Moving to Lyon from the UK? Gentlevan Removals has run UK to France removals since 2011, and we go to France bi-weekly — so there is rarely a long wait for a slot. Part-loads start from £1,500 and full household moves typically run £3,000–£7,500 depending on your district and load size. Dedicated, shared-load and part-load options are all available, plus 2 months FREE UK storage built into every Lyon move.
We collect from anywhere in the UK, and Lyon is a longer haul than Paris — roughly 700 road miles down the A26/A6 corridor — so the bi-weekly shared-load is usually the best-value way to ship. The clever part is the Lyon end: the Renaissance old town and its traboules, the steep Fourvière and Croix-Rousse hills, and the city's low-emission zone. We run smaller vehicles to reach restricted streets, so a tight address is a logistics question, not a problem. Family-run, with 199+ five-star reviews and Move Assured & AIM accreditation. Lyon sits inside our wider UK to France removals service, alongside Paris, Nice and Toulouse.
Honest answer: most household moves from the UK to Lyon land between £3,000 and £7,500 door-to-door, with part-loads from £1,500. Lyon is around 700 road miles from the UK — nearly twice a Paris run — so distance plays a bigger part in the price than it does for the northern cities. The other lever is access: a ground-floor flat in Villeurbanne with kerbside parking and a top-floor canut apartment in Croix-Rousse are the same kilometres but very different invoices.
| Move Size | Service Type | Price Range (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Part-load (1–2 rooms) | Part-load | £1,500 – £3,200 |
| 1–2 bed flat or studio | Part-load or shared-load | £3,000 – £5,000 |
| 3-bed apartment or house | Shared-load or dedicated | £4,800 – £7,500 |
| 4+ bedrooms / large house | Dedicated vehicle | £7,000 – £8,500+ |
Quotes include UK collection, transport, French customs paperwork, ToR relief support and door delivery in Lyon. Parking-suspension application, monte-meubles hire (where required), packing service, dismantling/reassembly and MoveProtect increased-liability cover are optional add-ons priced at the survey. Standard cover is our restricted liability of £40 per item; MoveProtect raises that protection for higher-value goods. Get an exact figure online — most quotes come back the same working day.
We cross via Dover-Calais (or Eurotunnel where the schedule prefers it), then head south on the A26 and down the A6 — the famous Autoroute du Soleil — into Lyon. The whole journey is around 700 road miles from the UK and takes 3–6 working days door-to-door on a dedicated run, with the drive itself spread over two days each way once tachograph rest breaks are built in.
Because the haul is long, an empty or half-full lorry to Lyon is expensive to run. That is why our bi-weekly France service is the value option: we consolidate several Lyon and France-bound shipments onto one scheduled departure, and you pay for your share of the space rather than the whole vehicle.
Customs clearance happens at the French border. Post-Brexit, every UK to Lyon removal needs a customs declaration — but it is well-trodden ground for us, and household goods clear duty-free under Transfer of Residence relief when the paperwork is right. We prepare the file as part of every move.
One Lyon-specific timing point: if your move needs a kerbside parking suspension, the Ville de Lyon typically wants a couple of weeks' notice. We start that application as soon as we have your address — don't wait for the move date to be locked.
Lyon is built around the meeting of two rivers, the Rhône and the Saône, and divided into nine arrondissements. Each has its own character — and its own access reality for a removal vehicle. Here are the patterns we plan for at the survey:
The downtown heart between the rivers — Bellecour, Les Terreaux, Rue de la République. Grand 19th-century blocks, lively streets, and large pedestrianised zones with timed delivery windows. Most addresses need a parking suspension and, often, a smaller vehicle for the final approach.
Lifts are a mixed bag here — fine for boxes, frequently too small for a sofa or wardrobe.
The Renaissance old town is a UNESCO site of narrow medieval lanes and traboules — covered passageways no vehicle can enter. Above it, the Fourvière hill is steep and tight, served historically by funiculars rather than wide roads.
This is classic smaller-van territory: we bring the load to Lyon big, then shuttle it in small.
The old silk-weavers' quarter — a "village within the city" of tall apartments with big windows and high ceilings, much loved and steadily gentrifying. The slopes (the Pentes) are genuinely steep with narrow streets.
Tall buildings plus small lifts means a monte-meubles is common for upper floors.
Lyon's most upscale residential district — wide Haussmann-style streets, elegant flats, and the city's great park. Popular with international families and executives.
Generally good vehicle access and proper service lifts; usually one of the more straightforward delivery days.
