# How long would £10k last you????



## Nick5912 (Aug 30, 2014)

Hello all.
As a newcomer to MH's I have a relatively straightforward question to ask.

In Spring 2016 we intend to set off into Europe and tour until we run the bank try!

With this in mind,

If you were to set off on an unlimited tour of Europe. With £10k in your spending account to fund all aspects of the trip. (Excl. Ins, tax, etc...).
How long in your experience do you thing your trip would last? Rough idea of areas of Europe you would be visiting would help.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Probably about a year maybe a tad more now the Euro rate is so good.

Generally visit western Europe. France, ITaly, Germany, Austria etc. 

Hardly ever use sites though


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## Sandy_Saunders (Nov 17, 2008)

We generally calculate on €300 a week whilst away. That is more than enough and we always bring 10-20% of that back or spend it on other things, such as wine.  

We only eat out about once a week from that sum, using our own facilities and food bought from markets etc. for the remainder of the time.

By minimising the use of campsites and using aires/sostas/stellplatzes etc. you will easily make £10,000 last a year. If you are really careful I reckon you could stretch it to fifteen or even eighteen months. No doubt someone will be along soon who has made that sort of money last for two or three years.

Have a good time!

Sandy


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Nick, the biggest expence in any trip is fuel. Work out where you want to go, and the miles and mpg. If you cook in and bbq, your living expenses will be similar to here, specially aldi or lidl. Then it depends on if you wild, use aires, or campsites. Work all of that out, and you will have a better idea than anybody answering for you, as only you know those exact details.


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## ljharvey (Feb 7, 2015)

10k mmm about 2-3 weeks done 250k in 5 months.


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## Tezmcd (Aug 3, 2009)

Never tried it but I think you can EXIST on 10K for a year 

You can probably live on 10K for 6 months

.......... or really enjoy yourself on 10K for 4 months


but I've never tried it so just ignore me


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

> Never tried it but I think you can EXIST on 10K for a year
> 
> You can probably live on 10K for 6 months
> 
> ...


We do it and I'd say that's about right.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We usually spend 2to 3 T in 8 weeks


But, do a lot of miles, stay on campsites as well as airies
We rarely eat out prefer to cook in and around the van

Drink copiously amounts of wine

Much like at home  

I would imagine if you are careful, keep the milage down, buy and cook your own food

It's much cheaper than living at home and paying the bills

Aldra


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## MBiker (Oct 1, 2014)

We were away for four months touring last year and I was amazed how little we spent. Travelled everywhere locally on our bicycles, shopped in the local markets and stayed mainly on aires. I would say it was more expensive when we got to Croatia where there are many signs saying you can only stay on official campsites which are not cheap and we travelled from island to island which involved ferry tickets.
I agree with Grath that the best thing to do is to plan a route and try to work out a budget for the type of trip you want to make.


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

Just the ramblings of an old man but possibly something like the figures below ---

Probably the distance you travel each day or week will be the cost that vastly influences the amount of money spent.
Working on 100 miles average per day and cooking 6 days with one main meal out. 

Fuel – 100 miles per day £106 (25mpg at 84p per litre - £3.80 a gallon)
Food and drink @ £20 per day £140
One meal out £50
Gas for cooking and heating £6
Water  £5

Aires / overnight stops £ 35 maximum

Food - 
Breakfast - baguette/croisants/preserve/tea/ coffee/fruit drink
Lunch – baguette sandwich - home made
Main meal – from Supermarket/local market – fish/meat/vegetables/salad
Drink – local wines/carton wine/cans of beer or your favourite tipple

Dependant of mileage done - between £200 and £300 per week.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Most long term people tend to stay in one place for quite a while which reduces fuel costs dramatically.

For instance since October we've been in Spain simply because the weather elsewhere doesn't appeal in winter.

Rushing around is probably something we all do to begin with, but if it becomes the way you live there's not much reason to hurry anywhere, and you probably won't want to go north in winter, Alan.

