Europe Van Life Planning | Paperwork, Ship Van, Itinerary, etc.

Some Context…

The Road blocks

The project turns out to be WAY more complicated than expected, as we are facing many administrative roadblocks. Here is a list of problems that could compromise the project (we don’t have solution as we are currently writing these lines):

• Vehicles over 3,500 kg (7,700 lbs) require a C1 driver’s license in Europe. | See Weight Limit section below.
• Insurance for vehicles over $75K is hard to find. | See Insurance section below.
• The Schengen 90/180 rule. | Not exactly a problem-without-solution, but it definitely affects the planning & itinirary!

Entry, Duration, Visas

The Schengen Area

The 90/180 Rule

Canadians and Americans can stay in the Schengen Area without a visa for 90 days in any 180-day period. You can stay 90 days, then you must leave until enough time has passed to re-enter. Leaving and re-entering does not reset the counter.

Non-Schengen Countries

The political landscape constantly changes, but here are potential countries to visit outside the Schengen Area:

• Morocco: Visa not required for stays of less than 90 days (Canadians and Americans).
• Georgia: Visa not required for stays up to 365 days (Canadians and Americans).
• Turkey: Visa not required for stays up to 90 days in a 180-day period (Canadians and Americans).
• To be continued…

Strategies

Strategy 1: The Schengen Shuffle (Non-Schengen Countries)

Spend 90 days in Schengen, then rotate out. Morocco (90 days), Georgia (365 days visa-free!), Turkey (90 days), UK (180 days), and the Western Balkans (Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia). Or fly back home.

The van can stay parked in Europe during your Schengen-out periods (in a campground or private storage), while you fly or ferry out.

Strategy 2: Digital Nomad Visa

If you want to stay in one Schengen country for a full year+ without juggling borders, some countries now offer digital nomad visas for North-Americans. The two most relevant:

The big caveat for overlanders: both visas require proof of accommodation (a rental contract), which is awkward in a van. It’s not impossible — some nomads use a friend’s address or a co-working/co-living space — but it’s a grey area worth researching further.

EES & ETIAS: New Digital Border Systems

Two new EU systems are changing how non-EU travellers enter the Schengen Area:

Neither of these changes the 90/180-day rule itself — just how strictly it’s enforced.

How To Ship A Vehicle To Europe

RoRo vs Container

You can ship a vehicle from North-America to Europe via RoRo (Roll on – Roll Off) or container:

Most people we know have used RoRo instead of a container, and we plan to do the same.

Cost

The cost of a RoRo varies with the route and the size of the vehicle. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect to pay around $4,000-$5,000 USD one-way (including insurance) to ship your van on a RoRo from Canada to Europe. You can get an actual quote with the service of your choice (next section).

RoRo Shipping Companies

A non-exhaustive list of the companies we could use to ship our van:

• International Vehicle Shipping Services
• MVS Canada
• Sea Bridge

Insuring a North American Van in Europe

Insurance is one of the most administratively painful parts of bringing a North American van to Europe. Most mainstream insurers have no framework for a foreign-registered vehicle owned by a non-resident, so you end up in specialist territory fast. Plan for more lead time than you’d expect.

There are two distinct types of coverage to think about:

You can buy TPL on its own, or bundle both under a single policy. Start the conversation a few months before departure. Be ready with: replacement value, year, GVWR, planned countries, trip duration, and home country registration details.

• TourInsure — German company specializing in international motor insurance for campervans. Issues a Green Card valid across all European states and can tailor coverage to your travel plans and duration.
• IVSS (International Vehicle Shipping Services) — Primarily a shipping company, but they explicitly cover foreign non-EU motorhomes for travel within the EU, from 1–12 months at various coverage levels. Convenient if you’re already using them to ship your van.
• Clements International — Specialists in foreign-plated and expat vehicles with experience handling higher vehicle values. Worth a direct phone call rather than a web form.
• Campbell Irvine (UK) — Specialty broker for unusual vehicles and foreign tourists, with Lloyd’s market access.
• GasserKessler (Switzerland) — Known in overlanding circles specifically for high-value North American RVs in Europe.
• Lloyd’s of London (via broker) — The likely destination for truly high-value vehicles. Go through a broker like Clements or Campbell Irvine — you can’t approach Lloyd’s directly.

