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crazyvwvanman
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Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 10366
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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 Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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My van was shipped from Jacksonville FL to Antwerp Belgium on a huge special built vehicle carrier ship operated by HoeghAutoliners. You don't arrange shipping directly with the ship operator, you go through a freight middleman company. Lots of them on the internet. Get quotes and compare. Keep in mind these places are simply paperwork middlemen and they work with various ship operators that actually do the shipping. An example: https://www.shipoverseas.com/us/ship-car/europe.html
All of the storage areas inside my van were loaded with camping and personal items along with some tools/parts. Nothing was where it could be seen from looking in a window. Once you hand over the vehicle it is left unlocked until you pick it up at the other end. The shipping companies don't want theft problems so they tell you the vehicle must be empty but they don't check other than what they see. The ignition key is ziptied to the steering column so it always stays with the unlocked vehicle.
I don't know about filling US propane tanks. I did not have a mounted propane tank on my van as I didn't want to deal with various restrictions regarding those and I didn't want to struggle with trying to get one refilled in all the different countries I wanted to visit. Once I was over there I converted from a US portable propane tank to a standard international portable GAZ cylinder and matching regulator. When one of these runs empty you simply swap yours for a full one at a campground or any of a number of stores and gas stations. I suggest a type GAZ 907 tank as being the most commonly available compact tank though I mostly used a smaller GAZ 904 and exchanged it several times as well. These exchange tanks were available in just about every country I visited. Here is a photo of the blue GAZ 904 comparing it to common US portable tanks. The 907 is the same but a couple inches taller.
Mark |
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goose737700
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Joined: January 02, 2012
Posts: 1
Location: United States
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| Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:40 am Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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Hi Mark:
I'm so glad i looked here for info on this subject. My wife and I are planning a trip through Europe in our 1995 Eurovan camper. Bear with me I have a few questions for you:
who did you use to ship your van?
where did you drop off at?
how much gear were you able to bring with the Van?
What types of propane adapters did you need?
Id love to talk with you if you have time. Any chance you are coming to the Jerome Jamboree this year?
Thanks
Jay, Mesa, Arizona |
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jspeters
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Joined: February 25, 2011
Posts: 1
Location: Spearfish SD. USA
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| Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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I would like to echo Mark's comments about travel in Europe. I have had an 84 Westy in Europe for the last four years. It is probably coming back (RORO from Antwerp to Baltimore) next summer. We have put 20,000+ European miles on this van and have enjoyed the experience.
I've been traveling in Europe since 1968 when a Viet Nam experience got me an assignment to West Germany. I've done motorcycle (1960's BMW) camping, train and plane trips, car rental travel, and a number of Westy camping experiences throughout Europe over the years. Since 68, I've spent something more than five years in Europe. Also during that time I've driven over 450,000 miles in VW vans throughout North America and Europe, so, I obviously like traveling in a camping van. However, for most people I would not recommend a van for travel in Europe.
It is really quite easy for we Yanks to experience Europe. For most US workers with limited vacation time, the best method of travel (as Mark suggested) would be to rent a car and camp.
Fly into Amsterdam, rent a cheap car, drive a bit more than an hour east to a huge camping/caravanning (trailer) outlet, buy some inexpensive camping gear and hit the road.
Camping in Europe is well established, inexpensive, and pleasant. It is a good way to meet fellow travelers and experience the countryside. All cities have adjacent campgrounds that allow one to use public transit and avoid all the traffic hassles.
Europe is fun to experience!!!!!!!
I had the privilege and pleasure of camping near Mark for a few days in April. We both happened to be in the same campground near Amsterdam. (The tulip fields were especially beautiful this spring) It was exceptional to pull my South Dakota registered van near to his Calif. registered vehicle, We had good conversations about European travel and had independently come to similar conclusions about our experiences.
If any of you are thinking of a Europe trip, just do it! It is not hard. If I can help with info, contact me.
Steve |
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17131
Location: Brookeville, MD
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 10366
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:03 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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After 4 spring/summer Europe trips in it I brought our Westy back home. We shipped RORO both ways with plenty of camping gear, tools, parts etc inside. It merely needs to be out of plain sight and secured such that it won't move around from the motion of the ocean. It isn't against the law, the shipping companies just don't want to have you claim stuff turned up missing.
