I am going on a an overland Trip to Morocco and to maximise my time there,(I have 3 weeks off) i am planning on shipping my car back to the UK from Morocco, anywhere in the UK that's the cheapest to ship home.

Has anyone done this before? If so, i would love any advice on how long it took, what it costs and contact information.

Thanks so much and i look forward to hearing from you.

docdocdoc

Here is one, Billy's Bike Truck (not cheap)

There are also trains that can take your bike from various places in N-France to the S of France. You can then get a boat from Sete or various ports in Spain. For all the routes check The Man in Seat Sixty-One.... Don't think this will save you a lot of time though.

I can see your point - living in Ireland will take at least 3 days driving each way, but if you're talking about containering to Morocco that is a bad idea. I know it's not quite comparable, but someone I know nearly had a nervous breakdown doing so to Egypt, waiting weeks.
Shipping to a south Spanish (EU) port will be less complicated, but might still cost a packet. There may be an unaccompanied RoRo ferry to Spain, but shipping single vehicles is not what container ports are set up to do efficiently.

Far better I think is to get a trusted person to drive your vehicle down to say, Malaga. No probs with ownership docs at EU borders with a letter of permission. Maybe even delivery companies offer this. You fly in there on an EasyJet and are in Mk a few hours later.

I have a good guy that I rely on to drive my car down to EU Med ports for me sometimes.

You could even take a chance on the driver delivering your car into Mk - a letter of permission should get round the ownership issue at the port. They meet you at an Mk airport and off your go, but they would need to (fly back and) take the vehicle out of Mk again.
Someone else here may know more about this option.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering a car delivery company for this. Put several 4x4s on a truck & trailer to southern Spain. Fly the drivers into Gib or Malaga on SqueezyJet and then cross to Morocco.

P&O ferry to Bilbao finishes in Sept leaving Brittany Ferries with the monopoly on the Biscay route. Their opening gambit for a 4x4 + 1pax in November is £650 compared to £450 with P&O last month.

4 days each way on French and Spanish motorways is such a drag, especially if you've not got the time to meander on the routes nationals. Plus the cost of camping/hotels/meals/etc for 8 days.

Got to do the sums...

Happy trails,

Jojo

PS Wonder when Tanger Med container port will become an option for shipping direct?

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Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

First of all, thanks Steph but my vehicle of choice on this occasion is the a 4x4 toyota landcruiser. That website is fantastic and just a pity that there isn't a company out there that doesn't offer the same service for 4WD vehicles.

It's a real pain in the head and although for many people it doesn't make economical sense, it's the only time in the year where it's possible for me to get 3 weeks plus off -

The only confrimed cost i have got so far is Cork to Casablanca and the cost is running at 1800 Euro and that's just to ship it back. Factor in the costs for the way there any it's unjustifiable.


I am honestly thinking about getting a friend who is unemplyed to drive the car back - Chris if you don't mind me asking, how much did your reliable guy charge you for driving it down to Med port?

Also, to confrim, there are Ro Ro ferries that leave from Southern Med ports to Morocco?

Car ferries from southern Spain are
- Tarifa to Tanger Ville,
- Algeciras to either Ceuta or Tanger Med,
- Almeria to either Mellila or Nador.

Temporary vehicle import form

Tim

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

... is running at 1800 Euro and that's just to ship it back

and there will be additional costs besides that - that is the problem with shipping.

I think we agreed on £100 a day + expenses - but he has a job to catch up on when he gets back.

If it's your first time I would recommend the new Tangiers Med port (not in Tangiers city - a good thing) - or the quieter eastern ports. There is a map here.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Doc

I think you have a couple of options:
If you intend going to Morocco or indeed Spain or Portugal some time after this Morocco trip you could always park the jeep up somewhere in MA or Spain so you can save a few days again on the next trip.

As regards driving it down and back you could find someone but between ferry, flight, fuel and other costs it might be a bit expensive. I would personally be very wary of driving someones car back from Morocco but see how you go. Either way it is much easier from a bureaucratic point to get someone to drive the car to southern Spain, and not Morocco, same goes for picking it up.

