Two removal workers carrying a cardboard box down a narrow cobbled Lisbon street towards an open van

International movers in Lisbon: what to line up.

Three different products

Sole use, shared load, or a van that drives

Almost every confusing quote for a cross-border move comes down to which of these three you were actually priced for. They are not variations on one service; they behave differently on time, on cost and on risk.

A container to yourself

Your things travel alone and the dates are yours. It is the fastest and the least fussy option, and for a studio it is usually the most expensive per box you will ever pay, because you are renting the empty space too.

A shared load, or groupage

Your consignment waits until the rest of the vehicle fills. Considerably cheaper and considerably less predictable: ask for the delivery window in weeks, not days, and ask what happens if it slips.

A van driving across Europe

For anywhere in western Europe a road move can beat both, especially for one or two rooms. Ask how many other jobs are on that van, because that is what decides whether your delivery date is a plan or a hope.

Ask before you sign

The questions that separate a real quote from a number

Cross-border quotes are hard to compare because each firm draws the line in a different place. These are the six answers that make two prices comparable.

Door to door, or door to port?
A price that ends at a port is not a price for your move. Ask explicitly what happens at the far end: who unloads, who carries up, and who pays for the vehicle if the street there is also narrow.
Who handles the paperwork?
Moves inside the EU are one thing; moving from the UK or the United States involves an import procedure and a document trail. Ask whether the company prepares it, whether it is included, and — this is the one people forget — who pays if a charge is levied at the border.
What is the insurance actually?
There is transport liability, which is limited by weight and is not really insurance, and there is a policy covering declared value. Ask which one you are being offered and what the excess is. If the answer is vague, get it in writing.
Is there an inventory?
For anything crossing a customs border you will end up listing what you own. A firm that offers to do the inventory with you is doing you a favour; one that leaves it entirely to you on the morning of the move is not.
Where does it wait?
Shared loads sit somewhere between collection and departure. Ask where, for how long, and whether storage at either end is charged separately once a free period runs out.
What if the date moves?
Lease dates and completion dates slip. Ask what it costs to change the collection week, because on international jobs that is the term most likely to bite and the one least likely to be mentioned.
The Lisbon end

What is specific about loading or unloading here

A large international vehicle meeting an old Lisbon street is where international moves go wrong, and it is entirely predictable.

  • The big vehicle may not fit at all. Plenty of streets in the historic centre cannot take an articulated lorry or a tall box van. The usual answer is a shuttle: a small van does the last stretch, and that transfer is a real cost that belongs in the quote rather than in a surprise on the day.
  • Ask about the parking reservation early. On a narrow street the space has to be reserved with the municipality in advance — see the parking permit page — and for a foreign company that is the step most likely to be left to you.
  • Lifts here are small. A lift in a 1950s Lisbon building often fits two people and a suitcase, not a wardrobe. Measure the door of the lift and tell the company the number before they quote, not after.
  • Late August and September are the crush. Academic contracts, lease dates and the end of the summer stack up. For those weeks, six to eight weeks of notice is not cautious, it is normal.
  • Somebody local should be at the Lisbon end. If you are still abroad on collection or delivery day, nominate someone with keys, a phone and the authority to sign. Crews will not guess.
  • Say if it is only part of a household. Half a flat to Amsterdam and the other half into storage is a common brief, and it is a different vehicle and a different price from either job on its own.
What this page does not claim. We are not customs agents and this is not legal or tax advice. Import rules, allowances and any exemption for personal belongings depend on where you are coming from and on your own situation — check them with the Portuguese tax and customs authority or with a licensed agent. What we can do is make sure the removal companies you talk to answer the questions above in writing.
Both ends

Common routes in and out of Greater Lisbon

These are the origins and destinations that come up most often in this market. If yours is not listed, it does not mean nobody drives it.

NetherlandsBelgiumGermanyUnited KingdomFranceSpainSwitzerlandItalyUnited StatesBrazilLisboaCascaisSintraSetúbal

Related: HomeMan with a vanWhat it costsVan parking permit TransportadoraEmpresa de mudanças

Cross-border questions

What people ask about moving country

How early should an international move be booked?

Six to eight weeks is comfortable, and for a September arrival in Lisbon it is close to the minimum. Shared loads in particular depend on other people's timing, so the earlier you are in the queue the more your dates are your own.

Is a shared load worth the wait?

For one or two rooms it very often is, because you stop paying for empty space. The trade is predictability: ask for the delivery window as a range of weeks and ask what the company does if it slips. If you need your bed on a fixed date, pay for the space.

Can I put the car in with the furniture?

Sometimes, and it is a different regime with its own paperwork and its own charges. Say at the quote stage that a vehicle is involved — discovering it at loading is how a booking falls apart.

What about the things I should not send?

Every carrier has a refusal list, and it is longer than people expect: fuel, aerosols, open bottles, some cleaning products, occasionally plants. Ask for their list in writing and empty the shed accordingly.

Who signs for delivery if I have not arrived yet?

Someone you nominate, in writing, before the vehicle leaves. In Lisbon that is often a colleague or the landlord. Whoever it is should know they are also the person noting damage on the delivery sheet, because after that signature it gets harder.

Do you handle the move yourselves?

No. This site collects your details and passes them to independent removal and transport companies that run these routes. They quote, they carry, they insure and they invoice. We are the introduction, not the contract.

Not sure which product you need

Tell us the two addresses and the month

Even roughly. That is enough to say whether you are looking at a shared load, a dedicated vehicle or a van run, and roughly what each would cost.

One brief, several international quotes

Send the route once and let the companies that actually drive it answer.

Get quotes for the route