Are you moving to Portugal from the UK? Gentlevan Removals has been running removals since 2011, and we'll handle every part of your Portugal move — UK collection, post-Brexit customs paperwork, and delivery inside your Portuguese home. Part-loads start from £1,400 and full household moves typically run £2,800–£7,500 depending on your destination and load size. We offer dedicated, shared-load and part-load options, plus 2 months FREE UK storage built into every Portugal move.
Post-Brexit removals to Portugal need a customs file — Certificado de Bagagem, Portuguese-language inventory, Transfer of Residence (ToR) relief application — and we prepare all of it for you. We've moved retirees on D7 visas to the Algarve, remote workers on D8 visas to Lisbon and the Silver Coast, and second-home owners shuttling furniture both directions. Whichever group you fall into, the move itself is solvable.
Family-run from Oxfordshire since 2011, with 195+ five-star reviews and accreditations from Move Assured and AIM. Portugal sits in our wider European removals network alongside Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the Benelux countries — same crews, same vehicles, same standards in either direction.
Honest answer: most household moves to Portugal land between £2,800 and £7,500 door-to-door, with part-loads from £1,400. Portugal is a 1,500–2,000 mile run from Oxfordshire depending on whether you're going to Porto or Faro — about 200–400 miles further than Spain — and that distance shows up in the price. The other variables are simple: how much you're shipping (cubic feet, measured at survey), where it's going (Lisbon is cheaper to reach than the Algarve or the rural Alentejo), and which service tier suits your dates.
| Move Size | Service Type | Price Range (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Part-load (1–2 rooms) | Part-load | £1,400 – £3,200 |
| 1–2 bed flat or house | Part-load or shared-load | £2,800 – £4,800 |
| 3-bed family home | Shared-load or dedicated | £4,500 – £7,500 |
| 4+ bedrooms / villa | Dedicated vehicle | £7,000 – £11,000+ |
Quotes include UK collection, transport, customs paperwork, ToR relief support and door delivery in Portugal. Packing service, dismantling/reassembly and MoveProtect cover are optional add-ons. Get an exact figure online — most quotes come back the same working day.
Portugal sits behind Spain, so every UK–Portugal run crosses Iberia. We use one of two routes depending on the load, the dates and the weather:
Working transit times from Oxfordshire:
Shared-load adds a few days at the front end while we consolidate. Dedicated runs are the fastest option — useful when you've got a hard date at either end.
We cover mainland Portugal end to end, from Viana do Castelo on the Spanish border down to the south-eastern Algarve. Each region pulls a different kind of mover — Lisbon is heavy on returning dual-citizens and remote workers, the Algarve on retirees, the Silver Coast on family relocators, and the Alentejo on people buying a finca-style escape.
Portugal's coastlines are where most British buyers settle. Each has its own character — and its own access quirks for the delivery van.
We also deliver throughout inland Portugal — quintas in the Douro Valley, village houses in the Minho, smallholdings in the Alentejo, mountain properties in the Serra da Estrela, and digital-nomad rentals in the cooler interior of the Centro region. Rural deliveries need a bit more planning (see the property access section below), but we've yet to find a Portuguese address we couldn't reach with the right combination of vehicles.
Five steps, refined over a decade-and-a-half of European runs:
Optional extras include piano transport, professional dismantling and reassembly of beds and wardrobes, and short-term storage at either end if your dates slip. Whatever you need — just ask.
Family-run since 2011, which means one point of contact from quote to delivery. We answer the phone and the email ourselves; no call centres, no handoffs.
2 months FREE storage in our containerised Oxfordshire facility is included on every Portugal move — for when the chain doesn't quite line up.
We're not the cheapest mover on the UK-Portugal corridor, and we don't pretend to be. What we offer is a known quantity: the same point of contact from quote to delivery and, most of the time, the same crew handling your move. We use our own vehicles (not subcontracted), and we've been running European routes long enough to know where the awkward bits are. Here's what tends to matter to clients:
We move retirees, remote workers, returning Portuguese-British dual-citizens and second-home owners. Whether it's a single-bedroom flat to Cascais or a five-bedroom house with a baby grand to a quinta in the Alentejo, the approach is the same: plan it properly first, then execute carefully.
One of the most common questions we get on the survey call: "is it worth shipping the kitchen stuff?" The answer depends on what it is. Portugal runs on the same 230V/50Hz electricity as the UK, so the conversion problem that catches out movers to North America simply doesn't exist here — most of your appliances and electronics work the day they arrive. The catch is the plug shape (Portugal uses Type F Schuko, the UK uses Type G), so you'll either travel-adapter your way through or have an electrician swap the plugs.