BTW, just took the dogs out for a pee before bed and picked a couple of lemons off the tree beside us to descale the kettle with.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Knowing my love of restaurants whenever we stop and buying cigars and wine and presents for the family , I don't think 10k would last more that 3/4 months 8O :lol: 

tony


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

As already said .Staying in one area for long periods greatly reduces your daily expenditure .
We had two months in Germany last year and spent just under £2000.
It just depends where you want to go.This year we are off to Croatia so expect to spend a lot more,due to the traveling distance/petrol.
Generally we budget for £50 per day,but there are days when we don't spend a penny.

Les


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

It depends really on how far you wnt to go. If you do the full experience of going through France/in to Italy via Switzerland/overwinter in Spain etc etc. Fuel is going to be the biggest expense.
So you may have to decide how long you want the 10K to last and where you REALLY want to go.
Apart from that avoid toll roads, park up and use bikes. buses and walk to save fuel just doing a lot of local trips.
Pack every nook and cranny with as many of the staples as you can e.g. teabags, coffee, all dry goods, toiletries, washing powder etc.
Mainly - have a great time and try not to fret about money while you're doing it.
Just another thought. Get advice on here about getting cash out. Using UK bank cards will cost a fortune in fees and the ecnage rate but you can get pre-loaded cash cards (Caxton I think is one of them).


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

> Knowing my love of restaurants whenever we stop and buying cigars and wine and presents for the family , I don't think 10k would last more that 3/4 months 8O :lol:
> 
> tony


Likewise Tony, but if we needed to we could live on a lot less, Alan.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

We found after we installed a solar panel we stayed longer in one place and did about 30% less miles. There wasn't always the need to move on to charge batteries but I also find now after many tours we are less in a hurry to dash about all over Europe.

If you wanted to you could bumble around France from free Aire to free aire or wild camp and never spend anything on parking or services. I prefer to spend money at markets in food etc than on parking the van. I won't think twice about spending 20 euros on cheese or pates etc but it would break my heart to spend 20 euros in a site or Aire 

The most expensive longish trip we did based on monthly costs was in the UK.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

> ljharvey said:- 10k mmm about 2-3 weeks done 250k in 5 months.


Probably won't be seeing you on here again then.

Spent your subscription money on riotous living it seems! :roll:

Dave :lol: :lol:


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## cliffhanger (Jun 27, 2008)

Ask Adam

Cliff 8)


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Who's Adam :?: 

tony


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

2012 - we spent 8 months away and spent as follow:
Fuel £1100
Sites/aires £900 (mostly aires)
Food etc £2400

2013 - 3 months in Scotland Feb to May
Fuel £250
Sites - £600
Food - £700

2013 - 2 months:
Fuel ££600
Sites £300 Croatia and such so more sites.
Food £400

We did other bits of Uk stuff in the gaps but we were well on our way to having change of £10k over two years.

theres a detailed list of spending on site for 2012 on our blog.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

NEVER keep records on expenditure , might frighten myself, {better ask Adam} :? 

tony


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Mrs D keeps records for everything. Account in a previous life.

She can tell you how much gas we use a day, petrol for the bike, diesel, food, booze, costs of camping and services per night. The lot 

Cheapest country for us and this will surprise you has been France


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Record keeping is for Richard Briers as in "Ever Decreasing Circles" takes the fun out of travelling.

tony


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

ljharvey said:


> 10k mmm about 2-3 weeks done 250k in 5 months.


You need to stay out of the betting shops then. :roll: :roll:


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## ralph-dot (May 10, 2005)

5mins, I owe twice that


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

barryd said:


> We found after we installed a solar panel we stayed longer in one place and did about 30% less miles. There wasn't always the need to move on to charge batteries but I also find now after many tours we are less in a hurry to dash about all over Europe.
> 
> If you wanted to you could bumble around France from free Aire to free aire or wild camp and never spend anything on parking or services. I prefer to spend money at markets in food etc than on parking the van. I won't think twice about spending 20 euros on cheese or pates etc but it would break my heart to spend 20 euros in a site or Aire
> 
> The most expensive longish trip we did based on monthly costs was in the UK.


