What happens if an Alpine pass closes?

It is delayed. We do not control passes, tunnels or weather, and we would rather say that than imply a schedule we cannot guarantee. What we do control is that your goods are packed and crated well enough that sitting still does them no harm.

Does the same crew unload in Italy?

Yes. All four of our destinations are road routes precisely so that the crew that loads is the crew that unloads.

What if the furniture will not fit the building?

We establish it at survey, before anything is packed. Some pieces genuinely do not enter a historic Italian building, and knowing that in London is worth a great deal.

Do you deliver into restricted city centres?

Where access is possible, yes, and where it is not the load is carried. The carry distance is measured at survey because it changes the crew size rather than being absorbed silently.

Is crating necessary for Italy?

For rigid fragile items, yes. Mirrors, marble, glass and framed work over a long run with a mountain crossing is exactly the case timber crates exist for.

Who unloads — you or an Italian firm?

Us. We do not appoint destination agents on these four routes, which is the whole reason the list is four.

London to Italy

Removals from London to Italy, Italy

Italy is the route with two separate problems. There is the Alps, which is a question about the vehicle and the season. And there is the Italian city, which is a question about a building put up several centuries before anybody imagined a three-seater sofa going up its stair. The second problem is the one that actually decides how the job runs.

The Alps are a driving problem. The centro storico is a furniture problem, and it is the harder one.

Our half

What our crew does in London

A survey in London that spends most of its time asking about Italy. Packing by packers, wrapped for a long run with a mountain crossing in the middle of it, and timber crating for anything rigid, fragile and irreplaceable. The inventory is built item for item against the customs paperwork. Where a piece is going into a historic building we establish at survey whether it will physically enter, because the alternative is finding out on a street in Florence.

Not our half

What is not ours on the route

The crossing and the customs entry. The tunnel or ferry slot is an operator’s, and so is the Alpine pass on a bad day in winter — a closure is a closure and no removals company controls one. The entry is filed by an agent against declarations that are legally yours. The rest, including the drive over the Alps and the carry at the far end, is our own crew.

Who moves on this route

Households moving to a job in Milan, Turin or Bologna, usually into a flat in older stock with a small lift and a courtyard entrance.
People moving to Rome or Florence, where a historic-centre address frequently means no vehicle access at all and a long carry on foot.
Families relocating to the lakes, Tuscany or Umbria, with a larger property at the end of an approach that is not always wide enough for a full-size vehicle.
Italian nationals returning from London, often with a part-load into a family property that is already furnished.

Destination areas

Where the shipment is actually going

Milan and the north-west Courtyard buildings with a portineria, a small lift and a stair around it. Loading in the centre is restricted and enforced, so where the vehicle stands is part of the plan. This is the most straightforward Italian city to deliver into.

Rome Historic-centre addresses where vehicle access is frequently impossible and the load is carried a considerable distance on foot. The carry is measured at survey, because it is the number that changes the crew size and the day.

Florence, Siena and Tuscany Stone stairs, low doorways and buildings that pre-date the furniture entirely. Some pieces do not enter, and we say which at survey rather than after eight hundred miles of driving.

The lakes and the foothills Larger properties on approaches that narrow as they climb. Where a full-size vehicle cannot make the last stretch we plan a transfer into something smaller rather than attempting it.

Rome southwards Naples, Puglia, Calabria. The longest drive in Italy and the one where a shared load’s extra handling counts for most. Access varies enormously and is worth establishing precisely.

Paperwork

Who holds which document

A household move to Italy needs a customs entry and evidence that the goods are a relocation rather than an import. What follows is what is normally asked for. It is not legal, tax, customs or immigration advice, and the Italian authorities set the requirements.

Passport or identity document You For the owner of the goods, with the name matching every other document in the file.

Codice fiscale You The Italian tax code. It is asked for as a matter of routine on a household entry.

Proof of the Italian address You A deed, a lease, or a residenza registration with the comune.

Evidence of transfer of residence You Normally a consular or comune document. This is what decides whether the goods are treated as a relocation.

A detailed inventory Us Built at the packing visit, item for item, in a form the entry can be filed against.

The customs declaration An agent Filed against your documents and declarations, the accuracy of which is legally yours.

Arriving in Italy

The crew that packed the London flat is the crew on the Italian pavement. No handover, no agent, nobody meeting your wardrobe for the first time at the hardest moment of its journey. On an Italian address that is worth more than it sounds, because these are the buildings where knowing the inventory in advance is the difference between a plan and an improvisation.

What we need in advance is unusually specific here. The width of the doorway off the street, not the width of the flat door. Whether the stair is stone and whether it turns. Whether there is a lift and what fits inside it. Whether the street is in a restricted zone and what the permit position is. Whether a window or balcony route is available for a piece that will not go up the stair, because in Italy it sometimes genuinely is the answer.

Where a piece will not enter we say so at survey. It is a much better conversation to have in London with the thing still in the room than in Tuscany with it on the van.

London to Italy

Questions about moving to Italy

1What happens if an Alpine pass closes?: It is delayed. We do not control passes, tunnels or weather, and we would rather say that than imply a schedule we cannot guarantee. What we do control is that your goods are packed and crated well enough that sitting still does them no harm.
2Does the same crew unload in Italy?: Yes. All four of our destinations are road routes precisely so that the crew that loads is the crew that unloads.
3What if the furniture will not fit the building?: We establish it at survey, before anything is packed. Some pieces genuinely do not enter a historic Italian building, and knowing that in London is worth a great deal.
4Do you deliver into restricted city centres?: Where access is possible, yes, and where it is not the load is carried. The carry distance is measured at survey because it changes the crew size rather than being absorbed silently.
5Is crating necessary for Italy?: For rigid fragile items, yes. Mirrors, marble, glass and framed work over a long run with a mountain crossing is exactly the case timber crates exist for.
6Who unloads — you or an Italian firm?: Us. We do not appoint destination agents on these four routes, which is the whole reason the list is four.

Tell us the stairs, not the boxes

Both addresses, what floor each one is on, where a vehicle can legally stand at either end, and the widest thing you own. That is what sets the crew — and the crew is what sets the price.

Get a price Ask about crew size