Lyon's commercial core around the Part-Dieu TGV station and office towers, with modern apartment blocks and good service lifts. A frequent landing spot for relocating professionals.
Modern buildings make access easier — though city-centre parking still needs planning.
The regenerated southern tip of the Presqu'île — a contemporary eco-district of new builds, wide public spaces and the Musée des Confluences. Among the easiest central areas for a removal.
New construction means lifts and loading access are usually generous.
Diverse, increasingly popular districts east of the Rhône — student energy around Gerland, quieter family streets in Monplaisir, value relative to the centre. A grid of mostly wider streets.
Often simpler access than the historic core, with more kerb space to work with.
Villeurbanne, Caluire-et-Cuire, Écully, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Oullins and the wider region — proper houses with driveways and gardens, plus the corridor towards Grenoble, Annecy and the Alps.
Same long haul from the UK; usually a simpler delivery day than central Lyon.
A handful of things make a Lyon move different from a flat, modern-suburb delivery. Get them right and the day runs smoothly. Get them wrong and the lorry circles while the load waits. This is where running France regularly — and owning smaller vehicles — earns its keep.
Vieux Lyon's medieval lanes, the traboules, the Fourvière and Croix-Rousse hills, and the pedestrianised Presqu'île simply aren't built for a large lorry. We run smaller transhipment vans precisely for these last-leg approaches.
The load travels to Lyon in the big vehicle, then we shuttle it into the tight address with a small one. To you it's seamless; behind the scenes it's two vehicles working together.
Tell us the street name at the quote and we'll size the access plan before the day, not on it.
Many Lyon flats sit in tall canut or Haussmann-style buildings where the original lift is too small for furniture, or stops short of the top floors. The standard solution is a monte-meubles — a portable external lift raised up the facade to the right window or balcony.
We coordinate the hoist operator and the parking reservation together (the lift needs a parked footprint too). For an upper-floor delivery it is usually faster, safer for your furniture and cheaper than a long stair carry.
Send a photo of the building facade and target window when you book — we can tell you within a day whether a hoist is needed.
Most central Lyon addresses need a temporary parking authorisation from the Ville de Lyon or the Métropole to reserve kerb space for the removal vehicle — a half-day or full-day slot, with a small fee.
Applications usually need a couple of weeks' notice, and on the pedestrian Presqu'île there are timed access windows on top. We handle the application as part of the move.
The earlier we have your address, the easier this is to line up with your collection date.
Lyon, Villeurbanne, Caluire-et-Cuire and parts of Bron and Vénissieux sit inside a Zone à Faibles Émissions (ZFE) bounded broadly by the ring road, where older diesel goods vehicles are restricted and a Crit'Air sticker is required.
Our European-route vehicles carry the appropriate Crit'Air classification, and we plan the entry timing around the rules. For the strictest inner streets we use a smaller compliant van for the final leg.
It's rarely something the customer needs to think about — but it catches out movers who don't run France regularly.
Six steps, refined over a decade-and-a-half of European runs:
Optional extras include piano transport, professional dismantling and reassembly of beds and wardrobes, art and antique crating, and short-term UK storage 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 Lyon move — for when the chain doesn't quite line up.
We're not the cheapest mover on the UK-Lyon corridor, and we don't pretend to be. What we offer is a known quantity: the same point of contact from quote to delivery, the same crew handling your move, our own vehicles (not subcontracted), and a feel for what actually goes wrong on a Lyon move day. Here's what tends to matter to clients:
The France consolidation advantage. France is one of our two busiest European corridors. We run France-bound vehicles bi-weekly, often combining a Lyon delivery with stops along the A6 — Beaune, the Beaujolais, onward to Provence — or nearby towns like Villefranche, Vienne and the Grenoble/Annecy corridor. That's why shared-load pricing to Lyon is competitive despite the distance, and why a part-load slot is rarely far away.
Picking your district is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make before the move itself — it shapes your commute, your children's schools, your weekend life, and the flat your budget stretches to. Lyon's character changes from one quarter to the next, so the right area depends on what you're after.
Broadly: the Presqu'île (1st/2nd) and Confluence suit those who want a central, car-free, walkable life. Croix-Rousse and the 7th draw a more bohemian, creative crowd with a strong neighbourhood feel. The 6th arrondissement and parts of Greater Lyon — Écully, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Caluire — are where international families and executives tend to settle for space, schools and calm. Part-Dieu and the 3rd work well for professionals who value being on top of the TGV station. For a wider regional view, our blog on the best places to live in France for English speakers covers Lyon and several other cities in detail.
