by. But I was 12 years younger then!
In fact, it’s probably a bit easier than that, it used to take a week to get to Istanbul but that was when we were losing a lot of time at the H/ RO/BG borders which obviously won’t happen now.
I would still approach the Turkish border being prepared for at least a 24 hour wait though and consider anything quicker than that to be a bonus.
Ben9:
I’m at Ruse now destined for Istanbul. I left Venlo 5am yesterday morning and had a steady run down.
P.s. can anybody recommend a good agent at Kapicule who can do my transit doc’s■■?
When you get to Kapikule, before you have even put the handbrake on you will be surrounded by agents’ runners offering to do them for you for a small fee, they are all pretty much much of a muchness.
I’m looking into taking a Sprinter size van down to Kyrenia, N. Cyprus with furniture & domestic items owned by me. Jumping off point would be Tacusu, Turkey.
I need to look at route, time taken (4 days? - 2 drivers), and cost.
What route would you suggest?
Probably use DFDS Norfolkline Dover - Dunkerque. Anybody know van rates?
So far I have 2800 miles (one way) at a return cost of around £1600 excluding any food and acccommodation enroute.
I’ve reckoned on 27mpg (van owner says 30 possible), average Euro DERV price of Euro 1.30 (112p), £100 each way UK ferry, £100 peage & tunnels. (a pure guess).
Anybody know of an online peage calculator?
We use a company called Freightlink Solutions for our ferry crossings in europe, currently paying around £80 one way on Dover - Dunkerque for a 6m Sprinter.
look on there site as they can price you up various ferries around europe. freightlink.co.uk/
Ben9:
I’m at Ruse now destined for Istanbul. I left Venlo 5am yesterday morning and had a steady run down.
P.s. can anybody recommend a good agent at Kapicule who can do my transit doc’s■■?
When you get to Kapikule, before you have even put the handbrake on you will be surrounded by agents’ runners offering to do them for you for a small fee, they are all pretty much much of a muchness.
I thought the runners had been, well, run out of town at Kapik
Ben9:
I’m at Ruse now destined for Istanbul. I left Venlo 5am yesterday morning and had a steady run down.
P.s. can anybody recommend a good agent at Kapicule who can do my transit doc’s■■?
When you get to Kapikule, before you have even put the handbrake on you will be surrounded by agents’ runners offering to do them for you for a small fee, they are all pretty much much of a muchness.
I thought the runners had been, well, run out of town at Kapik
Could well be, it’s been a while. Other than that then, I imagine Danzas will have an office there.
