Holland campervan

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

As in most things, you get what you pay for, the same is true in the Netherlands; in general, one of the biggest issues with any hired vehicle is the deposit you will have to pay and the hirer being pretty strict when looking for damage on their return and your deposit rapidly vanishing in front of your eyes.  There are plenty of camping sites where you can park your van, but virtually no "wild camping sites" where you can park up for free; this link will take you to a website where they have a useful map that gives you a picture of where to go.  If you try and park up without paying, you can expect a knock on the wall of your motorhome and maybe even a policeman asking you to move on.

I'm sure if you do your homework you'll have a great time.

I hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

I just had a look at prices and they start at €80 a day. So you will have to pay €2000 +

You may be restricted to a certain amount of KMs you can travel a day.

@Cynic thank you kindly for response! I'm wondering if another option is to buy a used old vehicle van and transform.myself then resell or junk yard...? Any thoughts of process how I can use a used car (not register it but use provisional numbers or any other way I can use temporary?30-45days)Is there any more car markets like in utrecht used to be or a used car online (we have gumtree.com here for everything used)I have been trying my hardest with google translate to find affordable sites , the deposit will be interesting what is usually the normal they will ask for?(so I know if I'm getting conned)

@SimCityAT yeah*sigh*, I'd like unlimited, as unsure of how many km's I'll be doing. Is there any dedicate campervan sites with past experiences which companies safe to use or used cars to convert into camper myself to use on provisional numbers for 30-45days?

    @Cynic thank you kindly for response! I'm wondering if another option is to buy a used old vehicle van and transform.myself then resell or junk yard...? Any thoughts of process how I can use a used car (not register it but use provisional numbers or any other way I can use temporary?30-45days)Is there any more car markets like in utrecht used to be or a used car online (we have gumtree.com here for everything used)I have been trying my hardest with google translate to find affordable sites , the deposit will be interesting what is usually the normal they will ask for?(so I know if I'm getting conned)
   

    -@Irinnna

Hi again.

The Dutch equivalent of Gumtree is Marktpaats; this link will take you straight to their website; I just had a look and there are no campers on it for sale, just a couple of old fire engines that you could probably convert if you had the skillset, time, money and facilities to do it.  I've found a website that appears to offer to rent campervans, but when I read the details, they advise you to "Head west in your campervan from Amsterdam to find Hoge Veluwe National Park." - I think they must have their map upside down because if you follow their advice to head west from Amsterdam, you're in the North Sea; also, the park they refer you to is in the east of the Netherlands and does not permit any camping anywhere in the park (link), read Rule 11 (3) - I suspect these people may be scammers.

Considering the logistics of buying any vehicle in the Netherlands, it's not an option for a non-resident as you can't register any vehicle because you have no personal Gemeente registration, so can't register a vehicle (new or 2nd hand); if you buy from a dealer, it won't have any plates on it until you register it, which you can't do, so that only leaves buying, which you can't register in your own name, so I suspect wouldn't be able to insure it either.  Providing the insurance permits you to drive it, somebody could lend you their van.

My advice would be to rent a holiday home from somewhere like AirBnb or one of the many camping sites that have them on offer; then rent a car on arrival and do your travelling from a central place - warning, I doubt this will be cheap.

I hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

@Cynic - thank you HEAPS for helping out with info, much appreciated! The going west advice by those people yup something sounded weird but that's why I'm on here to get as much info as possible as you guys can easily see who's dodgy, it's takes a lot longer fortl tourists to sus out the scammers.  Going back to my dilemma.... I think I'll keep looking on the site you gave me and to see what is available. 1 more question before I do more research into what options are left for me. IF I buy a second hand van do I get any export plate numbers to take vehicle out of country ?(if so how long are the export plates valid for15-30days?)  Thank you once again for helping out!

Export plates - the Dutch do them, not sure if they issue to non-resident but assuming yes, the vehicle has to go through an APK technical test before they will do that and it will probably take more than your 30 days  to book a test in the middle of the Bouwvak (holiday season), Theres info on the Dutch websites; i can't put a link as I'm using a phone and my fingers are to big to do links on a tiny keyboard.

Hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

To add - I just got back to my PC, so some links that may help:

Dutch Government website on vehicle exports - link.

Dutch Government Regulator website on the same subject - link.

3rd party blog on the subject (no guarantee on the authenticity) - link.

@Cynic thank you! You put a smile on my face when you mentioned phone issues (fingers too big 😊 I can resonate)

Getting back to my campervan issue, yeah proving a BIG hurdle but I'm not giving up yet just a small delay holiday season coming up.

Wish you a merry Xmas and Happy New Year and the Expat team.

Thank you for giving me hope in finding a way for my camper.

@Irinnna

Have you thought of doing the trip in reverse?  Buying the camper in Oz, then driving it to Europe; if you end up in the UK, you may even find a market for a right-hand drive camper.

@Irinnna The days of roaming around without registering a vehicle are well over. You need and address for registration and insurance. You will have  to sell the vehicle after and without importation it in to said country you are up a creek without a paddle.

Dutch export plates are of a limited time. The same for Germany and Spain.

Then there are tolls, exclusion zones for pollution reasons. These could all hamper your travels if you have a vehicle with the wrong class of engine. Conversion of a van is not looked at in a favourable light when importing a vehicle (after use) Spain is one of them see the You tube channel expawers. They stripped out a good useable conversion only to have to reinstall it.

There are several websites or phone apps which you can use .

@Cynic How can a person do that and avoid the conflicts and disputes that are going on ?

    @Irinnna The days of roaming around without registering a vehicle are well over. You need and address for registration and insurance. You will have  to sell the vehicle after and without importation it in to said country you are up a creek without a paddle.
Dutch export plates are of a limited time. The same for Germany and Spain.
Then there are tolls, exclusion zones for pollution reasons. These could all hamper your travels if you have a vehicle with the wrong class of engine. Conversion of a van is not looked at in a favourable light when importing a vehicle (after use) Spain is one of them see the You tube channel expawers. They stripped out a good useable conversion only to have to reinstall it.
There are several websites or phone apps which you can use .
   

    -@RibeiraSacra

What are you talking about? None of what you have said makes no sense at all!!

    @Cynic How can a person do that and avoid the conflicts and disputes that are going on ?
   

    -@RibeiraSacra

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

There have been conflicts and disputes all around the world for hundreds of years, yet people still have that wanderlust and achieve some pretty amazing things.  YouTube has pages (link) from people who have done similar.  From Oz, you can go westabout or eastabout, guess it depends on the global circumstances at the time and how much money you have.  You could also fly to the USA, buy a camper there and ship it across to Europe (that's relatively common), there are shipping lines that operate Roro services (link) - you won't get much change from a couple of thousand dollars, it would depend on what you want.  You'll still have the problems that I raised initially (registration etc), but if they do their homework, it can be done.

Would I do it - probably not, but I've pretty much been to all the countries I want to see in the world and I've had more than my fair share of living rough.  But we're all different I guess.  All we can do is answer people's questions and provide links when we can so they can follow things up; the Forum is not a travel agency.

I hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

        @Cynic How can a person do that and avoid the conflicts and disputes that are going on ?        -@RibeiraSacraHi and welcome to the Forum.CynicExpat Team        -@Cynic

I joined in 2017 you are only 6 years too late.

@Cynic

You'll find plenty converted VW Transporters on https://www.marktplaats.nl

   
        @Cynic How can a person do that and avoid the conflicts and disputes that are going on ?        -@RibeiraSacraHi and welcome to the Forum.CynicExpat Team        -@Cynic

I joined in 2017 you are only 6 years too late.
   

    -@RibeiraSacra

Hi again.

Had somebody asked me the same question in 2017, I would probably have said something very similar.

    @Cynic
You'll find plenty converted VW Transporters on https://www.marktplaats.nl-@Peter Lorimer

Yeah,  that's where I said they should check, but the pickings were pretty poor when I looked on 17 Nov.

   
        @Cynic How can a person do that and avoid the conflicts and disputes that are going on ?        -@RibeiraSacraHi and welcome to the Forum.CynicExpat Team        -@Cynic

I joined in 2017 you are only 6 years too late.
   

    -@RibeiraSacra

You have also been banned for posting incorrect information!!