Removals from Tunbridge Wells to France

West Kent is closer to the crossings than almost anywhere else in the country. A vehicle loaded in Tunbridge Wells can be at Folkestone or Dover inside the first leg, which shortens the part of a French move people worry about most and lengthens the part that actually matters — what happens at the far end.

The route

the A21 north to the M25 or south-east to the Kent crossings — either way the coast is close After the crossing it is Calais or Coquelles and the A16 or A26 south, then whichever way the destination takes you: the A28 and A13 for Normandy, the A11 for Brittany and the Loire, the A10 through Poitiers for the Charente and Dordogne, and the A7 down the Rhône for Provence.

Where deliveries go

• Normandy and the north — Rouen, Caen, Calvados, the Cotentin
• Brittany and the Loire — Rennes, Vannes, Nantes and the coast
• Charente, Dordogne and the Lot — stone houses down long lanes
• Occitanie and the south-west — Toulouse, the Tarn, the Aude
• Provence and the Riviera — Aix, the Var, the Alpes-Maritimes
• Paris and the Île-de-France — apartment deliveries with their own access rules

What travels badly, and what to do about it

This town sends more antique furniture to France than most places send full stop. Veneer lifts in a hot lorry, marble cracks on a long road, and gilt marks if anything touches it. Those pieces are cased or crated at survey rather than blanketed, and they are listed individually on the inventory so the same list works as a customs document and as a condition record.

Customs

A household move to France is a formal customs entry. It needs a detailed inventory in the form French customs expect, evidence you are transferring your normal residence, and the supporting documents for relief on personal effects — the French address, the previous UK address and the timing. We build the inventory at survey and prepare the declaration from it, and tell you at the start which documents have to come from you.

Dedicated vehicle or shared space

A dedicated vehicle means your dates and the fewest handlings. Shared space means a lower cost, a delivery window rather than a named day, and more handlings along the way. On a household with pieces you would mind losing, the handling count is a real argument for a dedicated vehicle, and we will make that argument rather than quietly selling the cheaper option.

Starting the move

Both addresses, rough dates, a sense of the volume, and whether shared space is an option for you. We will survey and quote in writing. See European removals for how the four compare.