The rough rule we give: if shipping cost (cubic feet × your per-unit rate) exceeds the cost of replacing the item locally, leave it. For everything else, taking it usually wins — both because shipped items are insured and because the time saved on re-buying is worth real money.
Portugal has some of the most beautiful and most awkward delivery addresses in Europe. The difference between a smooth move-in day and a nightmare is almost always in the last 200 metres. We plan for those 200 metres before we ever load the van. Send us photos of the access route when you book — particularly the final approach, any gates, and overhead obstructions — and we'll match the right vehicle to the job.
The historic centres of both cities are full of Pombaline and tiled-front buildings with no lift, narrow stone staircases, and a 1.8m-tall front door that won't fit a UK king-size mattress through it without going on its side.
We bring stair-skates, mattress slings and a good sense of humour. For top-floor flats with small windows, we can also arrange a furniture lift / hoist crew in partnership with a local Portuguese operator — book this in advance, not on the day.
Loading bay reservations are available with most Lisbon and Porto town halls but need 5–10 working days' notice. We'll handle it if you give us the address early.
Most Algarve villas are on private estates with controlled-entry barriers, weight limits and length restrictions. A 7.5-tonne lorry physically does not fit through most estate gates designed for tradesmen's vans.
Our standard solution for the Algarve is to tranship at the estate entrance using a smaller vehicle we carry on the lorry. Some estates also require an insurance certificate and a 24-hour advance notice to security — easy to arrange, but not last-minute.
Driveways with steep gradients (common in Carvoeiro, Lagos, and the western Algarve) need careful approach planning. We'd rather know in advance than block your road.
The Alentejo, the Douro, and the Minho are full of quintas and village houses at the end of single-track lanes, often with low-hanging vines, stone walls, low roof overhangs, or seasonal stream crossings that nobody mentioned in the listing.
Our European road train carries a transhipment van as standard, which lets us complete the final mile when the main vehicle reaches its limit. We've delivered to properties our customers themselves needed a 4×4 to reach.
If your property has been a holiday let, ask the previous owner what size vehicle has delivered there before. That's usually the most reliable guide.
Newer developments — common around Caldas da Rainha, Óbidos, and the inland Algarve — are generally the easiest to deliver to. Wide tarmac roads, clear access, lifts where there are flats, and parking that actually fits a removal lorry.
The one watch-out is shared courtyard parking and gate codes — make sure your management company knows we're coming so the bins don't get put where the lorry needs to be.
For finished but not-yet-handed-over properties, we can hold goods short-term in our Oxfordshire facility (free for 2 months) until your keys land.
Post-Brexit, every UK to Portugal removal goes through a customs declaration. The good news: it's well-trodden ground for us, and you won't pay import duty or IVA on household goods if your paperwork is right. The not-so-good news: getting the paperwork right takes a few weeks of lead time, especially the consular appointment. Start early.
These are the documents customs will look at on the Portuguese side. We prepare or guide you through every one:
Restricted and prohibited items follow standard EU rules — alcohol and tobacco are limited, fresh food and most plants are out, and prescription medicines need to come with the prescription.
ToR relief is what keeps your household goods clear of Portuguese import duty and IVA. The qualifying conditions are straightforward but specific:
The relief is requested via the Certificado de Bagagem — there isn't a separate form. For vehicles, the rules are stricter (the car must be in your name for 6+ months, and ISV — the Portuguese vehicle import tax — may still apply). It's worth a conversation with a Portuguese despachante (customs agent) before shipping a car; we can introduce one.
Coming back to the UK? The reverse relief is called ToR1, applied for through HMRC before goods land in the UK. We handle that for return moves as standard.
Most full household moves to Portugal land between £2,800 and £7,500 door-to-door, and part-loads start from £1,400. Portugal sits on the Atlantic edge of Iberia, so the road distance is roughly 200–400 miles further than Spain depending on your destination — that's the main reason quotes run a touch higher. The volume of your shipment, your delivery region, and whether you take dedicated, shared-load or part-load are the three things that move the price. Get an exact quote online.
Door to door: 4–6 working days for Porto and the north, 5–7 days for Lisbon and the centre, and 6–10 days for the Algarve. Two routes are practical — ferry to Santander then south through Spain, or Dover-Calais and the long road through France and Spain. We pick whichever fits your dates. Shared-load adds a few days at the front while we consolidate; dedicated runs straight through.
Mostly yes. Portugal runs on 230V at 50Hz, the same as the UK, so kettles, washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and most kitchen appliances work without conversion. The plug shape is different (Portugal uses Type F Schuko, UK uses Type G), so you'll need adapters or to have plugs swapped. The two things to think twice about: TVs (UK Freeview won't work, but Smart TV apps and Portuguese DTT will), and Sky/Virgin equipment which is geo-locked. Most fitted kitchens in Portugal are taller than UK ones, so a UK fridge usually fits with room to spare.