Note: Clements, Campbell Irvine, and GasserKessler come from overlanding community recommendations rather than verified campervan-specific listings — confirm they cover your vehicle type when you reach out.

The Green Card

The Green Card (Carte Verte) isn’t a separate purchase — it’s the official certificate that proves your insurance policy is recognized under the international Green Card system. Border crossings and police use it to verify coverage; it’s also what the other party’s insurer will ask for if you’re ever in an accident.

Any insurer properly set up to cover you in Europe will issue one. If they can’t, that’s a red flag — their policy likely isn’t recognized under the system, regardless of what it says on paper.

A few things to confirm when your policy is issued:

• Every country on your itinerary is listed. The Green Card covers most of Europe by default, but countries like Turkey, Morocco, and Georgia are often excluded.
• You have a printed copy in the van. Digital isn’t universally accepted, especially at borders in Eastern Europe.

Vehicle Weight Limit

In Europe, a standard Class B driver’s licence allows you to drive vehicles up to 3,500 kg (3.5 tonnes or 7,700 lbs). It’s the GVWR on the plate that determines the licence category, not the actual loaded weight.

The 3,500kg limit is a hard legal line for Europeans.

For North Americans, based on research on Forums and Facebook, some people report that they are getting away with it because at home, our Class B driver’s license allows us to drive up to 11,793 kg (26,000 lbs). But we are getting mixed info about this. We need to dig deeper. Feel free to comment if you have any info!

From online research’s:

Direct roadside weight checks aimed at campervans are not common in most of Western Europe. Forum members report rarely hearing of campervans being pulled over purely for weight checks, unlike commercial trucks. However, Switzerland is specifically called out as a place where you may be forced to unload until you reach an acceptable weight before being allowed to drive on — this happens most often in mountainous countries. One forum member reports being pulled at the Swiss border every time they crossed, getting a printout, and being closely scrutinized — even when they were technically under 3,500kg.

Potential consequences:

• Insurance companies may not pay out if an overweight campervan is involved in an accident.
• Toll costs are significantly higher for vehicles over 3.5t in countries like Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Poland — in Austria, a one-way trip can run ~€120 vs a cheap vignette for lighter vans.
• In France, it’s mandatory to put blind-spot warning stickers on your van if it exceeds 3,500kg.
• You may not be allowed on the Eurotunnel with a van over 3,500kg without the correct licence.

Carnet de Passage

Good news: you don’t need a Carnet de Passage for Europe. A Carnet is a customs document that acts as a guarantee against selling your vehicle abroad — it’s required in many parts of Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania, but not in Europe, North America, or South America.

The one exception to be aware of: shipping into Germany (e.g., Bremerhaven). German customs has been known to ask for a deposit of around 30% of your vehicle’s value as a guarantee that the van will be exported before 6 months. This deposit is refunded on exit. It’s not universally enforced, but if you’re shipping to a German port, confirm the current customs requirements with your shipping company well in advance.

For the rest of Europe, your vehicle title, registration, and shipping documents are sufficient.

How Long Can Your Van Stay in Europe?

The Schengen rules apply to you, not the van. The van is governed by customs/import rules, which are separate. As a temporary tourist import, our Canadian-plated van can legally be in the EU for up to 6 months in any 12-month period before it’s technically required to be formally imported (with duties, EU compliance, etc.).

