UK → France
Removals to France.
The shortest crossing and the widest spread of destinations. From most of the UK it is a single day to the water and a single day beyond it — which makes France the most predictable of the four routes we run.
Getting there
Whatever part of the UK the load starts in, it converges on the same place: the M20 and the Channel. From Calais the motorway network fans out — the A16 west towards Normandy and Brittany, the A26 south-east towards Reims and Lyon, the A1 into Paris — and that fan is why almost anywhere in France is a single sensible run from one crossing.
The variable is the domestic leg at this end. From the South East it is short; from the North or the South West it is most of a working day before the crossing even begins, and we crew for that rather than pretending otherwise.
Where loads go
Paris and the Île-de-France
The commonest single destination, usually work-related. The building is the job here, not the distance: a gardien to notify, a small lift, a courtyard with a fixed width, and often a hoist. We want the floor, the lift dimensions and the courtyard access before quoting.
The northern departments
Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Close to the crossing, undervalued, and popular for exactly that reason — a realistic drive back to the UK when you need one.
Normandy and Brittany
Stone houses, longères, renovation projects. Rural approaches where the last stretch decides the vehicle, and village lanes that were laid out long before anything with a tail lift.
The south and south-west
The Dordogne, Charente, Occitanie, Provence. A long run down but a well-worn one, almost always groupage. Larger properties, more furniture, and summer heat worth considering if anything is sensitive to it.
Paperwork
A UK export declaration, a French import entry, and a detailed inventory. Moving your residence brings relief, evidenced by property documents, proof you are leaving the UK address, and an inventory consistent with both. Second homes are declared differently and do not attract the relief.
Neither route is difficult. Both punish a vague inventory, which is why we spend time on it rather than treating it as a formality.
Getting it quoted
The destination department, whether it is permanent or a second home, roughly the volume, and what the access looks like at the French end. The European removals hub explains groupage against a dedicated vehicle, and Spain if you are weighing the two.
Removals to France — questions
Ferry or tunnel?
Either, depending on vehicle size, sailing availability and where in France the load is going. For household removals it rarely changes anything for you — both put the vehicle into Calais or nearby, and the French motorway network does the rest.
Is Paris harder than the rest of France?
More procedural. Haussmann-era buildings have a gardien to notify, a lift built for people rather than furniture, a courtyard entrance with a fixed width, and sometimes street access restricted at certain hours. An exterior hoist is the normal answer where a stairwell will not take a piece.
Second home or permanent move?
It changes the paperwork rather than the transport. Transfer-of-residence relief applies to moving your household, not to furnishing a maison secondaire. Tell us which at enquiry so the declaration is right from the start rather than corrected at a border.
Will a lorry reach a rural property?
Often not the final stretch. Village streets built for carts, stone archways with a hard height limit, and farm tracks that soften after rain. We shuttle with a smaller vehicle. Photographs of the last two hundred metres are worth more than any description.
Does someone need to be there for delivery?
Someone with keys and access codes, yes. French addresses very often need a person on site, and an arrangement with a neighbour wants confirming properly rather than assuming. If you are still in the UK when it lands, tell us early.
Moving to France?
Both addresses, the floor at each end, and roughly what is going. That is enough for us to survey it and put a figure in writing.