Driving to Dubai

[Noob traveller]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and looking for some advise, I have had a change in work and have a new job which in Sharjah beginning middle of October. I'm currently thinking of leaving 21 days prior (it's a exact number of days because my friends who will be travelling with me can only get this amount of time off) and driving from Scotland all the way to Sharjah. The journey would be done in a older Mercedes S-class which I have owned for many years and is a well maintained car. I have had a look at routes and don't see that many options. The route I think at the moment that's the safest is as follows:

London, France, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Azerbajan, Iran and finally a ferry to Sharjah. What do you guys think of this route or is there any changes you would advise?

I was also wondering if anyone has recently done a route like this and what trouble they had along the way. Was there any problems taking a car with British plates through these countries and how did people sort the insurance out?

[Nick_Hardcastle]

Iran might be a problem. People here (in Saudi) have been telling me that you have to have a guide at the moment. Worth asking the embassy though.


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[James Rothwell]

Have a read around some on the Iran posts and you'll find you can get around the guide requirement. You are also supposed to have a CDP for Iran.

Which model of S-Class do you have, is it a W220 with AirMatic?

In October it will be rather miserable in Belarus/Russia, it would be a nicer climate to go through Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey and into Iran. No visa needed until Iran then either.

Will be a cool way to enter UAE, be prepared for Sharjah traffic. It's positively hellish and third world.

[eurasiaoverland]

If you've only got a UK, US or Canadian passport, you need a tour booked to get your Iranian visa, regardless of whether you have a car or not.

EO

[Wee johnnie]

Is your Mercedes right hand drive? If the rules are like Qatar, there might be a problem 'importing' into the UAE (Sharjah), as they will only allow left hand drive. There is also a problem importing older cars into these countries as well, so unless you keep it on UK plates you might struggle. There is then of course the issue of maintaining it whilst there and may be impossible to sell in the future.
Might be easier to do the trip in reverse at the end.