On cost of living, Lyon is meaningfully more affordable than Paris while still offering a big-city quality of life — one of the main reasons people choose it. Rents vary a lot by district: the same one-bedroom flat in the Presqu'île and in the 8th can differ substantially. Produce from the markets and the famous bouchons can be excellent value, and the TCL transport network (metro, tram, funicular and the Vélo'v bikes) removes the need for a car for most central residents. Sites like Numbeo are useful for ballpark monthly comparisons before you commit.
Health insurance is mandatory for residents and is part of your residency requirements — most arrivals enrol in the public Sécurité Sociale system and add a top-up mutuelle. If you're moving for retirement, our guide on retiring to France from the UK walks through healthcare, pensions and the visa route.
Post-Brexit, every UK to Lyon removal goes through a French customs declaration. The good news: it's well-trodden ground for us, and household goods clear duty-free under Transfer of Residence relief if your paperwork is right. The not-so-good news: getting the paperwork right takes a few weeks of lead time, especially the residence side. Start early.
These are the documents French customs will look at on entry. 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 French import duty and TVA. The qualifying conditions are straightforward but specific:
The relief is requested at the customs declaration alongside your inventory. For vehicles the rules are stricter (the car typically must be in your name for 6+ months, with separate French registration requirements). Worth a separate conversation if you're shipping a car.
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.
France's third-largest city, Lyon increasingly draws UK movers who want big-city opportunity without Paris prices — and the Alps and Provence on the doorstep. The people we move tend to be choosing it for one of three reasons.
Lyon is a major economic hub — banking and finance, a strong life-sciences and pharmaceutical cluster, chemicals, digital and gaming, and the global headquarters of Interpol. The Part-Dieu district concentrates the office towers and the TGV station.
The TGV reaches Paris in around two hours, with onward Eurostar connections to London — workable for those who need to be in the capital regularly.
Lyon is France's second-largest student city and has a growing international-school network, including bilingual and IB options popular with relocating families. The 6th, Écully and the western suburbs cluster many of these.
Family relocations often happen in summer to align with the September school year.
Lyon is widely called France's gastronomic capital — the bouchons, Les Halles Paul Bocuse, two great rivers and a UNESCO-listed old town. Add affordable rents and the Alps an hour or two away, and the appeal is obvious.
For dual-living or a smaller first move, the part-load service is often the right fit.
Useful resources:
Most full household moves from the UK to Lyon land between £3,000 and £7,500 door-to-door, with part-loads from £1,500. Lyon sits a long way south — roughly 700 road miles from a typical UK pickup, close to twice the distance of a Paris run — so the haul is a genuine cost factor, which is exactly why our bi-weekly shared-load service usually works out cheapest. The other variable is access at the Lyon end: the district, whether the building has a lift large enough for furniture, whether a parking suspension is needed, and whether your address is up one of the city's two hills or inside the narrow Renaissance old town. We survey before quoting, so the figure you are given is the figure you pay.
A dedicated van runs door-to-door in 3–6 working days via Dover-Calais or Eurotunnel and the A26 / A6 autoroute corridor (the Autoroute du Soleil). The haul itself is a two-day drive each way once tachograph breaks are accounted for. Shared-load and part-load shipments travel on our scheduled bi-weekly France run, which adds a little time for consolidation but is the most cost-effective option. We give you a firm collection window at booking and an updated delivery window once the French customs file is cleared.
We run France bi-weekly (roughly every two weeks), so there is rarely a long wait for a shared-load or part-load slot to Lyon. France is one of our two busiest European corridors alongside Spain, and Lyon sits naturally on the southern run towards Provence and the Côte d'Azur. Dedicated vans go whenever your dates require; shared and part-loads slot onto the next scheduled departure.
Not always with the big lorry — and that is exactly why we run smaller transhipment vehicles for the final approach. Vieux Lyon (the Renaissance old town) has tight medieval lanes and the famous traboules, the covered passageways that thread between buildings, which no removal vehicle can enter. Croix-Rousse and Fourvière are steep hills with narrow, sometimes cobbled streets. We bring the load to Lyon in the large vehicle, then shuttle it into restricted addresses with a smaller van. Tell us the street at the quote and we will size the access plan correctly.
For most central Lyon addresses, yes. A temporary parking authorisation (autorisation d'occupation temporaire / arrêté de voirie) is issued by the Ville de Lyon or the Métropole and reserves a length of kerb for the removal vehicle for a half-day or full day. It usually needs a couple of weeks' notice and there is a small fee. On the pedestrianised parts of the Presqu'île, timed access windows also apply. We handle the application on your behalf once we have the Lyon address — the earlier the better.
