Removals from Camden to France

Getting out of Camden is the first hour of a French move and the one people never budget for. Loading in NW1 at eight is not the same as loading at eleven, and the difference is measured in the whole rest of the day. So a French load leaves early, takes the North Circular or the A40 out rather than fighting through the centre, and joins the M20 with the crossing time still comfortable.

The route

out on the North Circular or the A40, round the M25 and down the M20 to the Kent crossings 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

Flats at both ends

A Camden move to France is frequently flat-to-flat, and the second flat is the one nobody has measured. French apartment buildings in the older towns have their own version of the problems here — a narrow stair, a courtyard entrance built before lorries, and an access code somebody forgot to pass on. We ask for photographs of the destination approach before quoting, because the last twenty metres decide the delivery.

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.