The official rule

EU customs law allows a non-EU registered vehicle to stay in the EU for up to 6 months in any 12-month period, tax and duty free. After that, the van is technically supposed to be permanently imported — paying customs duty (around 10% of vehicle value), VAT, and converted to EU standards (lighting, emissions, etc.). That’s expensive and complex. Not a realistic path for us.

The “reset” question

The big thing overlanders want to know is whether driving the van out of the EU (to Turkey, Morocco, the UK) resets that 6-month clock. The answer is: probably yes, but it’s not written clearly anywhere. There’s no unified EU legislation on this — each member state sets its own rules, and most set 6 months in any 12-month period. The consensus among long-term overlanders is that exiting the EU and re-entering does reset the temporary import, giving you a fresh 6 months. This is how people have kept North American vans in Europe for 2+ years.

The enforcement reality

Despite the official 6-month rule, plenty of overlanders have left their vans in Europe for years by storing them whenever traveling back home. EU countries don’t have an effective way to track when a specific foreign vehicle arrived, which is why you rarely hear this rule discussed. That said, with EES rolling out and border digitization increasing, this grey area may tighten over time.

The Germany exception

Worth a separate callout. German customs at Bremerhaven has been known to ask for a cash deposit of around 29% of the vehicle’s value as a guarantee it will be exported within 6 months. This applies specifically when shipping into Germany. It gets refunded on exit, but it’s a significant upfront hit. Shipping to Belgium, the Netherlands, or France avoids this.

The practical strategy for 1-2 years

The cleanest approach is to align your van’s EU time with your Schengen time — both you and the van leave the EU together during your reset periods (Morocco, Turkey, UK, Western Balkans). That way both clocks reset simultaneously and you’re fully compliant. Take the van to Morocco for your 90-day Schengen reset. Drive it to Turkey. Spend time in the UK. The van accrues EU time only when it’s inside the EU, same as you.

If you want to fly home and leave the van parked in Europe, that’s where it gets grey. In practice many people do it and nothing happens. But technically, if the van has been in the EU more than 6 months cumulative without exiting, you’re in informal import territory.

Bottom line: For a 1-2 year trip, the cleanest approach is to move the van out of the EU during your Schengen resets anyway — since most of the good reset destinations (Morocco, Turkey, Balkans) are also outside the EU. It largely solves itself if you plan the itinerary that way. The situation to actively avoid is shipping to Germany and leaving the van sitting in storage inside the EU for extended periods without driving it out.

Storage options

• Campgrounds: Many in France, Spain, and Portugal allow you to leave your van for weeks or months for a modest daily/weekly fee. Some have security; others don’t.
• Dedicated vehicle storage: Private storage facilities exist near major cities and ports — worth researching near wherever you park up at the end of your 90 days.
• Informal options: Facebook groups like “Van Life Europe” and overlanding communities often have leads on trusted private parking spots.

When the van is parked for an extended period, check with your insurer — some policies allow you to downgrade to 3rd party, fire & theft only (no comprehensive) during storage, which can meaningfully reduce costs. Make sure theft is still covered regardless.

Paperwork

Personal

• Valid passport.
• Travel insurance (for long-term travel).
• International Driving Permit.
• More TBD.

Vehicle

• Original vehicle title/registration.
• Proof of ownership.
• Vehicle insurance certificate.
• ID or passport of the owner.
• Shipping documents.
• Customs clearance.
• More TBD.

Wish List

We’re still very much in the “dream” phase, and our wish list will be populated and detailed as we get closer…

Follow the Weather

More Resources

Technical

• Tuck’s Truck:
  • Shipping an Overlanding Vehicle.
  • Overlanding Insurance.
• Expedition Portal
  • How To Ship Your Van To Europe.

Inspiration

• Tuck’s Truck | Overlanding since 2014.
• Char Is Far | Netherlands to Singapore.
• RogueWanderers.com
• Malimish.com
• Wheelingit.us

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Any tips or advice about traveling to Europe from North America?
Please let us know in the comments below, we need all the info!

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