Want to do an expedition, no idea where!

A mate and myself want to do an expedition in my Series 3 land rover this year. We're not to sure on where at the moment. Been reading up on Morroco but wouldn't mind something out Russia way or even further north! Did consider staying in this country and just touring up through Scotland and then down Via Ireland ending back home in South Wales but for not much more money and effort we can see more of the world and experience things a bit more adventurous.

Anybody got any suggestions for where to go? Or better still anybody got any trips planned this year we could join up with?


Thanks, Adam

Morocco is cool

Good on ya for doing it a Series 3 - many wouldn't!

If you are going to Russia then you might as well drop into somewhere like kazakhstan while you are it, if you are over that sort of direction

well id like to take a spin to poland and up round the mountain ranges there. spot of fishin on the way and mostly camping. be in august. maybe as good a place as any to start if u want to.

the misses would be flying over with my boy to see her parents there so nip in for some home made grub on route. and kladious has 2 fishing lakes there and is in the middle of building a log cabin thing on site that im sure he would be fine with us using.

just a thought

Hey Rusty Rhinos I've been reading your threads, website and checked out the 3 videos you made. Really useful information there, was great to see a more or less standard Series can make it. With chunkier tyres, a winch, slight suspension lift and a 200tdi fitted to my Series it made me feel a little less anxious about having a capable enough vehicle for the trip.


Do you mind telling me how much it cost you for your trip, with fuel, ferrys and the occasional hotel you stayed at?

I also noticed you done it in a petrol, my old 2.25 was a thirsty beast that used to struggle to make it between petrol stations even in this country! Never mind in Africa! How far and between are the fuel stations?
I found on the net diesel prices are around 65 pence per litre. Almost a good enough reason to make the trip there anyway!


Morrocco seems like the most likely destination but we'd prefer to go along with another vehicle or 2. Especially after watching videos of Landys struggling in soft sand! Anybody on here seriously up for it?

Our plan is to take a few days to get from Dunkirk/Calais down to Morrocco. Visiting places in Europe like Paris, Madrid, Gibraltar and other nice looking places but not necesarrily taking the motor ways. We'd rather take more time and drive down more scenic routes, possibly even some coastal roads. On the way back then through Europe we're hoping to take a detour to the Nurburgring. Been there a couple of times in cars but would like to go back as it's a lovely place and it would be funny for the Landy to earn it's self a Nurburgring sticker

Our leisurely route through Europe may not suit anybody else so maybe we could even just meet up in Morrocco or the Spanish ferry? The European roads should be a breeze compared to the Morroccon trails


Anybody?

I would be interested in doing some sort of expedition later in the year and I'd be especially interested in northern europe... Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd love to do a trip driving up through denmark, sweden, and up to the north of norway and coming down the coast. It would be awesome to see the northern lights, so I had been thinking of October- November time... May have to be early 2012 however due to funding...

Stuntman...glad you enjoyed the vids and info . And yup, proves that the Series landie is more than capable! So yours will not be a problem. Remember that your winch is useless if you don't have nything to winch to - so look into ground anchors that work in soft sand . We got stuck in sand with the tide coming in...that was a bit worrying but we un-stuck in the end!

Our Series does around about 180 miles to the tank normally...we also have 60 litres in jerry cans as a reserve...so not a problem in Morocco. Morocco is relatively built up compared to other countries I have been to...*most* major-ish towns will have fuel stations...and there are plenty of towns about...so as long as you partially plan your day it's not a problem.

You ask costs and things...your diesel price is about right I guess...I didn't take much notice of diesel but judging by the petrol price its not far off. Work out your rough MPG...and you can get a rough idea to (what is our) main cost. UK Ferry is £60ish, Spain to Morocco ferry about £230. Hotels, when we had to stay in them...if it is in the equivalent of the Moroccan Birmingham then you can stay somewhere clean for £10-£15 a night or stay somewhere for free if you get friendly with someone...if you are going to stay somewhere like Fes (recommended) or Marrakesh then you will be looking at more...and do haggle, and certainly check out all rooms first, regardless of what the hotel looks like on the outside! wherever possible though I prefer to wild camp. Food is cheap, most things are cheap in comparison to the UK. If I had a TDI (assuming 30MPG?) then I would set aside £1500 for everything (ignoring vehicle prep).

