Into Europe
European removals,
four routes
Every international move has one thing that actually constrains it, and it is rarely the distance. On these four routes it is road hours, summer heat, the arrival, and a single piece of consular paper — one each.
A move abroad begins the same way a move across town does: somebody walks the property, measures the volume, and decides what each item needs. The route, the vehicle and the customs entry all follow from that.
What differs between the four is not really the driving. It is what has to be true before the vehicle can leave, and what the journey does to the contents once it has.
France
The constraint: road hours
The shortest of the four, so the driving is the least of it. What changes against a domestic move is the vibration load on anything veneered, stone-topped or glazed.
Read the route →Spain
The constraint: heat and sequence
Summer trailer temperatures matter to a specific list of contents, and the Spanish documents have to be obtained in a particular order or the move waits.
Read the route →Italy
The constraint: the arrival
Limited traffic zones and hill towns mean a permit and a transfer plan are often needed before a vehicle is even booked. Plus what altitude does to a load.
Read the route →Portugal
The constraint: one document
A consular certificate has to exist before the goods travel. It sets the whole timetable, and it is why storage is usually part of the plan.
Read the route →Packing changes for an international move
This is the difference most quotes do not mention. A handling class that is right for a move across a county is frequently not right for a multi-day motorway run, because vibration is cumulative and the load may be opened for inspection at a border.
- Stone and glass tops crated and carried on edge rather than blanket-wrapped flat
- Framed work and mirrors in built cases rather than picture cartons
- Veneered and inlaid pieces tissued, and loaded so nothing bears on a face
- Upholstery covered against dust and moisture, not only against rubbing
- Loading order that assumes a customs inspection is possible mid-route
How those classes are set is on fine furniture and antiques.
Dedicated vehicle or shared space
Dedicated
Your load, your vehicle, your dates, and the fewest possible handlings. Right for a full household with firm dates, and right whenever the contents mean that handling count is itself a risk.
Shared space, or groupage
Your goods travel with other consignments going the same way and you pay for the space you occupy. It suits smaller loads, holiday homes being furnished, and dates that can bend. It involves more handlings, and we will point that out rather than selling the cheaper option quietly.
Customs, since Brexit
A household move into the EU is a formal customs movement. It needs a detailed inventory doubling as a packing list, evidence you are transferring your normal residence rather than importing commercially, and the destination country's own relief process.
That last part is where the four genuinely differ — which is why each route page sets out its own sequence rather than repeating a generic paragraph. We prepare what is ours and mark plainly which items only you can obtain, on day one rather than in the final fortnight.
Storage as part of the plan
Sales almost never line up with consular and residence paperwork. So on most of these moves the household is packed, loaded into containerised store, and travels once the documents exist. It is quoted as one arrangement, and the storage inventory is the document that becomes the customs list. See packing and storage.
Starting
Both addresses, rough dates, a sense of the volume, photographs of anything significant, and how far along you are with any residence paperwork. Start on the quote page; the domestic side is on house removals.
Moving abroad
European move questions
Do you run the vehicles yourselves?
We survey, pack and load. The load travels with a vehicle and crew we have arranged, and on shared space it travels with other consignments going the same way. That is what groupage is, and we say it plainly rather than implying a private lorry.
What is the real difference between dedicated and shared?
Cost, dates and handling count. A dedicated vehicle goes when you say, arrives on a known day, and is handled the fewest possible times. Shared space costs less, gives a window rather than a day, and is handled more. For a valuable household that last point matters more than the first.
How does packing change for an international move?
Handling classes set at survey get revised upward. More hours on the road means cases and crates where a domestic move would use blankets, and loading order that assumes a customs inspection is possible. It is the single biggest practical difference.
How long will it take?
That depends on the route, the crossing, the clearance and, on shared space, when the vehicle fills. The quote gives an expected window. We will not give you a day count we cannot stand behind.
Can you collect from more than one UK address?
Yes, and it is common when a household is split. Mention every address in the brief so the route and the timing are costed from the start rather than added later.
Can the load wait in store first?
Frequently necessary, because sales rarely line up with paperwork. Goods go into containerised store here, wrapped and inventoried, and travel when the documents are ready. The same inventory becomes the customs list.
Next step
Planning a move to Europe?
Send both addresses, rough dates and a sense of the volume. We will come back with the route, the options and what has to be true before the vehicle can leave.