Stupid, just stupid road trip?

[Caractacus]

OK, here's the deal.

A friend of mine lives in Israel & I've been invited to an engagement party in July/August somewhere in the region of Tel Aviv.

For reasons unknown to me I'm thinking of turning it into a road trip as opposed to jumping on a jet plane...

Madness?

Or brilliance?

Let me know, either way!

Cheers,

C.

[RmartinR]

I'd do it, for sure

Martin

[Noogle]

go with your gut instinct-if its do-able then why not? make it an experience of a lifetime,you only live once!

[fivetenben]

A couple of years ago, this wouldn't have been a silly idea at all - back in 2008, I drove an old Porsche to the Dead Sea (bordering the Israeli West Bank), via Turkey, Syria and Jordan, before carrying on a bit further south. The roads were good all the way, security was fine, and other than the cost of paying for a carnet and the grimness of Syria, all in all it was a fine experience.

However...

A quick glance at a map will show that to drive to Israel, the obvious route goes through Syria. Which is a bit frisky at the moment, to say the least. The only alternative land route is through Iraq; so much as I hate to say it, driving to Israel isn't really going to happen any time soon - a shame, as I'm generally the first person to advocate such a cool idea!

As an alternative to driving the whole route, I think your idea should be possible if you were to drive to Greece or Turkey, get the ferry to Cyprus, then hop on another ferry to Israel - I've never done this but I seem to remember hearing it was possible a while back. I'm sure a quick google will confirm or deny this...

Anyhow, whatever you decide, I hope you have a great trip, and good luck!

Ben

[mattley]

I'd go the long way round, just need a ferry across the straits of Gibraltar.

[Olivera]

Not really going to be possible to drive all the way, unless you fancy going through Syria or Iraq. Heading to Turkey and then getting a ferry to Cyprus and then to Israel is maybe your best bet. Even so as a round trip it's going to take the best part of a week each way and cost a monumental amount of money!

[davepoth]

There's a ferry from Mersin in Turkey to Tripoli in Lebanon, which gets you round Syria. It's not immediately obvious from this website but these are the agents for the ferry.

http://www.imadgroup.net/

[Caractacus]

Good morning, gents

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, I saw the various routes and though all the way by land may be a tad 'interesting', to say the least.

I'll be driving my trusty 300tdi 110 Defender CSW as I reckon it's more than up to the job, plus I could load up with all sorts of goodies for the trip without space being an issue.

Thanks for the ferry link - I'm going to get planning!

Cheers,

C.

[heebeegeetee]

Caractacus said:

I'll be driving my trusty 300tdi 110 Defender CSW as I reckon it's more than up to the job

C.

I see a flaw in your plan.

[DMarks46]

awesome trip - avoiding syria is obviously important but why not go the morocco route?

[Caractacus]

heebeegeetee said:

Caractacus said:

I'll be driving my trusty 300tdi 110 Defender CSW as I reckon it's more than up to the job

C.

I see a flaw in your plan.

:P

Nowt wrong with my Def - it's a great bit of kit. under 100k and in top knotch order. I may need quite a bit of diesel tho! 450 miles per 80 litre tank at max range...

[Lost soul]

i guess the only route woud be either

Drive to Italy and get a ferrie to Cyprus then Haifa

or drive to Greece then Cyprus then Haifa

[SrMoreno]

DMarks46 said:

awesome trip - avoiding syria is obviously important but why not go the morocco route?

And drive through Algeria, Egypt and Libya? Can't see that being much of an improvement!

[tyranical]

Don't know what its like coming into Israel by road, but on a cruise last year we stopped in Ashdod and the security team were a complete bunch of s.

All the other ports you just park up, show your passport on the way through if you get off, in Israel you park up and the s board the ship at 5:30am, set up shop wherever they like and then every single passenger has to come and stand in a queue at 6 in the morning, show your passport and if they don't like the look of you get asked a load of questions about why you're there (I'm on a fking cruise, what do you think?) and if you were planning to illegally live in Israel (Who the fk would want to?!) They then pick a few random rooms on the ship to search etc before finally fking off.

I wouldn't have minded so much but we weren't even planning to get off the ship at ashdod, there is nothing in ashdod itself the ship stopped there for excursions to jerusalem which we weren't going on.

[RizzoTheRat]

Some of the land borders are pretty much closed so you'll need to plan your route carefully to make sure you can get, and back out as some countries won't let you in with an Israeli stamp in your passport. Ferry from Cyprus is probably the best bet as mentioned above.

Well worth taking a look on http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ as there will be someone who's done it recently and will be able to advise.

[Lost soul]

tyranical said:

I wouldn't have minded so much but we weren't even planning to get off the ship at ashdod, there is nothing in ashdod itself the ship stopped there for excursions to jerusalem which we weren't going on.

They are the same at the airport you arrive get off the plane and on to a buss , as you walk to the bus you are scrutinised and may be quesstioned if they dont lie the look of you you will be sent straight back to where you came from

You missed out , Jerusalem is an awesome day trip

[Corsair7]

I wouldnt want to cross europe in a Landrover. Its not the car for the job. all these countries have proper roads, you wont need some rough off road capable car.

Also as has been said, visas for certain contries will be a pain. Dont get an Isral stamp in your passport, it could mean trouble.

[tyranical]

Lost soul said:

They are the same at the airport you arrive get off the plane and on to a buss , as you walk to the bus you are scrutinised and may be quesstioned if they dont lie the look of you you will be sent straight back to where you came from

You missed out , Jerusalem is an awesome day trip

We had been on excursions to El Alamein and the pyramids the 2 days before so we wanted a break from early starts and long bus journeys.

[Caractacus]

Corsair7 said:

I wouldnt want to cross europe in a Landrover. Its not the car for the job. all these countries have proper roads, you wont need some rough off road capable car.

Also as has been said, visas for certain contries will be a pain. Dont get an Isral stamp in your passport, it could mean trouble.

But I like my Defender and enjoy driving it So to me, it's idea

[Mr Happy]

Corsair7 said:

I wouldnt want to cross europe in a Landrover. Its not the car for the job. all these countries have proper roads, you wont need some rough off road capable car.

Also as has been said, visas for certain contries will be a pain. Dont get an Isral stamp in your passport, it could mean trouble.

Didn't the Top Gear christmas special have something about clarkson et al holding twin passports for this very reason?

Might be worth getting onto the passport office to 'replace your lost passport' before leaving?