Leisurely route through Europe sounds like a good idea. Personally I prefer to whip it down there and do the 1500 miles in one shot, perhaps with a few hours break at some point. We do avoid motorways though and take the scenic route, even if half of it is in the dark!

I would personally not worry about getting stuck in the sand and travelling solo...people (including myself), IMHO, will normally get stuck in Morocco if they do something that with a bit of pre-thought, could be avoided. - i.e sand dunes, attempting to drive though a bog, etc. Morocco is not all sand, either, most of the sand we covered in our miles was pretty hard and you would struggle to get stuck in, and a LOT of it is rocky, hard stuff, which other than falling off a cliff you should be fine. If you wanted a bigger peace of mind you could hire a satellite phone...it's not all that expensive to hire for a few weeks.

With everything crossed, I want to go to Morocco again this year, probably July...but, and it is no disrespect to you, I prefer to travel with my travel companion, or our other team in the RRC. If you are going at the same time though, at least it would give you a bit of re-assurance that there are other contactable, English speaking Land Rover people in the same country!

rustyrhinos said:

Stuntman...glad you enjoyed the vids and info .

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I agree with Stuntman, I have watchd your vid's and made notes from your info on here, along with what others have put to the forum, as My mate and I are looking at doing Morroco some time in 2012, prob about the time of the Oylmpics.

Plus we are doing to much to/with our landys this year to be able to prep for this year and go as a group which would be good.

Look forward to seeing what others will be upto this year

Ok it's decided! Series 3, Morrocco, May 2011


Plan to take between 2-3 weeks and all we know right now is we want to go via, Paris, some French/Spanish coastal roads, Madrid, Gibraltar, Morrocco and on the way home the Nurburgring.

The vehicle will be a 1980 Series 3 with a 200tdi. We're both mechanics so prep and keeping the vehicle going shouldn't be a big worry.

Having had a think and taking in your advise Alex/Adam (which are you? ) we're no longer worried about travelling solo.


Rusty Rhinos I noticed you didn't book the ferry in advance for the Spain/Morrocco crossing. Is it any more expensive or difficult to get on by doing this? Not being to sure on how long it will take us to get from point to point I'd rather not book any ferrys really and just turn up and take the next available ship. If it means waiting a couple of hours or even over night then no big deal. Whats your experience with this?

StuntmanAd said:

Ok it's decided! Series 3, Morrocco, May 2011


Plan to take between 2-3 weeks and all we know right now is we want to go via, Paris, some French/Spanish coastal roads, Madrid, Gibraltar, Morrocco and on the way home the Nurburgring.

The vehicle will be a 1980 Series 3 with a 200tdi. We're both mechanics so prep and keeping the vehicle going shouldn't be a big worry.

Having had a think and taking in your advise Alex/Adam (which are you? ) we're no longer worried about travelling solo.


Rusty Rhinos I noticed you didn't book the ferry in advance for the Spain/Morrocco crossing. Is it any more expensive or difficult to get on by doing this? Not being to sure on how long it will take us to get from point to point I'd rather not book any ferrys really and just turn up and take the next available ship. If it means waiting a couple of hours or even over night then no big deal. Whats your experience with this?

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Please don't tell me you're going to go around the Nurburgring in a series 3???

If you do though id love to see pics /videos of it

The Series will be going around the Ring to earn its sticker for sure!

StuntmanAd said:

The Series will be going around the Ring to earn its sticker for sure!

