Driving from England to Turkey

[Shishcojackson]

I am planning to drive to fethiye from Colchester England, my plan is to take the euro tunnel train to france and drive through i think its belguim, luxemboug germany and find the ferry at Ancona italy - chesem drive then to fethiye i am told there is only one toll costing about 44 Euro, if any one knows and has travelled this way would you share your tips and advise with me the only thing i am unsure of is the Turkish border, are they as bad as people say, i plan on bringing, furniture, clothes and garden stuff, i am told not to bring any electrial things, beause they charge you tax is this correct.. Any help would be greatly recived please

[Scunner]

Please post new topics in the appropriate section - this one is for member introductions, you introduced yourself a while back now.

[Firo]

I think you can bring used electrical items in now but if you have anything that can receive a TV signal you will pay banderol tax on it.
Fi

[Beep]

Hi - I have travelled this route 10 times now. If you would like to e-mail me directly at xxxxxxxxxxxxxx I can let you have the directions I take plus other information  

Edit: Email Address removed. Please do not post your private email addresses on public forums, it is a very bad idea. All members can be contacted via their CBF profile.

Also, on a public forum, information posted for all to see is the idea, not privately. Can you not post details in public for the benefit of many?

Thanks

Scunner

[Beep]

Ok, sorry Scunner - will try and advise best I can. Firstly, unless you particularly wish to take the Ancona / Cesme route via ferry I would advise against it both from the cost point of view and also comfort. The ferry operating this route is old and slow ....... far better if you can to take the Ancona to Igouminista ferry (Superfast and Minoan operate daily) then travel across Greece and enter Turkey at Ipsala.

Recommended route cost wise is as follows:

Dunkerque
Lille
Charleroi
Namur
Luxembourg
Thionville
Strasborg
Offenburg
Freiburg
Basel
Lucern
Como
Milan
Piacenza
Parma
Bologna
Ancona ......... choose you ferry route but if you go via Greece then
Igoumenista
Ioannina
Grevena
Kozani
Veroia
Thessaloniki
Kavala
Ipsala ........ you're in Turkey
Kesan
Gelibolu
Canakkale
Izmir
Mugla
Fethiye

Tolls this route: French - about 10 Euro, Italian about 25 Euro, Swiss "Vignette" 30 Euro

It is NOT worth trying to bring electrical goods into Turkey ..... as far as I can assertain ALL electrical goods can be viewed as subject to import tax. Personal posessions are fine.

The customs at Ipsala have always been fair as far as I'm concerned.

I have the route in spreadsheet format including road numbers etc. but I'm sure that if you pump in various places to a Routefinder program they will give you this information.

Hope the above helps :-)

[Old Daffodil]

Make sure that if you are driving a British car you put the plastic covers on your headlights to deflect the beam from dazzling oncoming traffic. If you are using Sat Nav you can put it on non toll roads for crossing Europe but be careful when nearing borders as you may want a toll road then.
The road from Igoumenitsa to the Turkish border is one long straight motorway but it has no services so make sure if you are using it to have plenty of petrol and some food and drink.You have to pull off into the villages otherwise and hunt for shops and garages.The motorway itself is very good and when we used it a couple of months ago no one was using it very much so it was quiet.It takes about seven and a half to eight hours to cross Greece on this road. Make sure when you land that you are programmed into toll roads or it will take you on a mountainouse route. The tolls booths were not working when we travelled on it,this may have changed.
We noticed that on the ferry to Igoumenitsa a lot of people who did not have cabins were equipped with blow up beds,sleeping bags,pillows,food and blankets.
Make sure you have a green card for your insurance,this is the first thing they asked for on the Turkish border and also the chassis number of your car and all your car papers. They never searched our car but that is not to say that they would not search yours.
The ferry ride across the Dardanells is very good and quite pleasant once you are in Turkey,costs about twenty three lira . There are two routes to choose from, both are fine. The toll road from Izmir to Aydin only costs about a pound.
We were told that if you enter Switzerland there is a charge for a years car tax there.I do not know this for sure. We drove across France into Italy via the Frejus tunnel and across to Italy from there. The Frejus tunnel was about 35 euros and took about twelve minutes to drive through, it is about eight miles long.

[Beep]

I'd agree with all that Daffodil - thanks for adding

By the way, second-hand or used electrical goods ARE taxable and regardless of if you have the original receipt the value is what the Turkish authorities put on it !!!!!! ....... leave the flat screen at home lol

[Old Daffodil]

Thanks for that. Am I right in saying that you have to pay for entering Switzerland? If so how much is it?
We crossed France on a combination of toll roads and non toll roads and found it very easy to drive through with loads of stopping places for a rest.I think that July and August are very busy on the roads across the continent compared to when we travelled. I would try to avoid the school holiday months if possible.

[Beep]

Yes - it's the Vignette charge I mentioned of 30 Euros - it lasts for a year but there are no tolls on the majority of roads .... just a few tunnels but not on this route ....... probably spelt Vignette wrong but that's how it sounds

[kizkucuk]

You must have residency to import household goods.  Electrical stuff no longer attracts tax - however anything that receives a radio or television signal is subject to bandrole tax - a hifi/cd system will cost you 150 euros.  A television the same.  The car needs to be out of the country within 6 months and you cannot bring it back in afterwards.   Good Luck - Enjoy the drive  :-)