If you intend to ship you can try ro-ro, there are plenty of options on this such as Grimaldi, or try a container shipper such as Maersk (a 6m will do you), or a forwarding agent such as Kuhne & Nagel.

The cute hoor in me says get registered with the AA, get their Euro cover, see if they ship a broken Landcruiser from southern Spain to Dublin or Rosslare, "break" the Landcruiser and have it potentially shipped back for free.

Note I said potentially. i.e it probably won't work.

Btw two drivers will easily do Cherbourg-Algeciras in 24 hours in a half decent car. I did it on my own in old Merc vans in 40 hours a couple of times. So maybe finding someone to take it to somewhere in France or northern Spain would be an idea too.

You also need to find out if the insurance company will take that person on the Landcruiser for the few days.

I think this may be impractical; Morocco has vehicle import duties, so your courier would face some difficult questions when they try to leave Morocco after delivery (to a border official would look as though the courier imported the vehicle, sold it, and tried to escape paying duties). It's possible to smuggle somebody out of Morocco without being rubberstamped by a Moroccan border official, but that's getting a bit too far-fetched.

Alternative is that your "courier" stays in Morocco until you want the vehicle to return home - in which case you're effectively looking for a travel companion with more time on their hands than you.

The AA would probably want you to accompany the vehicle (although recovery is presumably subcontracted to a local business who might be flexible). They would definitely only take you if you bought cover before leaving home. Really, don't even think about phoning the AA from abroad and asking for an overseas recovery policy that starts straight away - you know what will be on their minds.

Paperwork is probably a lot easier if delivering to/from Spain rather than Morocco.

Find somebody you trust who fancies a free roadtrip through France & Spain?

I think this may be impractical; Morocco has vehicle import duties, so your courier would face some difficult questions when they try to leave Morocco after delivery

You are right BobR, I overlooked that. You can only leave Mk without car if it is left in some secure Customs compound.

Delivery to Malaga is best then.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Wouldn't it be great....if we could have a bunch of Landys and Cruisers stashed away somewhere near a Morocco airport and go down with Ryanair whenever we get the itch
starting a 4x4 co-op
can dream can't I?

Hi all.

If this can helps, try to fly with Easyjet to Faro (Algarve, Portugal). It´s just a 3 1/2 hours drive to Algeciras. I can offer a free parking garage service for Sahara Travel Forum members, including airport transfer. That´s the best I can do for you. (It´s an "only to members" gift, a true limited edition!)

Rui
Portugal

hi Guys,

thanks for all the feedback, i really appreciate it.

I have contacted billy bikes. It seems that hw has transported 4WD vehicles to Morocco however the chaarge is based on how much bike room it would take up. It's a Landcruiser LWB, so i expect the costs to be substantial. Nonethless i have requested a cost and i'll see what he comes back with.

Realistically it looks like a long long drive downt o Morocco and back - still it will be an adventure, that 's what iot's all about!!

Yeah i will take the ferry in med port it seem!\

I have been and driven around morocco but never have i imported my vehicle. What is the standard operating procedure when it comes to importing documentation & insurance. Can i get insurance at the Med port?

thanks again,

docdocdoc

Hi Doc,

Re paperwork, see Tims post above, all relevant for Maroc by 4x4.

make sure you have either the original V5, or a very good colour photocopy - always worth making several good copies, get a couple of copies of your green card too while your there.

Take an international drivers license too and any old out of date ones with you too - if an official tries to extract a bribe out of you (often for a made up traffic offense) and asks for your license, give them an old one, they will never notice and will have no bargaining power over you.

Maroc Officials are generally pretty good, but you occasionally get the odd muppet.....I just used to get bored and eventually drive off and leave the cop with my expired license in Syria....

I am insured through the NFU - they extended my Euro coverage to include Maroc and issued me with a new green card - ask your insurer to do the same, this should not be a problem - if it is, try a different insurer.

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

What is the standard operating procedure...

Have a read here

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail