europe-israel-europe
 

hi all,

after reading most treads here, i became a bit confused, so i hope i can get some clear answers...

i have an invitation for a wedding in nahariya, israel this summer and 'm looking at the possibility to fly/ship a bike into israel and ride back home to europe in 3/4 weeks afterwards - the route i was thinking of was maybe jordan, syria, turkey then take the boat in izmir.

-does anyone have experience with flying a bike to israel/syria/jordan? how much hassle is it to get out of customs and what would it cost?
-do i need a carnet in any of those countries?
-visas at the border, i hope?
-crossing syria/turkey: i suppose only through aleppo-gaziantep crossing? or is the one in the east open as well?
-is the ferry ancona/athens-haifa still running or not? at what price and how long does it take?

more importantly: i got the impression that there are border problems. can you go through syria when coming out of israel? yes/no/only via jordan? or is the only way to fly the bike to syria, leave it there, go to the wedding and then come back for the bike? or is it impossible full stop to get into syria from israel/with an israeli stamp in your passport?

if so, would it be a sollution to do it the other way round? and fly/ship the bike home from syria or israel before the wedding?

thx!
g

Hi Felix,

You don't need a carnet for these country's.You do have to get your visa for Syria in advance, because you have a Syrian ambassy in your country.
And the only way that you'll cross the Israely/Syrian border is if you got a bike that can fly.
It's no problem to go from Israel to Jordan without getting a stamp, but not with a bike. So if you want to ship your bike, I would have done to Jordan.

You can also go east into Turkey at Bab Al Hawa/Reyhanli.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kL4ZseB4TGc/S2...0border001.jpg
:)

This might help you

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...aperwork-44652

In 2008 I entered Syria at Aleppo / Gaziantep crossing and went out of the Country at the border you can see here Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible== (road no. 1, I mean).

My vew on the subject
 

Is riding to Israel via Turkey. Syria and Jordan then sending the bike from Haifa to Athens by Roro ship - it's not a ferry ( takes 2 days) fly to athens and ride it home via Italy (a day ferry across the south Adriatic) and France.

Have fun
Y.
הרפתקה מאלסקה לאושואייה

oops did not see you'r from Italy
 

So now it's easy:welcome:
Y

It's best to END with Israel. Riding out is a problem. Syria will not allow you to enter if you have an Israeli stamp. You CAN get your Syrian visa at the border, in spite of what all the official websites say. (Uh. They all say you have to get it at the embassy. They lie.) *Side note: This information is two years old. I did it then, but even then, all the websites claimed you could not get your Syrian visa at the border. Don't believe everything you read (Even on Horizons Unlimited... NO offense, Grant!)

Just in Yerusalem
 

We have just done this tour, just out of Egypt, 7 months on road, will try to get to Limassol on Cyprus and then Turkey again on way back. Cyprus is probably as much worth a trip as all the other countries. Will let u know how this goes. Some inspiration? This Fab Trek - Photography and Journey.
click the last 5 or 10 stories, bar on right. Maybe the best I have done so-far.

One could go Turkey-Syria-Jordan-Egypt-Israel-Cyprus-Europe.
We crossed into Egypt from Israel at Eilat and then back into Israel after going to St Catherines on a trip (not in our own vehicle) in ~2003 that was mainly Israel.

Charlie

I have been trying to decypher the Grimaldi lines website.
I 'Think' you can use a ferry to and from Ashod in Israel to Salerno in South Italy.

If having the Israeli stamp is a problem it may be better to ride to there then take the ferry out to Italy.

I had hoped to be able to do it the other way around.

Haifa to Limassol, Cyprus ferry
 

Just arrived, Company is Salamis, Agent in Haifa Rosenfeld, took a total of 30 hours, is a cargo ship taking passengers, 3 passengers on board. Rooms very basic, food is good, cook Egyptian, meals with the crew. Price tag very hefty 450 (one person, one van) I paid in Haifa, 120 to Salamis in Limassol, 29 (I managed to get that down from 150) to port authorities in Limassol. So a total of 600 Euros. Cyprus bureaucracy has not understood yet they are part of Europe. Why (as European) would I need a temporary Import permission? But Cyprus holds a lot, absolutely worth coming, and not just dark red wine. And no more guns and automatic rifles in the street (like Israel). Just posted a little update on my site if u bother reading...

I just got the idea to go that way myself next summer... so just to reconfirm:
- Syria
- Lebanon
- Jordan
- Israel
- Cyprus
are all possible, if done in that order? And no carnet needed for any of these?

Egypt has that mandatory & very expensive carnet, so at the moment looks like I´ll save it for another visit. Will have about 1 month for the whole trip (from Finland), so not possible to go everywhere. May even put the bike on a truck to Greece or Turkey, to get some more time to spend in the region. Never done the Turkish coast either, and I believe that is also well worth doing?

It probably gets damn hot in June/July? I´m afraid I wont have a lot of options regards the timing of the trip.

Fantastic journey
 

Is a fantastic journey.
Now that I am on my way back. Done exactly what u envision. For inspiration look at my site.
Egypt would be worth a journey for itself, if u say u have 1 month.
Egypt is by far the cheapest country to live in. Fuel litre for 0.15 Euros, A falafel sandwich for 0.15 Euros.
Israel and Turkey by comparison 20 times as expensive!!!!!!

Costs of border crossings are pretty much the same everywhere, Syria, Jordan, Egypt. Stamps, tax, visa, customs, insurance all ask for their due moneys, bring plenty of cash, 100 to 200 Euros and more.