Over the 4 annual trips I camped in it for a total of about 36 weeks, staying at roughly 100 different campgrounds across 15 countries. I drove about 23,000 miles. In addition to my wife, various family members and friends came over at times and traveled in the van with me. It was a great experience all around. No big issues on the road. Our Calif plates got plenty of attention and lots of friendly questions, nothing negative.
We never expected to use it there as much as we did and we certainly saved a ton of money over what it would have cost to rent any camping vehicle for that amount of time. Once it is over there the more you use it the more you save, so we kept going back for more.
My biggest regret is not doing it years sooner.
Anyone thinking about European travel should consider camping along the way. It is very well set up and easy to do. I would even rent a car and tent camp and/or cabin camp. Most camps have a few simple cabins, trailers, or sturdy tents available for not much more than a campsite would be. This is how a lot of younger people over there do it. No need for them to own a bunch of gear to store the rest of the time. Just a few items in a small car and off you go.
Air travel to Europe is possible for a lot less than most people think. You need to pick your dates but you can go for under $500 round trip, on nonstop flights and the newest planes, for much of the year.
Mark
| Syncrozilla wrote: |
RoRo is definitely the cheaper way to go but probably not the best method for a camper. They don't allow any personal or additional items inside the van. I'm currently working on a van to ship to Europe. When it ships it will be packed with all the stuff I want like tool kit, pots, pans, dishes, camp chiars, spare parts, etc etc,
Yes I know it's not the 3rd world and you can buy anything you need but I already have all gear that will be going. |
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Syncrozilla
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Joined: September 11, 2004
Posts: 773
Location: Santa Barbara
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| Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:27 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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RoRo is definitely the cheaper way to go but probably not the best method for a camper. They don't allow any personal or additional items inside the van. I'm currently working on a van to ship to Europe. When it ships it will be packed with all the stuff I want like tool kit, pots, pans, dishes, camp chiars, spare parts, etc etc,
Yes I know it's not the 3rd world and you can buy anything you need but I already have all gear that will be going.
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Please do not message me on TheSamba. Use my email, [email protected] |
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Corwyn 
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Joined: December 29, 2009
Posts: 2419
Location: Olympia, Washington
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hans j
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Joined: May 06, 2006
Posts: 2740
Location: Salt Lake City UT
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:05 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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| dobryan wrote: |
I am so into this! I have to decide whether to build a second bus here, high top via NAHT, ship it over, or buy a hightop over there and work on it then tour.... Hmmmm...  |
That's were I was. I think I have decided to buy one there... Yes it would be nice to go through a van here and then send it over, but for the price of shipping, that will cover all to half a decent van over there.
I think my plan now is get one and send it to a shop to check out the major mechanicals with the vehicle and make sure it's ready to go on the trip. Then I can do a lot of the other maintenance myself.
Currently I'm looking at a syncro westfalia hightop. I figure if it's not what we want, just ship it to USA and list on ebay, take the over inflated earnings from that one, and buy more flight tickets to go buy a better van and still have money left over for the trip!
I'll be storing in Amsterdam too, it looks to be less than $300 a year. I'm still figuring out the registration process, but I do have an address in Germany I can register at until it's 30 years old and I can do vintage plates from Utah.
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17131
Location: Brookeville, MD
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crazyvwvanman
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Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 10366
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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danfromsyr
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Joined: March 01, 2004
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Location: Syracuse, NY
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hans j
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Joined: May 06, 2006
Posts: 2740
Location: Salt Lake City UT
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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Do you have a name for the storage business? Cost? Security?
It's my plan to build a van to send over and there happens to be a direct flight from SLC to Amsterdam!
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181 |
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si2t3m
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Joined: September 08, 2005
Posts: 80
Location: Quebec, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 1:43 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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Thanks for the info!!!
Can't get easier than that! Camping, storage, even the bus nearby to get you to the airport!
| crazyvwvanman wrote: |
That is a good question as vehicle storage was something we struggled with also before we went and along the way we asked people. Near the end of our first trip we spoke with someone at a campground who suggested Amsterdam. It turns out that a little south of the airport there are several large places that store vehicles for tourists. Many of the customers are from the UK, storing camping trailers and small RVs, etc. We chose a well organized place that stores them indoors and which seemed to have good security.
