Removals from Tunbridge Wells to Italy

Italy rewards planning at the destination end more than any of the four. Historic centres are ringed by restricted traffic zones with cameras, permits and hours, and a great many of the properties people buy sit inside them. Getting a vehicle to the door is a paperwork exercise conducted weeks in advance, not a decision made on the morning.

The route

the A21 north to the M25 or south-east to the Kent crossings — either way the coast is close Then the long run south through France, where it forks: the Alpine tunnels via the Gotthard, Fréjus or Mont Blanc for the north, or Provence into Liguria and the A12 past Genoa for Tuscany and below. In winter that fork becomes a real decision rather than a formality.

Where deliveries go

• Tuscany — Florence, Siena, Lucca, the Chianti, the Val d'Orcia
• Umbria and Le Marche — Perugia, Todi, Spoleto, the Sibillini foothills
• Piedmont and Liguria — Turin, the Langhe, the Riviera di Ponente
• Lombardy and the lakes — Milan, Como, Maggiore, Garda
• The Veneto — Verona, Padua, the Dolomite approaches
• Rome and Lazio — apartment deliveries inside restricted-access zones

The last hundred metres

Rural Italy has its own version of the same problem. A stone house at the end of a white road, a courtyard entrance built for a cart, a village square that a long vehicle cannot turn in. We ask for photographs of the final approach before quoting, because the difference between driving to the door and carrying from the square is the difference between a straightforward delivery and a long afternoon.

Customs

Household effects entering Italy attract relief when residence is being transferred, but the case is made on documentation: your codice fiscale, evidence of residence being established, and a valued inventory in the format Italian customs expect. They are more particular about presentation than most, so we prepare it to that standard.

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.