I will start a trip on May 2003 from Edmonton, AB->Toronto->Europe->Israel. I want to cover Europe from Portugal and have three questions:
1. Any advises in regards to shipping from Toronto to Lisbon.
2. Anything special in regards to regulation in Portugal (need Carnet, etc.).
3. After arriving in Europe, am I 'home free' for the duration of the trip or in each country I will have to deal with authorities again?
Thanks!

I don't know about shipping from Toronto to Lisbon. I know you can ship by sea. By air, there is no direct scheduled flight (there are charter flights though),
so there are several options (either through US or direct to a hub in Europe and forward from there).
I don't think you need a carnet for western Europe and this includes Portugal. You do need insurance when driving off once in Lisbon and I believe you can
arrange for Europe-wide insurance once there, or even do it in advance. This insurance is the green card insurance. I don't know if it'll cover countries
beyond Turkey (I doubt it).
As for border hassles, from Portugal all the way to Poland, there are none, as the border controls have been abolished years ago across most EU
(European Union) countries and two non-EU countries. These countries are called Schengen signatary countries. These are:
Portugal, Spain, France, The Benelux countries, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.

The border checks have been eliminated between these countries, so if they share a land border, you'll either see only a sign saying where the border is,
or old empty border installations.
See more information at
http://www.eurovisa.info/

The countries where there are border checks are:
UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Andorra, San Marino, Lichtenstein and all of eastern Europe.

__________________
Nelson Oliveira
RTW 2003-6
Around a Mote of Dust

Hi Rami and welcome to the HUBB!

For air transport to Europe from Canada, a good first stop is Motorcycle Express, www.motorcycleexpress.com, who work with the charter airlines to ship uncrated motorcycles to a number of European cities. They are very experienced with the process. You can get an express quote on their website. Don't forget to tell them where you heard about them.

You don't need a Carnet in Europe, including Portugal, Turkey or Israel, although having one will always smooth vehicle entry into a country.

You can arrange the Green Card liability insurance you will need for Europe in advance through Motorcycle Express, or via Stefan Knopf of KnopfTours.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/lin...cycleInsurance

Once you leave the EU, each country has its own border crossing procedures and paperwork, but none of it should be problematic. Check out our page on Border Crossings http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tripplan/borders/ for some general tips on what to do and what not to do.

Good luck with your trip, and keep in touch.

------------------
Susan Johnson

"It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses."
Edgar Guest

'One world, two wheels'
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

__________________
Susan Johnson

Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Hi rbader

I have a fried who did a Switzerland-Israel-Switzerland trip recently on his bike (Aug-Nov 2002). Drop me a mail and I'll send you his mail address if you want to ask him specific questions. Unfortunately he's not reading the HUBB...

Save travels, Kudi

__________________
Ride Your Dreams

What a small world - I have a friend (based out of Toronto) who is also planning to travel Toronto - Portugal - Israel this summer. He will be air freighting his bike to Lisbon, then riding up through Switzerland (storing his bike at my office there while he returns to Canada briefly).

Send me an email, I'll put you in touch with him.

As for paperwork, etc. you really don't need to worry about much when you are in Western and Central Europe. Be aware that Portugal has the highest rate of motorcycle fatalities in Europe, ride with extra caution there - the auto drivers don't take the stripe in the middle of the road too seriously, and there is a lot of impaired driving there.

But, that notwithstanding, you can anticipate an excellent trip, I rode from Portugal to Bosnia last summer on my Canadian registered bike, spent 6 months in Europe, no difficulties of any kind.

Not sure what route you plan to use from Central Europe to Israel - if you go through Turkey and then Iraq, the Americans will probably have McDonald's restaurants and Mobil service stations set up in Iraq by the time you get there.

Michael

PS to Kudi - where are you located? I live in Toronto but work in Oberglatt.

[This message has been edited by PanEuropean (edited 11 April 2003).]