When we are away we do much the same as Barry.

Some additional points.

Are you going to leave a property empty? If so why not let it? Would make £10K go a very long way.

Even if you don't let, a lot of your expenses, except fuel and site fees, if you use them, will be much the same as at home - some countries; France, Poland and most of E. Europe will be cheaper, but Germany, Switzerland more expensive, so it balances out. For us living in low-cost Poland we generally spend a bit more, especially in UK as Barry said.

You will spend less on heating a motorhome than a house in UK.

Telephone and internet, if you wish to use it much, needs careful research to get the best deals - Adam ('motorhomewifi' is his MHF Trade Member name) has lots of useful information on his website and some kit to get you more free wifi.

[EDIT] Read the info from Adam here, plus correct spelling of his MHF name-

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-246754.html

Assuming that you are attracted to the outdoor life that is part of having a MH, then, according to what you spend in UK on cinemas and other outside entertainment, you may find you are spending less than UK, barring a few entry fees to castles etc.

For fuel, plan the rough route then add 15-20% to it to allow for meandering to see things and find pretty parking spots.

If you have not tried wildcamping do it on a few trips in UK this year - if it suits you it will save a lot of the 10K, but there are the Aires etc., a lot free or just a few Euros.

Geoff


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi

We full timed for over 7 years and I kept a very good set of accounts.

Cheapest year 2008 = £ 10,400

Most expensive year 2011 = £13,300.

We gave up in 2012 due to bad health otherwise we would still be fulltiming

You can get away without using any campsites in france by using aires and using stellplatz in Germany. This will save you a lot of money.
Those that say they spend £250+ a week eat out use campsites and do not know how to shop in Europe. The Aldi,Lidl are every where and many more like them.

steve & ann. ------- teensvan


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## CandA (May 1, 2005)

Hi

It is a few years ago now and things have changed but in 2009/10 we spent a year travelling around southern Europe in our van and spent around £19,000. Full details here:
http://candakubicki.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/how-much-did-we-spend.html

We were in our VW with no bathroom and stayed almost exclusively on camp sites, plus a few weeks in self-catering accommodation when our son and daughter-in-law visited.

Other answers will show that this is a very individual thing, depending on how often you eat out, how far you drive, campsites etc. It is whatever works for you and you can make it work.

Good wishes


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Teensman is prob a good example

He has done it

We only do X amount of weeks

And I guess it also depends how much it takes to uphold your empty house

We don't factor that in

Aldra


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I recall reading an article (MMM I think) a while ago and a chap had done a year touring Europe. He kept meticulous records of his entire expenditure on EVERYTHING. 

His 12 months cost him £9500 

As has been said before there are too many variables to give a definative answer. 

Andy


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## MotorhomeWiFi (Apr 16, 2012)

Mrplodd said:


> I recall reading an article (MMM I think) a while ago and a chap had done a year touring Europe. He kept meticulous records of his entire expenditure on EVERYTHING.
> 
> His 12 months cost him £9500
> 
> ...


That might have been me 

http://www.europebycamper.com/2012/03/touring-europe-for-year-what-does-it.html

We did 23,044 miles and so 44% of that went on diesel.

Best money we've EVER spent.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

We work on £100 per day to cover everything, usually comes out a little less so we win :wink: 

tony


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

For once my memory got it 100% correct 😊

An excellent, and very informative article it was too!

Andy


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## Lesleykh (Apr 13, 2009)

Our year away in 2010 cost us £16,000. The breakdown of costs is on our blog. We weren't scrimping, but we're not big spenders and we do wild camp.

Lesley


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

The pattern does seem to be around the £800-£1100 a month sort of figure then really apart from the odd extreme one way or another.

