London Movers How many turn up Get a price
Crew sizes Across London Overseas About Questions Get a price

London to Portugal

Removals from London to Portugal, Portugal

Portugal is the far corner of the mainland and the longest continuous drive we do. Everything about the packing standard on this route follows from that single fact: the load spends longer in motion than on any other route we run, and the things that break on a long drive break from vibration and stacking rather than from being dropped.

The longest drive we do. Which makes the packing, not the driving, the part that decides the outcome.

Our half

What our crew does in London

A survey, then packing by packers to the highest standard we apply to any route. Everything is wrapped for vibration and stacking over the longest run we do, and timber crating for rigid fragile items is close to standard rather than an upsell here. The inventory is built item for item against the customs paperwork, and it is built at the packing visit rather than reconstructed afterwards from memory.

Not our half

What is not ours on the route

The crossing and the paperwork. The tunnel or ferry slot belongs to an operator, and the customs entry is filed by an agent against declarations that are legally yours. Every pair of hands that touches your furniture, and the whole of the drive from Kent to the Algarve, is ours. On the longest route we run, that is the thing most worth knowing.

Who moves on this route

  • People moving to the Algarve — the largest single group on this route, usually with the contents of a whole London house rather than a flat.
  • Households relocating for work to Lisbon or Porto, into city flats in older stock with small lifts and steep streets outside them.
  • Families with an existing Portuguese property who are emptying a London flat into it, which is a part-load into a furnished house.
  • Portuguese nationals returning after years in London, often with more to move than they expect and documents that need to be consistent across the file.

Destination areas

Where the shipment is actually going

Lisbon Old buildings on steep streets, with small lifts and stairs that turn tightly. The hill outside is as much a factor as the stair inside, and where the vehicle can stand decides how far the load is carried.
Porto and the north Similar stock to Lisbon with narrower streets in the old centre. Granite stairs and low doorways, and a carry that is measured rather than estimated.
The Algarve The bulk of this route. Villas and townhouses with generally good vehicle access, where the recurring difficulty is finding the address in a development rather than getting into it. A gate code nobody has is the standard way to lose an afternoon here.
The Silver Coast and Alentejo Larger rural properties at the end of long approaches, some of which a full-size vehicle cannot take. Established at survey, with a transfer planned where it is needed.
The interior and Madeira Inland Portugal is a longer approach into smaller towns with usually good access at the door. Madeira is not a road destination and we will say so rather than quote for it.

Paperwork

Who holds which document

A household move to Portugal needs a customs entry and evidence that the goods are a transfer of residence rather than an import. The list below is what is normally asked for. It is not legal, tax, customs or immigration advice, and the requirements are the Portuguese authorities’ to set.

Passport or identity document You For the owner of the goods, matching every other name in the file.
NIF (número de identificação fiscal) You The Portuguese tax number. It is asked for consistently on a household entry.
Proof of the Portuguese address You A deed, a lease, or a residence registration with the câmara municipal.
Certificado de bagagem or equivalent You The document that evidences transfer of residence, normally obtained consularly. This is what decides how the goods are treated.
A detailed inventory with values Us Built at the packing visit, item for item. Values on the inventory are looked at on this route.
The customs declaration An agent Filed against your documents. The declarations, and their accuracy, are legally yours.

Arriving in Portugal

The crew that emptied the London house carries the load into the Portuguese one, at the end of the longest drive we do. Nothing is handed over and nobody new appears. The reason we keep the destination list to four is exactly this: a route this long with a handover in the middle of it puts your furniture through more pairs of unfamiliar hands than it can reasonably survive.

What we need in advance is the far end in detail. In Lisbon and Porto that means the lift’s internal dimensions, whether the stair turns, and where a vehicle can legally stand on a hill. In the Algarve it means the exact address, the development’s gate arrangement, who holds a code, and whether there is a barrier a long vehicle will not clear.

Heat matters on the unload here as much as it does in southern Spain, and we plan the order of the day around it rather than treating it as a detail. A crew working through the hottest part of an Algarve afternoon is a crew making mistakes.

London to Portugal

Questions about moving to Portugal

1Why is packing stricter on the Portugal route?
Because it is the longest continuous drive we do, and damage over a long run comes from vibration and stacking rather than from dropping. Crating rigid fragile items is close to standard here rather than an extra.
2Does the same crew drive the whole way?
Yes, Kent to the Algarve and every point between. There is no destination agent on this route or on any of the other three.
3Can you take a part-load to Portugal?
Yes, and on a route this long it is common. A shared load costs less and is handled more; we set out the trade-off rather than recommending one as a matter of course.
4Do you deliver to Madeira or the Azores?
No. They are not road destinations and we would rather say so than quote for something we do not run. Mainland Portugal only.
5Who arranges the customs entry?
A customs agent files it, against documents and declarations you supply. The accuracy of those is legally yours. We will tell you what is normally asked for so nothing is a surprise.
6Can you collect from outside London?
Yes — Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and elsewhere where the load justifies the run, consolidated in London before it leaves.

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