If you have the time, it's not a bad one. There is a direct(ish) ferry from Genoa to Tangier, it's 2,5 days sailing, but saves a lot of gas/hotel/wear&tear. Currently looks to be about 350 euros for a person, a bike, and a shared cabin berth.

I took that ferry (Genoa to Tanger Med, with a stop in Barcelona) about 5 years ago. It wasn't exactly what I would call a ""delightful time on a cruise ship".

The ship itself is quite old, and the passengers are primarily Moroccans and their large families returning to Morocco. The food was unremarkable and also expensive.

If someone does elect to take that ferry in the future, my recommendation is that you pay the price to get a single cabin, which is what I did. That's not a cheap choice, I think the single cabin premium was about €300 on top of the basic fare, but I'm awfully glad I did that. I was able to sleep away from the considerable noise in the common areas, and also have a private shower and bath.

From an economics point of view, the €350 basic fare + another €100 for food is less than the cost of riding from Genoa to Morocco - your gas, tolls, wear & tear on your tires, and hotel charges will certainly be more than that if you ride the bike on that route. But for the sake of your sanity, and to ensure that you don't develop a strong dislike for mankind in general by the time you get off the ferry, I really recommend that you get a private cabin for that trip.

Michael

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm not pressed for time and I've not seen much of Europe so I've made the decision to fly into Paris and ride south through Spain. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the countryside.

The only real change to my planning is to keep the tires I have on now and haul some fresh one with me which I'll install when these are worn out.

A few important lessons scattered amongst the posts above. The most obvious is not to take anything for granted--airlines change schedules, make mistakes, go on strike; shippers display ignorance, fall off the map, or dissemble (which is sometimes called "lying"); border rules change without notice, even in the absence of global pandemics. The ability to respond flexibly without catastrophizing or sliding into despair is often the difference between a wonderful trip and pure living hell.

Meanwhile, I sure hope Canucklr is aware of what it means to be riding across inland Europe, then West Africa during summertime.

You have to admit that the cargo handlers found a No BS way of shipping the legacy Africa Twin
Thats the way it done a whole cookie sheet for the twin

Nope. Probably best you not tell me either before I am actually there. It probably helps to be a bit naïve when planning such a trip. I suspect, however, the experience will be a slight departure from my life here amongst the mountains of western Canada.

Ok, i won't ruin your fun. I won't tell you.

I will just say that it might be a good idea develop the habit of monitoring any increase in heart rate or breathing that don't match with the physical effort you are doing while riding. If they don't match, stop riding!


Patrick

Apparently Westjet and its pilots have reached a tentative deal and a strike/lockout has been averted. I'm going to Africa.

Holy sh**! I'm going to Africa!!!

I have to pick an outfit...do my hair......so many tasks in the next two weeks.

Latest info is now posted on Westjets site: BIKE'Air

Basics for 2023 so far:
April to October, and Canada / USA / Europe.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Hiya all! In Marrakesh right now.

I've been asked, and was going to, share my experience on shipping my bike to Europe. In short; reasonably painless other than the bill. I used Air Marine Cargo (as directed by Westjet) as my "freight forwarder". (I've learned new vernacular) and everything was done through them online.

Upon payment, they sent me the documents. One was the dangerous goods declaration which is the category that a motorcycle falls under and the other was shipping paperwork which looks like and would be as much fun as reading your insurance documents. They tell you how many copies to print off and that they should be in colour. (that's color for you Americans)

I was given the location to show up at a cargo warehouse and trailered my bike down a day prior to flying. I handed the folks there the documents and the boys in the warehouse came out to assist me in unloading the bike. We wheeled it into the warehouse and another dude showed up to inspect it and what was in the panniers. Yes, you can have it loaded, but there are restrictions I.E. No aerosols, lighter, matches, and no more than 1/4 tank of gas. I asked to strap extra tires to it, but was declined. That was it. I went home with my copies of the shipping documents to catch my flight from Edmonton the next day.

Once in Paris (That was the closest to Africa I could get it seems) I took a suitcase with my riding gear off the carousel and looked for my tires. After a brief moment of mild panic I realized they were somewhere else with the oversize cargo area. Now to get my bike.

The customs people at the airport told me that they don't deal with that. OK. I found the pick up location on my paperwork and began asking around. I was told to to terminal 3 and catch a bus as the cabs probably won't entertain such a short ride. At terminal 3 I found the bus stop and was told that #24 will get me close. I also found out that the buses are cash only and they do not give change. (That was from thrusting my smallest denomination Euro, a 20, at the driver who just rolled his eyes and waved me away)

Once I thought I was close and with the help of the driver I located Worldwide Freight Services which is the company I deal with as instructed by AMC. It is a large facility with numerous buildings and apparently I went to the wrong one. A kind employee loaded me, my suitcase and my tires into his personal vehicle and drove me over to the correct location.

At this location I hand my paperwork over to a dude and an office kiosk who looks it over and determines that my bike would not be ready for another 20 minutes. Approximately 45 minutes later he tells me I have to go to customs.

I locate Customs not too far away in the same building. I hand them over my paperwork, my Canadian motorcycle registration, and my green card insurance for France and Spain. (purchased online). They do their office thing and make some copies of my documents and hand me back a package which includes a document indicating that I've imported my motorcycle temporarily. I'm traveling without a carnet for those who are wondering.

I returned to the first dude at the kiosk and hand in my completed paperwork. He checks it over, charges me 128 Euros and sends me down the hallway to the warehouse. I give Warehouse dude my paperwork and he takes off with the forklift returning about 10 minutes later with my motorcycle on a pallet. Voila!



They permit me to spend some time in a corner of their loading dock to reattach the terminals on my battery and strap on my tires. I put on my riding gear and trash the suitcase and off I go. From the time I landed to the time I drive away is about 4 to 5 hours. Could I have hired some agency to simplify and possibly expediate this process? Possibly.....but like the dude at AMC said: "If you're going to be motorcycling through Africa you'd better get used to some challenges."

Well put.