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I guess you'll get your money's worth if you're on it for 20mins or so

I went to the Ring in 2008 in my Triumph Dolomite Sprint and done 5 laps, only one on my own where I was going hell for leather and managed a 10.26 then went again in 2009 in my 220hp Saab 9000 and that was total ****e, i had 4 wet laps with really slow times as its so slippery, was getting 4th gear wheel spin! I had 1 attempt at a dry lap and the engine packed up!

The Land Rover will cruise it at a steady 14 minutes I reckon but it will be much more of an event in a 30 year old Series!

Owning a Landy thats been to the Saharra and around the most notorious race track on earth is something I need to achieve!

Having had a think and taking in your advise Alex/Adam (which are you? ) we're no longer worried about travelling solo

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Its Alex on here

Rusty Rhinos I noticed you didn't book the ferry in advance for the Spain/Morrocco crossing. Is it any more expensive or difficult to get on by doing this? Not being to sure on how long it will take us to get from point to point I'd rather not book any ferrys really and just turn up and take the next available ship. If it means waiting a couple of hours or even over night then no big deal. Whats your experience with this?

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If you book in advance, in this country, it will be more expensive. As you say also does not give you the flexibility of when you arrive. There is pretty much a ferry every 30/40 minutes so you will not be waiting, certainly not overnight! Youc an buy the tickets on the day in towns, petrol stations (they have booths either in the forecourt or avaible in the shop sometimes) and even on the gate to the port...it really couldnt be easier

However...for the return ferry from France->England, make sure the day before you get to the port you get on the net/phone and amend the ticket...it will typically be a £20 admin fee...if you instead turn up on the day with an incorrect ticket and you may end up paying a full price single (expensive).

StuntmanAd said:

The Land Rover will cruise it at a steady 14 minutes I reckon but it will be much more of an event in a 30 year old Series!

Owning a Landy thats been to the Saharra and around the most notorious race track on earth is something I need to achieve!

Click to expand...

Excellent

If you're driving down through Europe I would say to avoid the motorways, the tolls can really bite. We came up through France from Italy last summer and spent more on the tolls than on fuel for our whole trip! (was a very economical car but still...) I hear Portugal is even more expensive though the roads are empty... Our last stage from Paris to Dunkirk we did off- motorway and enjoyed it far more with the WW1 battlefield and picturesque towns to break it up. In future I will take the slower, more enjoyable and far cheaper route.

Financial planning wise I read/ heard 60p per mile was a good indicator and that feels pretty good to me. Our 2500mile trip in an economical micro car worked out at 11p per mile for fuel and tolls rising to 15p with campsites (possibly hotels too but can't remember lol). I expect next summer in the Landy will cost a bit more

I'm going to have to postpone the planning of this trip. I lost my job on monday. No big deal Just have to put this on the back burner while I sort myself out.

Feel free to keep inputing your advice, even if it doesn't help me, it will certainly help others



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StuntmanAd said:

I'm going to have to postpone the planning of this trip. I lost my job on monday. No big deal Just have to put this on the back burner while I sort myself out.

Feel free to keep inputing your advice, even if it doesn't help me, it will certainly help others

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I know that feeling , Looking for a job at mo, one reason that I am looking at 2012 for land trip to Morroco, also allows for others to save up as well from our group

StuntmanAd said:

I'm going to have to postpone the planning of this trip. I lost my job on monday. No big deal Just have to put this on the back burner while I sort myself out.

Feel free to keep inputing your advice, even if it doesn't help me, it will certainly help others



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Sorry to hear that. Ah well, at least it ggives you plenty of time to plan, and get your landie jsut how you want it

I've just chopped in my V8 disco for a 300tdi one instead... I really wanna do some travelling now I've got something thats not gonna cost a bomb or blow up like one! Been looking into a Marrocco trip, I used to live near Gibraltar when I was younger so I wouldn't mind popping back there for a visit too, Its gotta be worth it just for the trip thru france and over the mountains! I gotta find some funds first though, May might be a bit soon!

wheres marrocco?