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We live in the UK. Next summer we're planning a long-ish (2 months long) trip to Georgia - family visit. Flying with three children (especially small) is doable, but not the best thing ever, plus tickets for summer peak time for the whole family become prohibitively expensive (easily in the region of £3000 or more).

As we do have plenty of time, we're considering a long road trip. While it may cost about the same, we'll do a lot of sight seeing on the way. From UK through EU is easy, however past that there are a few options. While the shortest drive/ferry route would be via Ukraine (to Kerch and then ferry to Batumi), I prefer to go further south and drive through Turkey.

We are all UK citizens, so will need visas for Turkey, which is usually issued at the port of arrival (I've obtained it in various Turkish airports in the past). I'm not sure whether we can get double-entry visas to account for the return trip. As far as I can track it, Turkey is the only country that would require visas.

Does anybody know what the process would be for crossing Bulgaria-Turkey border in a EU-registered car?

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Turkey is about to end their visa-on-arrival program and is already offering an online eVisa application system. Even if visa-on-arrival is still available at designated airports, I am pretty sure that crossing a land border requires you to obtain a visa in advance. The online application process is very simple, you fill out some personal details and your passport number, pay the US$ 20 visa fee with a credit or debit card and can immediately download your eVisa as a PDF file. As a UK citizen, you will get a multiple entry visa allowing you to stay in Turkey for 90 days within a 180 day period.

Bringing a UK registered car into Turkey or Georgia is also relatively painless. For Georgia, you will need an International Driving Permit in addition to your UK driver's license. In Turkey, you are currently required to have both a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher and two warning triangles in the car. Even in other EU countries, there may be different regulations when it comes to what safety equipment is required to have in the car. Organizations like RAC offer current summaries of such requirements for UK drivers, both for Georgia, Turkey and many other European countries. You should check this advice before you leave.

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  • Thanks! Sounds like not too much trouble. I already have th warning triangle, first aid kit and the yellow hi-viz jackets - from previous trips to France, so I'll need the fire extinguisher (which I was going to buy anyway) and the second warning triangle. I believe, International Driving Permit can be obtained from the RAC itself - but I'll follow up on this.
    – Aleks G
    Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 6:23
  • @AleksG Yes, you can get the IDP directly from RAC, the AA, etc.
    – Michael Hampton
    Commented Jul 3, 2014 at 20:23

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