The empty house thing is a big consideration though. Our longest single trip was 6 months and if you reckon and an empty house costing you around £500 a month just doing nothing then thats an extra £3K.  

If I was going away for a year I would definitely rent it out.


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## Lesleykh (Apr 13, 2009)

barryd said:


> The pattern does seem to be around the £800-£1100 a month sort of figure then really apart from the odd extreme one way or another.
> 
> The empty house thing is a big consideration though. Our longest single trip was 6 months and if you reckon and an empty house costing you around £500 a month just doing nothing then thats an extra £3K.
> 
> If I was going away for a year I would definitely rent it out.


We did just that, and we'd paid our mortgage off so we were quids in. If you do that remember it counts as earnings for the year, so even if you're not working on a long trip, if you have earned in that year you might still need to pay tax on the rent profits.

Lesley


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Of course you have to pay tax on the rental profit, but there are savings too, which are not taxable:-

The tenants pay the Council Tax.

The tenants pay the utility bills and keep the place heated for you.

Provided you stipulate it in the lease, they keep the garden maintained.

All a contribution to your funds.

Geoff


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

How long is that peice of string.???
I think you will live to your means.
If you have a limited income you make do and mend as well as seek cheaper pleasures.
On the other hand given considerable income you will splash out and enjoy the high life.
We have been in both camps. Both have their pleasures, memories, trials and tribulations.

Ray.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Ray has it spot on. 

You can do it on a shoestring or you can splurge (lovely word!) Like the rest of life you live within your means. 

Look on any campsite. You will see brand new £100K+ Motor homes alongside ancient Talbot/Hymer types. Some occupants cook every meal, some use restaurants but they ALL enjoy themselves, and that's the ONLY thing that really matters isn't it? 

Andy


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Wise words Andy.
We just love being in our mh - 10 miles away from home on the side of a canal or hundreds of mles away in the south of France or Italy. Its a lovely way to live.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Unless I have missed something, the opening poster has not made any replies to this thread. Also to a previous thread opened :lol:
Nick, you need to communicate, then you will get more appropriate and advanced answers.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Graham, quite common really

tony


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Tony, I know :lol: but sad  
It's only been a couple of days, so, lets hope, but if not, it's not our loss


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

raynipper said:


> How long is that peice of string.???
> 
> Ray.


I make you right. I quoted ours for comparison. We weren't living expensively - we weren't doing lots of tourist type things either. I left the house out of it as we have no mortgage and we let the house out to our son and his pals - that bought us an income that allowed us to just about break even.

Nor, did I factor in the money I 'lost' whilst not working - that'd blow it right out of the water


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## stevegos (Jun 23, 2013)

Julie and Jason over at www.ourtour.co.uk spent 2 years on the road in Europe and returned in Sept 2013.

They blogged daily about their travels but also accounted for every penny (or euro) they spent. Even right down to which country was the cheapest, how much they spent on food, diesel, drink, maintenance, etc.

Take a look... http://ourtour.co.uk/home/european-morocco-country-costs-comparison/

You can download their actual working spreadsheet.


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## cliffhanger (Jun 27, 2008)

GEMMY said:


> Who's Adam :?:
> 
> tony


Motorhome Wi-fi. He's contributed I think.

Cliff 8)


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Does it matter?.

It's an interesting question anyway

If we needed to we could pare it down

But we do travel off season so can benifit from ASCI and we could do more wildcamping

We only wildcamp when it looks good, a river a waterfall or it's very late, I'm tired and it's his fault

I'm sure it's an area which would interest many

Aldra


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

> I'm sure it's an area which would interest many
> 
> Aldra


I have no interest an an area which is named " ..and it's his fault"

Signed: HIM


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

HIM

Come on confess

Many areas where it's his fault

Come on Geoff

It's almost never ours :lol: :lol: 

ALdra  :lol:


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

NEVER !!!


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## Nick5912 (Aug 30, 2014)

Grath said:


> Unless I have missed something, the opening poster has not made any replies to this thread. Also to a previous thread opened :lol:
> Nick, you need to communicate, then you will get more appropriate and advanced answers.