Yes — 2 months of UK storage is included on every UK-Portugal and Portugal-UK move. Most clients use it because the chain rarely lines up: D7 visa interviews slip, AIMA appointments shift, your buyer's solicitor is slow, or your Portuguese landlord wants two months' notice you don't yet have. Storage is at our containerised Oxfordshire facility, fully insured, with no contract penalty if you need an extra week.
The core document is the Certificado de Bagagem, issued by the Portuguese Consulate in London or Manchester before you ship. Alongside that you need a valued inventory in Portuguese, your passport copy, your Portuguese NIF, proof of UK address, and a rental contract or escritura for your Portuguese home. UK leavers establishing residency can claim Transfer of Residence relief, which clears household goods owned for 6+ months without import duty or IVA. We prepare all of this — the inventory, the consular booking advice, and the customs file.
Most British people moving to Portugal use one of four routes. The D7 (passive income) requires €920/month proven income — popular with retirees and anyone with rental or pension income. The D8 (digital nomad) needs around €3,680/month from foreign-sourced remote work. The D2 covers entrepreneurs and the self-employed. The Golden Visa now routes through investment funds and qualifying business activity, mainly used by higher-net-worth applicants. Healthcare cover, NIF, Portuguese bank account and accommodation must all be in place before the consulate appointment.
A dedicated vehicle goes from your UK door straight to your Portuguese door — your dates, your van, no detours. Shared-load consolidates several customers heading to Portugal on the same run, splitting the haul cost (often 40–60% cheaper than dedicated). Part-load is for smaller shipments that don't fill a household — a one-bedroom flat, a holiday home refresh, the contents of a UK lock-up — billed by cubic feet from £1,400.
Yes — and we plan for it. Many Portuguese rural properties sit at the end of single-track lanes with low-hanging vines, stone walls or steep gradients that a 7.5-tonne truck simply cannot reach. We carry a smaller transhipment vehicle on the lorry as standard for European runs, so when the main vehicle reaches its access limit we transfer your load and complete the final mile ourselves. Send us photos of the final 200 metres of approach when you book and we'll plan accordingly.
Honest answer: variable, and often longer than published timelines suggest. AIMA (which replaced SEF in 2023) has been working through a substantial backlog, and many UK applicants report waits of 6–12 months from initial appointment to physical residence card. The good news for your move: your entry visa (D7, D8 etc.) is normally enough for customs clearance and to start your life in Portugal. The card is mainly needed for things like exchanging your driving licence and longer-term administrative steps.
Yes — and we've done a lot of them. British returners coming back from the Algarve, Lisbon and the Silver Coast use the same corridor in reverse. UK arrival uses ToR1 (HMRC's Transfer of Residence relief), which has a different application than the Portuguese side and must be submitted before the goods land. We handle ToR1 for you. Quote requests with collection in Portugal and delivery in the UK go through the same form.
Heading to Portugal, or coming back to the UK — we run both directions.
Call us on +44 7861 930529
Most quotes come back the same working day. No call centres, no pressure, no fine print.
From Viana do Castelo on the Spanish border to Vila Real de Santo António on the eastern Algarve, we deliver across mainland Portugal. The most-requested destinations on our route sheet:
Don't see your destination? We quote for anywhere in mainland Portugal — just ask.
Wherever you're heading, the same team that surveys the move runs it through to delivery. Belongings get high-quality export wrapping, GPS-tracked transport, and door-to-door handling — same as we'd want for our own family.
A noticeable share of our Portugal work comes from people who've moved with us before — the classic pattern is "we used you for the UK move five years ago, and now we're going to Portugal". That kind of repeat business doesn't happen unless the first job went well.
We publish reviews from every move (the good and the bad), invite feedback after delivery, and act on it. There's no faster way to improve than to listen to the people whose sofas you've just unloaded.
A part-load or shared-load Portugal run carries 3–6 customers' belongings in a single vehicle. That's 3–6 separate dedicated journeys avoided — meaningful diesel saved on a 4,000+ mile round trip. We use reusable blankets and recyclable boxes wherever the move format allows.
Shared-loads are usually the cheapest option and the lowest-carbon option for Portugal. Win-win, when the dates allow.
Recurring themes from Portugal-route reviews: communication on the long transit days, Victoria handling the customs paperwork without fuss, the crew that turned up on time in a village in the Algarve when previous quotes had said "we don't deliver there". We're proud of those — and of the quiet ones where the move just worked and there was nothing dramatic to write about.
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