Amsterdam works out pretty well since you can fly there easily from just about anywhere in the world. It is also an interesting city to visit and only a days drive from Paris, Berlin, etc. There is a large nice campground in the same area as the storage businesses. A city bus regularly runs by the campground and goes to and from the airport. A light rail train provides service to the city center.
Mark
| si2t3m wrote: |
Hi Mark,
We are planning on the exact same thing. I've figured the shipping but still working on the storage part..
As for storage on the other side of the pound, how did you work this out? |
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_________________
Marc-André Morin
90 Westy Syncro EJ25
90 Weinsburg Syncro EJ22
76 Westfalia EZ30D
72 911 Targa
70 914-6 conversion
69 Ghia convertible
68 912 coupe
67 912/911 coupe |
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 10366
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 10:35 am Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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That is a good question as vehicle storage was something we struggled with also before we went and along the way we asked people. Near the end of our first trip we spoke with someone at a campground who suggested Amsterdam. It turns out that a little south of the airport there are several large places that store vehicles for tourists. Many of the customers are from the UK, storing camping trailers and small RVs, etc. We chose a well organized place that stores them indoors and which seemed to have good security.
Amsterdam works out pretty well since you can fly there easily from just about anywhere in the world. It is also an interesting city to visit and only a days drive from Paris, Berlin, etc. There is a large nice campground in the same area as the storage businesses. A city bus regularly runs by the campground and goes to and from the airport. A light rail train provides service to the city center.
Mark
| si2t3m wrote: |
Hi Mark,
We are planning on the exact same thing. I've figured the shipping but still working on the storage part..
As for storage on the other side of the pound, how did you work this out? |
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PopTopDreamer
Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2016
Posts: 107
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 2:46 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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| It's great that you did this!! It's on my bucket list.. |
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JED THE SPREAD
Samba Member
Joined: July 14, 2009
Posts: 626
Location: South London UK
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 1:40 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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Jess, Rob and little Henly at https://heretodayvanagontomorrow.com shipped their van to Tilbury docks in London from BC. Jess may be a good resource for anyone who is seriously considering doing the same thing.
The Docks are under an hour from CampervanCulture.com HQ so when their van arrived they picked it up and drove right on over. We took them out free camping locally and did some gentle off road driving on their first night and they were buzzing. All of you are welcome to do the same if you ever ship over to the island.
https://heretodayvanagontomorrow.com/2015/12/28/brilliant/
Jed
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erste
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Joined: March 29, 2013
Posts: 1110
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:45 am Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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| Ahwahnee wrote: |
| erste wrote: |
| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| Are you able to keep the CA registration up to date because it's a diesel, and thus doesn't require annual smog inspections? |
Biannual. Not to be pedantic.  And you're probably right. |
Though if we wish to be pedantic -- unless the inspection is twice a year, perhaps you mean biennial. |
lol - I've been in california for two and a half biennials and still get it wrong  thanks for correcting me |
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Ahwahnee
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Joined: June 05, 2010
Posts: 10214
Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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| Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 9:52 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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| erste wrote: |
| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| Are you able to keep the CA registration up to date because it's a diesel, and thus doesn't require annual smog inspections? |
Biannual. Not to be pedantic. And you're probably right. |
Though if we wish to be pedantic -- unless the inspection is twice a year, perhaps you mean biennial. |
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si2t3m
Samba Member
Joined: September 08, 2005
Posts: 80
Location: Quebec, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 6:59 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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Hi Mark,
We are planning on the exact same thing. I've figured the shipping but still working on the storage part..
As for storage on the other side of the pound, how did you work this out?
_________________
Marc-André Morin
90 Westy Syncro EJ25
90 Weinsburg Syncro EJ22
76 Westfalia EZ30D
72 911 Targa
70 914-6 conversion
69 Ghia convertible
68 912 coupe
67 912/911 coupe |
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 10366
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:10 pm Post subject: Re: Shipping a van to Europe (and maybe back)? |
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Its still a stock wbx and registered as such. I thought I would have a problem renewing without a smog test but the DMV has a procedure for this. You simply have to sign a statement that the vehicle is unavailable to be tested and explain why. I ran into another California vehicle owner over there who told me about this and so that is what I did.
Mark
| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| Are you able to keep the CA registration up to date because it's a diesel, and thus doesn't require annual smog inspections? |
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