Sorry for not posting a reply earlier but been laid up in hospital!

Home now so will be more reactive to the forum.

Sorry guys.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Nick5912 said:


> Grath said:
> 
> 
> > Unless I have missed something, the opening poster has not made any replies to this thread. Also to a previous thread opened :lol:
> ...


Good to hear from you Nick, and pleased you are reading the replies.
I wish you a speedy recovery, and hope we hear more about your future travel plans.
We often have new users asking questions and never acknowledging replies, really happy you are not one of those!
Get well!

edit
by the way, I reckon, we could easily do one year on £10K


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## Nick5912 (Aug 30, 2014)

The reason I started this thread is because I retire in March 2016 and we are looking to join the MH community.

We have a fairly healthy budget for the MH but we also realise we have to budget for our European Tour starting roundabout May/June.

We intend a month tour of UK first to get used to our MH and iron out any snags with the vehicle. Then disappear into Europe for a while and see where it takes us!

£10k was a figure I intended to stick into an account or pre-paid card to fund the tour! Then whilst on the tour my main bank account grows with my pension payments.

With regard to our house. We have a son who will be taking it over whilst we are away. No mortgage so he only has to pay utilities.

Initial plan is to drive to Crete via East coast of Adriatic to Piraeus. Returning back through Piraeus and then over to Italy via Brindisi or Bari. Not details or time schedule. Only thing I intend booking before setting off is the ferry to Dunkirk.

Thanks everyone for your input. Got a lot to digest.


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## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks Nick. What a great adventure!


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

> The reason I started this thread is because I retire in March 2016 and we are looking to join the MH community.
> 
> We have a fairly healthy budget for the MH but we also realise we have to budget for our European Tour starting roundabout May/June.
> 
> ...


Nick

I am glad you are out of hospital and on the mend from whatever.

A few bits of input from me.

Since you will have pension payments, unless they are minute, to top-up the £10K you should be well set for a year. Plus you are not paying utilites - you do not say if son will pay Council Tax/ maybe not much for your house but mine is £2,200pa.

Depending on which countries you will pass through down the E. Adriatic you may be linited as to which insurers will cover you.

I agree with e idea of just booking the ferry from UK. However, according to when you want the ferries in Greece you may want to book those before you arrive, especially in High Season.

After leaving Crete you may want to consider returning by ferry to the Southern Peloponese via Kithera, landing at Gythion or Neapolis, below is a link for a through ferry on a Wed.

http://agreekisland.com/ferry-lane-lines/

Another alternative is to stop off for a night or two on Kithera.

This route would enable you to see some of the S. Pelopnese on the way to Patra before crossing to Italy - lots to see and some real Greece.

Geoff


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

Nick, while you are in the area, it might be worth considering Turkey. 
We did it, about 25 years ago and it was fantastic,

https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=B111GB691D20130729&p=eceabat+canakkale+ferry

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/trans/Ship/dardanelles_ferries.html


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## Nick5912 (Aug 30, 2014)

Geoff,

Son is paying all the bills so our only outlay is what we spend on tour.

Pension is approx. £1,300 per month. My reasoning is; If it takes 12 months to get through the £10k we will have banked £15,600ish in pension payments, therefore funding tour for 2017! Hopefully this will be a rolling process to take us further into retirement and closer to full timing!

Nick


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Graham, as I want to visit our son who is about to move to Kusadasi Turkey next month, I have been trying to find a convenient ferry from Italy to Turkey without success.
All the lines and agents come back to me saying there is no direct ferry any more and only two stopovers on Greek islands make it an expensive and long drawn out trip.

Unless you know of another.???

Ray.
p.s. sorry Nick.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

raynipper said:


> Graham, as I want to visit our son who is about to move to Kusadasi Turkey next month, I have been trying to find a convenient ferry from Italy to Turkey without success.
> All the lines and agents come back to me saying there is no direct ferry any more and only two stopovers on Greek islands make it an expensive and long drawn out trip.
> 
> Unless you know of another.???
> ...