Ferries is another big thing, Aqabah, Jordan - Nuweiba, Egypt, 260 USD for my van and one person. Going through Israel is free (no border crossing fees), but then u cannot go back via Syria, then the ferry Haifa to Limassol, Cyprus (600 Euros one van and one person), Haifa to Pyraeus double or more.

The thing with Egypt is not the expensiveness of a carnet. Because that u arrange for urself and it comes virtually for free (because the deposit u will get back after the journey) in ur home country (usually ur automobil club issues this).

BTW u can arrange insurance for Turkey and Israel in ur home country (extended Green Card), which may NOT be the cheapest but a convenient option.

Again inspiration on my site
http://www.thisfabtrek.com/journey/a...pt-gallery.php
Photography and Journey: Syria. Pictures Gallery.
Photography and Journey: Turkey. Pictures Gallery.

Also when in Israel don't forget to go to Palestine

;-)
Rgds
Manfred, in Cyprus

Yep, we actually did a 6-month trip to Asia&Australia with my girlfriend a couple years ago, and we had the carnet back then. So it is clear to me, that the big money is the deposit - a _minimum_ of 5000(!!) euros here in Finland! Plus issuing it cost around 250 euros - and this was a more or less ´normal´ carnet, with Pakistan, India, Indonesia in it, but no Egypt, because they require a special amount of guarantee. I was actually told by the German ADAC, that they will not issue me a carnet, the only exception was if I plan to go to Egypt, otherwise I´ll need to arrange it from my country.

So for us it was not for free, and it´s definitely one more thing to arrange beforehand. But I just heard, that the AA here does not issue them any more, and we´ll now need to apply from Sweden, so may be I´m going to ask them about this. I wouldnt be surprised at all, if anywhere else will be cheaper than in Finland!

Last time we also had our normal bike insurance & Green Card cover the bike for Turkey and even Iran (which was a bit surprising)... but that´s surely one thing I´ll need to do more research on. And I´m not expecting to get a fully comprehensive cover, like collision or theft, for all these countries.

Thanks for the info BTW, and yes I´ll go check out your site! I was wondering, where we could go, that´s not desperately far away, but will be new to us. This is starting to look more and more like our destination.

Anyone have any up-to-date info about the ferry routes from Haifa to Cyprus or Athens (or anywhere in Europe)?

Poseidon Lines´ website states that ´the service has been suspended until further notice´ (but some of their info is from 2002!!) But this is in fact backed up by ferrylines.com: Europe's Ferry Booking Portal info - no services leaving from Haifa.

So, at least for the moment, there´s no way to get out of Israel on a regular ferry?

Yes you can send with Rosenfeld
 

go to
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ry-again-40319

Mony did that no problem

Yoni

Thanks for that, it´s good to know that there are options!

Still I´m against the idea of freighting the bike, if I can find a ferry to take both me and the bike. That would be a lot less hassle I think (or at least this is usually very much so!)

It does seem like this could be possible from Lebanon, even though its not really a ferry route. Are there problems for tourists crossing between Israel and Lebanon (especially if coming from Israel)?

Well' that depends
 

You can go from Haifa Israel with the ship that will take the bike. But you need to know that it is NOT a ferry. it is a cargo ship that carry trucks (with fresh agriculture goods) to Europ. so they put the bikes in the corners and you can join the bike in a very bad standart.
About using the Lebanon option. You need to understand the political reality in the Middle East before coming here. Israel has an open border only with Jordan and Egypt. if you will have an Israeli stamp in your passport you will not be able to enter Syria or Lebanon. so if you want to take the bike to Erope from Lebanon you should go there from Syria.
You can visit Israel coming from Jordan. leaving the bike in the Jordanian side. On the border you can ask them to stamp on a separate page that will be attached to your passport. Then after returning to Jordan the page will be removed, ride it to Syria and to Lebanon from there take a ferry to Europe.

Have fun.

December 2008:
Came to Syria through Gaziantep, then to Jordan, from Jordan to Israel, through King Houssein border, which is the northern border. I got refused on the Jordan side, and had to go back to Amman to get a paper from some kind of administration, to allow me the border crossing with my bike.
So, back to the same border.
Getting in:
I managed to get a stamp on a separate piece of paper on the jordanian side. Israel border: surreal. Gun pointed at me - because I had lights on. Then 5 hours of inspection and questionning, because of the syrian visa ("why do you have a syrian visa?" I got the world map out of my bag... No joke. I had to explain that lybia is not that easy, and Irak not easier... "Do you have a return plane ticket?" My bike was parked right in front of her...). I managed to get a separate stamp for me, but NOT for the motorcycle (you don't need a carnet, but the importation of the vehicle is marked in the passport itself). The stamp is either in english or...in hebrew.
Getting out:
Much easier on the Israel side, for I knew everyone there. Surreal again (shaking hands, talking for hours about the travel, life in israel and so on). Managed to get the stamp on a separate paper. For the vehicule, same again: stamp on the passport - quite big this time.
Jordan side: I explained everything ("please do not stamp the passport, I'm going back to Syria, etc" "aïwa, aïwa, no problem"). No problem until I had to put my hand between the carnet and the stamp. He stamped my hand. Then looked at me, intrigued, and then sorry, when he realised what he was about to do.
Happy ending.
I went back to Syria, then to Turkey and Iran. Nobody suspected anything. Somebody I met on the road had to argue that the stamp for the exit of the israelian territory was a stamp from cambodia. It took some time, but it worked.