International Removal UK · 4 Destinations

Destinations · UK departures

Removals from the UK to France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Four countries, one way of working. This page puts our international removals from the UK side by side, so you can see what changes between a UK to France removal and a move to Spain, Italy or Portugal before you ask for a quote.

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Passengers on a ferry deck watching the Port of Dover breakwater and white cliffs fall behind
Leaving Dover. Most road removals from the UK to France, Spain, Italy and Portugal start with a Channel crossing like this one. Photo: DimiTalen, CC0 1.0 (credits).

The four routes

Choose your destination.

  • Aerial view of the Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence, a plane-tree avenue lined with terracotta roofs

    UK to France

    Paris apartments, Breton farmhouses, Provençal village houses. The shortest crossing, and the most paperwork-sensitive arrival.

    Removals from the UK to France
  • Via Fillungo in Lucca, a narrow paved street of shuttered townhouses in Tuscany

    UK to Italy

    Tuscan farmhouses, lakeside flats, Roman apartments. A long road south, and historic centres that limit what vehicle can get in.

    Removals from the UK to Italy
  • A cobbled pedestrian street in the Albaicín quarter of Granada with whitewashed buildings and café tables

    UK to Spain

    Costa apartments, Madrid and Barcelona flats, village houses in Andalucía. Community rules and city permits matter as much as the drive.

    Removals from the UK to Spain
  • The Ribeira district of Porto rising steeply above the Douro river, with the Luís I bridge on the right

    UK to Portugal

    Lisbon and Porto apartments, Algarve villas, quintas inland. The furthest drive, steep streets, and a tax number before anything else.

    Removals from the UK to Portugal

Side by side

What changes from one country to the next.

The sequence is the same on every route: survey, written quote, packing and inventory, UK export declaration, the journey, import clearance, delivery. What differs is the paperwork you sort out yourself, the streets at the far end, and what deserves extra care in packing.

Comparison of international removals from the UK to France, Italy, Spain and Portugal
  FranceItalySpainPortugal
Road route Channel crossing, then straight into France.Channel, across France and over the Alps.Channel, across France and over the Pyrenees.Channel, across France and Spain. The longest drive of the four.
Sort out early Your visa or residence document, and proof of your French address.Codice fiscale, the Italian tax code.NIE, the foreign resident’s identification number.NIF, the Portuguese tax number.
Customs on arrival Change-of-residence relief, claimed with a valued inventory.Residence-transfer relief, claimed with a valued inventory.Change-of-residence relief, claimed with a valued inventory.Residence-transfer relief, claimed with a valued inventory.
Access to plan for Parking permits and external furniture lifts in cities; weight limits in old villages.Limited-traffic zones in historic centres; condominium rules on lifts.Council permits for street space; communities of owners on the costas.Steep, narrow streets in Lisbon and Porto; condomínio notice periods.
Packing watch-point Wine and spirits, declared separately.Large pieces in old stairwells and low doorways.Heat-sensitive items on southern routes.Salt air and humidity in coastal homes.
Extra sea crossing No.Sicily.The Balearic Islands.No.

Documents and rules are summarised in general terms. Check your own case with the destination country's consulate or customs authority.

Same method, four routes

One way of running an international move.

Whether you are planning UK to France removals for a farmhouse in Brittany or international removals from the UK to Spain for a flat on the Costa del Sol, the work starts in the same place: a survey of your UK home and a written quote that lists every part of the move.

Moving from the UK to Italy adds the longest list of access questions, because so many historic centres restrict traffic. Removals from the UK to Portugal cover the longest road distance, and Lisbon and Porto have some of the steepest delivery streets on any of our routes. France is the shortest journey, but no lighter on paperwork than the other three.

In all four countries, people moving their main home can usually import personal belongings without paying duty, provided the inventory and supporting documents are in order. Preparing those documents is part of what we do.

UK pickup origins

Collections from anywhere in the UK.

We collect from cities, towns and rural addresses across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Removals from London to Spain, from Manchester to France, from Glasgow to Portugal or from Bristol to Italy all follow the same plan; what changes at the UK end is parking, building type and the distance to the Channel.

  • London

    Mansion blocks, terraces and new-build towers. Most boroughs need a parking suspension for the removal vehicle, so we apply early.

  • Manchester

    City-centre apartments with loading bays and booked lifts, and terraced streets where parking is tight.

  • Birmingham

    Suburban houses and city flats. Driveways help; shared car parks need the managing agent told in advance.

  • Leeds

    Back-to-back terraces, converted mills and new apartments, each with its own access to plan.

  • Glasgow

    Tenement closes and common stairs. Upper-floor flats mean a longer carry, which the survey measures.

  • Edinburgh

    New Town flats with long stairs and Old Town closes too narrow for a large vehicle.

  • Bristol

    Steep hillside terraces in Clifton and Totterdown, and harbourside flats with restricted parking.

Moving from somewhere else? See how collections work across the UK, from the South East to the Highlands.

Common questions

Choosing between the four.

Know where you are going? Start with a survey.

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