How do I get my tipis from Canada to England?

May 20, 2007 2:08 PM

Wondering how to: Travel with 26 foot (cured black spruce) tipi poles, canvas and various assorted camping gear from Toronto Canada to England / Wales. Alternatively: How do I rent a tipi or a yurt (or other rustic / gypsy style camping caravans) in the UK?

I have a Chevy 4 X 4 with roof racks, which holds all of the gear I want to take with me.

Preferred date of travel Aug 1-15

Preferred route: travel by road and ship. I'm willing to ship the truck and fly, but open to other suggestions.

What is the best (and least expensive) way to do this sort of travelling? Who should I get in contact with to organize this?

posted by ndicecco to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Here you go for the New Forest
posted by A189Nut at 2:37 PM on May 20, 2007

A googling turned up a bunch of links. Yurtworks rents yurts.

Is your total vacation time August 1-15, or just the dates you'd like to depart Canada? How long will you be in Britain? Where in Britain would you like to go? And what's your budget?
posted by mdonley at 3:17 PM on May 20, 2007

The shipping costs for the truck will make this a really expensive two-week holiday. A quick google search suggests that the cost is at least $3000 USD; I'm not sure whether or not you will need to also pay some sort of carnet or other guarantee that you are not importing the vehicle for resale. And, your truck (if a standard Canadian Chevy) will be wrong-hand drive in the UK, which is an issue if you have 26' poles strapped on top. (This assumes that the shipper will accept the truck with the poles strapped on top -- the length may be an issue: you may get charged for a longer vehicle or they may not be willing to assume responsibility for items strapped on the outside of the vehicle.)

So I think that this is likely to be the priciest option, and you can evaluate other options in relation to this.
posted by Forktine at 4:51 PM on May 20, 2007

Shipping a vehicle is very unpredictable. It could get held up at customs, it could not get on the ship it was scheduled to be on, or any number of things can and do go wrong. Everyone I know who has shipped a car across the Atlantic has experienced serious delays and it has taken much longer than they were quoted. I'm not even sure whether any companies would ship a vehicle for someone without a residence or work permit in the receiving country. By the time the car gets there your vacation may be over. Also, you may owe taxes for bringing it into the UK, and the paperwork will be fairly complex.
posted by cushie at 9:28 PM on May 20, 2007

Leave Toronto Aug 1ish, give or take 5 days for or aft., Aug. 15ish, same parameters, return to Toronto. Will travel east within Canada or USA to arrange departure/shipping by boat, even to save on air fare! Always to sight see..............

Ultimate destination is to wander :) Ha-ha! & true!

Must attend:
Aug.9th 10th & 11th 2007....UK Letterhead Meet...Llangollen,North Wales

The Big Idea is to have a home, with instruments, while traveling.....so if a yurt, then a yurt with conveyance.......Yes to a gypsy-style caravan as long as we can drive it from place to place.
posted by ndicecco at 8:50 PM on May 22, 2007