Greenwich → Portugal
Removals from Greenwich to Portugal
The furthest we drive, and the route that rewards a head start more than any other. Most of what makes a Portuguese move go smoothly happens weeks before the van arrives.
There is a version of this page that would tell you Portugal is easy. It is not difficult, but it is long, and it carries a set of consular documents that move at their own pace regardless of how organised you are. Started early it goes calmly. Started late it does not, and we would rather say that at the top than at the border.
What makes it worth doing by road is the handling. A sea shipment is loaded, containerised, craned, shipped, unloaded and trucked — a great many hands. A road move is packed at your Greenwich address and unpacked at your Portuguese one, and in between nothing happens to it except the driving.
The order to do things in
Yours first, then ours
Start these as soon as you decide
Yours to obtain
- The NIF
- The Portuguese tax number, and the reference the customs entry is filed against. Obtained through a fiscal representative or the consulate. Nothing else can be completed properly until it exists.
- The certificado de bagagem
- A baggage certificate from the Portuguese consulate confirming your household goods accompany a change of residence. It is the document duty relief depends on, and it is a consular process that runs at its own speed.
- Proof of your Portuguese address
- A rental contract, the deeds, or the atestado de residência from your junta de freguesia.
These are ours
We do them, you check them
- The inventory
- Written at survey, describing contents rather than counting cartons, and numbered so it matches the load exactly. It becomes the customs document.
- The declaration
- We compile and lodge it from the inventory and the documents you supply, and chase anything missing before the vehicle is loaded rather than after.
- The delivery access
- Checked on satellite and, for anything rural, with photographs from you. Algarve properties at the end of a track behind a car-width gate are extremely common.
The route
A102 or A2 out of Greenwich, M25, M20, then tunnel or ferry. France end to end — the A26 and A10 down the Atlantic side through Bordeaux, over the border at Irun. Across northern Spain on the AP-1 and A-62 through Burgos and Valladolid, then in at Vilar Formoso for the north and centre, or south through Salamanca and Badajoz for Lisbon and the Algarve. From Lisbon the A2 runs down to the south coast.
Where in Portugal
The Algarve still takes the majority of our Portuguese work — Lagos, Portimão, Albufeira, Tavira and the villages inland from all of them. Villas, apartments and a great many properties up a track behind a gate, which is why access photographs matter here more than anywhere else we deliver.
Lisbon and the Setúbal peninsula are work moves and city apartments. Narrow streets in the older bairros, hills that genuinely constrain what a vehicle can do, and lifts that want booking with the building.
The Silver Coast — Caldas da Rainha, Óbidos, Nazaré, Peniche — has grown steadily with people who looked at the Algarve and decided it was busy. Mostly houses, mostly workable access.
Porto and the north is fewer loads, a longer drive and the most apartment-heavy deliveries on the Portuguese book.
Deciding what actually goes
This is the route where that question earns its keep, because every item travels the full distance. The honest test is whether you would buy it again. Solid furniture, things with history, anything you would miss — take it. A sofa that was tired when you bought it is cheaper to replace than to transport, and Portugal is not short of furniture shops.
Climate deserves a thought too. Heavy winter furnishings and thick carpets rarely earn their space in the Algarve, and anything with a woodworm history should stay in London.
Timing it around the purchase
Portuguese completions do not always land when everyone expects. If your UK sale finishes first — and it often does — storage here bridges the gap and the load goes out when the Portuguese date is firm.
Looking at Spain as well? Most of this drive is the same route — removals from Greenwich to Spain covers it, and the hub page sets all four side by side.
Moving to Portugal — honest answers
How long is the drive from Greenwich to Portugal?
It is the longest route we run — the whole length of France, across northern Spain, then in at the border. A multi-day job with mandatory driver rest built in, which is exactly why Portuguese loads are planned further ahead than French ones. Your written quote sets out the expected window for your particular move.
Is it road all the way, or does it go by sea?
Road, in nearly every case. Some firms ship to Lisbon or Leixões; we drive, because a road move means your things are handled at your address and at the delivery address and nowhere in between. Fewer hands is the whole argument.
What is a certificado de bagagem?
A baggage certificate issued by the Portuguese consulate confirming that your goods are personal effects accompanying a change of residence. It is what duty relief rests on, so apply for it well before the load travels.
Do I need an NIF first?
Yes. It is straightforward to obtain, usually through a fiscal representative or the consulate, but it takes time and everything else is filed against it. Start it as soon as the move is decided.
Can you deliver into the Algarve hills?
Usually, with a shuttle. Plenty of properties sit at the end of a track with a gate the width of a car. We check the approach on satellite and send you what we see if we think a large vehicle will not make it — so it is planned, not improvised at the gate.
Is my furniture worth taking that far?
Solid furniture, yes. Anything already tired is rarely worth the space on the longest route we run — you would be paying to carry it further than anything else in the van. We give a straight view at survey rather than quietly billing you for the volume.
What about heat and damp?
Both matter more here than on the shorter routes. Wax-polished furniture, veneers and anything with old glue dislike the Algarve summer. If the property is not ready, storing here and delivering later is better than leaving a load standing somewhere unsuitable at the far end.
Can you collect elsewhere in the UK for a Portuguese load?
Yes. Portugal loads are frequently consolidated, so a collection in London, Bristol or further north can join a run that starts in south-east London. Ask when you enquire — the timing depends on what is already booked.
Thinking about Portugal?
Get in touch early, even with vague dates. The paperwork rewards a head start more than any other route we run.