Hi Ray. The ferry I mentioned is very short and only crosses the Dardanelles at or near to Gallipoli. 
Sorry, I forgot, to mention, you have already crossed in to Turkey via a road border, and this is from European Turkey to Asia Turkey, missing Istanbul. We have also driven through Istanbul and crossed over the Golden bridge
See the links, crossings are only about half of one hour.
We went via Thessaloniki and Kavala
When you cross, you are near to Troy

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/trans/Ship/dardanelles_ferries.html

https://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=B111GB691D20130729&p=eceabat+canakkale+ferry

Kavala

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kavala


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Nick I think it will take careful monitoring to manage on 10T for a whole year

£10 a day for food and drink dog food X 365 = £3 650 and that would be very very basic living

Airies campsites and some wild camping , say the same a very conservative estimate requiring a heavy balance on wild camping and free Aires 

So £2700 for ferries and fuel, gas and electric, repairs ect ect 

It possible but 

Maybe you need to do like many we've seen, arrive late and drive of early without paying :lol: 

Only joking I never ceased to be amazed by people who do that

But find myself amazed by the number that do

So I find myself feeling you need to raise the food by 50%

And possibally the site fees

I recon you could manage on about £12,500 if you are frugal and lucky

8O :lol: 

We travel off season use Aires , wildcamp and use where possible ACSI sites, we also stay with friends along the way but try always to repay in kind, we are not interested in free nights only the chance to spend time with people who are our friends many just through this site, virtual friends made more special

We offer the same here in return
Aldra


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

> Graham, as I want to visit our son who is about to move to Kusadasi Turkey next month, I have been trying to find a convenient ferry from Italy to Turkey without success.
> All the lines and agents come back to me saying there is no direct ferry any more and only two stopovers on Greek islands make it an expensive and long drawn out trip.
> 
> Unless you know of another.???
> ...


Ray

I think the info you are getting is probably correct.

A few years ago I think someone (Don Madge?) used to get a ferry from Italy to Chios and then a small one to Cesme, but I think the Chios one is o more.

I think you have two alternatives, which you probably know,

1 Italy-Igoumenitsa drive across Northern Greece (roads are better now but probably toll) and down Turkish coast.

2 Italy-Patras, drive Piraeus, Ferry to Samos, ferry to Kusadasi.

Not any new ideas unfortunately.

Carefully check Greek ferry frequencies - they are cutting back. Then double-check! Almost impossible to get a ferry to Poros now(only Flying Dolphins/Cats) - there used to be 3 a day.

Geoff


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes Geoff.
I had three replies from ferry companies and agents who all basically said it was better to drive now the ferries had ceased.

It is possible to get a ferry from Toulon France to Istambul for €1146 one way plus port fees. But you can't sleep in the camper and cabins are few and limited.

Ray.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Grath said:


> Hi Ray. The ferry I mentioned is very short and only crosses the Dardanelles at or near to Gallipoli.
> Sorry, I forgot, to mention, you have already crossed in to Turkey via a road border, and this is from European Turkey to Asia Turkey, missing Istanbul. We have also driven through Istanbul and crossed over the Golden bridge
> See the links, crossings are only about half of one hour.
> We went via Thessaloniki and Kavala
> ...


Hi Graham.
Thanks so much for the links and info.
I'm not too familiar with all the places you mention and will have to sit and locate them all and which ones might benifit me.
But as the trip is possibly going to be in September I have plenty of time to work out the best way for us.

Then we are planning on another 6 to 8 weeks in Portugal next Jan/Feb. Not sure we can do both.

Thanks Ray.

p.s. Ah now I see what you mean Graham.
Yes the short ferry that allows us to miss Istambul. But we still have a very long journey by road. I was hoping to halv this with a ferry. But if it means three ferries and long stopovers on islands, I'm not sure.


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