Many Lyon flats sit in tall 19th-century canut (silk-weaver) or Haussmann-style buildings where the original lift is small or there is no lift at all on the upper floors. For these we use a monte-meubles — an external furniture hoist raised up the facade to the right window or balcony. It is the standard French solution, and we coordinate the hoist, the operator and the parking reservation together. Stair carries are fine for boxes and smaller items but become impractical above the third or fourth floor.
It can. Lyon, Villeurbanne, Caluire-et-Cuire and parts of Bron and Vénissieux fall inside a Zone à Faibles Émissions (ZFE) bounded broadly by the ring road, where older diesel goods vehicles are restricted and a Crit'Air sticker is required. Our European-route vehicles carry the appropriate Crit'Air classification, and for the strictest inner streets we use a smaller compliant van for the final leg. It is rarely something the customer needs to worry about — but it catches out movers who do not run France regularly.
The core file is a valued inventory in French (we prepare and translate this), a passport copy, your French residence proof (titre de séjour, long-stay visa or a Lyon tenancy/property document), and proof of UK departure (an HMRC P85 helps). For Transfer of Residence relief — which clears household goods of import duty and TVA — you need to be establishing genuine residence, have owned the goods for 6+ months, and import them within 12 months of moving. We bundle the paperwork as part of every UK to Lyon move.
A dedicated vehicle goes from your UK door straight to your Lyon door — your dates, your van, no detours. Shared-load consolidates several customers heading to France on the same bi-weekly run, splitting the haul cost (often 30–50% cheaper than dedicated, and especially worthwhile over Lyon's longer distance). Part-load suits smaller shipments that don't fill a household — a one-bedroom flat, a studio, a second-home top-up — billed by the cubic feet your goods occupy, from £1,500.
Yes — 2 months of UK storage is included on every UK-Lyon and Lyon-UK move. It is genuinely useful when timings don't line up: a UK completion that slips, a French lease handover, a visa still in process, or a parking slot that doesn't match your collection date. Storage is at our secure containerised facility in Oxfordshire, with no penalty if you need an extra week or two.
Yes. As well as the nine arrondissements we deliver across Greater Lyon — Villeurbanne, Caluire-et-Cuire, Écully, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Oullins, Bron, Vénissieux and the surrounding communes — and the wider Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Lyon also sits on the corridor towards Grenoble, Chambéry, Annecy and the Alps, the Beaujolais north of the city, and onward to Geneva, so we can often combine a Lyon delivery with nearby drops.
Yes. Returners use the same corridor in reverse — collection in Lyon, customs export through France, ferry or tunnel crossing, delivery in the UK. The UK side uses ToR1 (HMRC's Transfer of Residence relief), which we apply for on your behalf before the goods arrive. Quote requests with collection in Lyon and delivery in the UK go through the same online form.
Heading to Lyon, or coming back to the UK — we run both directions on our bi-weekly France service.
Call us on +44 7861 930529
Most quotes come back the same working day. No call centres, no pressure, no fine print.
We deliver across all nine Lyon arrondissements, Greater Lyon and the surrounding Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The most-requested areas on our route sheet:
Don't see your destination? We quote for anywhere in and around Lyon — just ask. We also serve the wider France network, including Paris, Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and the Dordogne, plus the corridor towards Grenoble, Annecy and the Alps.
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.
France is one of our two most-travelled European corridors (alongside Spain). We've been running it since 2011, which means we've seen most of what Lyon can throw at a removal day — the traboule you can't get a vehicle near, the canut lift that's 5cm too narrow, the steep Croix-Rousse street that needs the small van.
Experience doesn't make those things stop happening. It does mean we have a Plan B ready when they do.
A shared-load Lyon run carries several customers' belongings in a single France-bound vehicle — multiple separate long-haul journeys avoided, which is meaningful diesel saved over a 1,400-mile round trip. We use reusable blankets and recyclable boxes wherever the move format allows.
On the longer Lyon distance, shared-load is usually the cheapest option and the lowest-carbon one. Win-win, when the dates allow.
Recurring themes from France-route reviews: how cleanly the customs paperwork was handled, the smaller van turning up for a tight old-town address, the monte-meubles going up smoothly, the crew respecting both the new home and the building's other residents. We're proud of those — and of the quiet moves where nothing dramatic happened at all.
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