London to Italy by man with a van. Small loads welcome.
Small removals, part loads and full vans from London to Milan, Tuscany, Rome and the south. The van goes over the Alps through France, and the export declaration and Italian customs inventory are sorted by us.
Small removals and part loads to Italy
Most of what we take to Italy is not a whole house. You do not need to hire a whole van for a room’s worth of things. A part load shares a van that is already making the run, so you pay for the space your belongings take up and nothing more. The crew, the wrapping and the paperwork are exactly the same as on a full move.
What counts as small?
- A student’s belongings going back to university in Bologna, Padua or Rome.
- The contents of a spare room heading to a holiday home.
- A few pieces of furniture bought in London for a flat in Milan.
- Boxes, a bike and a bed, the classic one-room move.
- A single big item, such as a sofa, a dresser or an upright piano.
Just one item? Single-item delivery works the same way, on a van that is already going.
How does a shared van work?
- Tell us what is going Send a list or a few photos through the quote form. We work out how much of the van your things will take up.
- We fit it to a run Your load is matched to a van already heading to your part of Italy, and you get a fixed price for your share.
- Collected and listed Two crew collect from your London address, wrap everything and put it on the inventory with the rest of the load.
- Delivered in order The van unloads stop by stop down the route. The crew rings before they reach you and carries your things inside.
The catch is the date. A shared van leaves when the run is ready, so it suits people who can be flexible. Need a set date? Book a full van direct. Our services page compares the two.
How does the van get from London to Italy?
Every Italy run leaves our yard at Purfleet, on London’s eastern edge by the Dartford Crossing, crosses the Channel and drives south through France. It enters Italy by one of three crossings, picked by where you live and what the mountains are doing. Customs are done before any of them, so the border into Italy is just a road.
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Fréjus tunnel
From Lyon and Chambéry into Piedmont. The usual way to Turin, Milan and the north-west.
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Mont Blanc tunnel
From Chamonix into the Aosta valley. It suits the Aosta valley, the lakes and much of Lombardy.
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Ventimiglia coast road
Along the French Riviera into Liguria. It suits the Italian coast and keeps the van off the mountain passes in bad weather.
North, centre and south
- The north: Milan, Turin and the lakes
- The first stop after the Alps. City flats with a portineria and a tight courtyard, and lakeside houses up narrow roads. We book the lift and the loading space with the building before we arrive.
- The centre: Tuscany, Umbria and Rome
- Farmhouses at the end of strade bianche, hill towns with restricted traffic zones (ZTL), and Rome’s centro storico. We apply for ZTL access where your address needs it, and switch to a smaller vehicle for unmade roads.
- The south and the islands
- Puglia, Campania, Sicily and Sardinia are the longest drives on this corridor. The islands add a ferry from the mainland, with the crew travelling on board. Customs are done by then, so there is no second clearance at the island port.
Customs, codice fiscale and the rest.
Your household goods go into Italy free of duty and VAT under the franchigia doganale per trasferimento di residenza, as long as they are things you have owned and used before the move. There is a minimum period you must have owned them for, and we go through the list against it at survey. We lodge the UK export declaration and write the inventory. The goods clear where they enter the EU on the French side of the Channel, or travel under customs transit to an Italian customs office and clear there.
| Document | What it is | Who sorts it |
|---|---|---|
| UK export declaration | The customs declaration that records your belongings leaving the UK. | Us. We lodge it with HMRC as your remover. |
| Inventory | An itemised list of the load in English and Italian, signed by you. | Us, from the survey. You sign it. |
| Franchigia doganale per trasferimento di residenza | Italy’s relief from duty and VAT on household goods when you move your residence, granted under Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009. | You claim it. We prepare the file with the inventory and present it with the load. |
| Proof of residence | Evidence that your normal home is moving to Italy, such as registration with the comune (iscrizione anagrafica) or a declaration made through the Italian consulate. | You. We tell you which version customs will accept for your case. |
| Codice fiscale | Your Italian tax code, needed for a lease, utilities and a bank account. | You, from an Italian consulate before you leave or the Agenzia delle Entrate in Italy. |
| Visa, then permesso di soggiorno | An entry visa for your situation, such as elective residence, followed by the residence permit you apply for after arriving. | You. We plan the move date around it. |
What comes with every Italy move?
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Collection anywhere in London
Any London postcode, plus Essex and Kent on request. Two crew load in London, and the same two unload in Italy.
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Export declaration and inventory
We lodge the UK export declaration and write the inventory in English and Italian for your franchigia claim.
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Cover and protection
Goods-in-transit cover comes on every move, and all-risks cover is available. Furniture is blanket-wrapped, and we box fragile things if you want us to.
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The last mile
Where an unmade road or a historic centre stops the big van, we switch to a smaller vehicle and finish the delivery in that.
What moves the Italy price
Your price is fixed and worked out from three things: how much you are sending, how far south it is going and what the access is like at each end. A part load shares the van and the cost of the run with other customers, while a full van runs direct for you alone. Island addresses add a ferry, and a strada bianca or a ZTL adds a smaller vehicle for the last stretch. All of it is shown in the quote.
We were sure we would have to hire a whole van for what was really a spare room and a few bits of furniture. They put us on a shared van going to Tuscany instead. The track up to the house is gravel and steep, and they had checked it from our photos and brought a smaller van for the last bit. Someone from their office rang the neighbour who keeps our key, in Italian, which spared us a lot of nervous phone calls. Every box was ticked off the inventory as it came in, and the old bookcase we were most worried about arrived without a mark on it.
Leaving a London flat first? We do local moves too, through man and van London, and the removals from London page lists every route. You can also call us on 0800 652 7561.
What people ask about Italy.
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A small removal to Italy is any load that fills only part of a van: a room’s worth of boxes, a student’s belongings, a few pieces of furniture or one large item. There is no fixed cut-off. If it does not need the whole van, it can travel as a part load, sharing the space and the cost of the run with other customers heading over the Alps. Your things are wrapped, labelled and listed on the inventory exactly as they would be on a full move, and they are loaded so they come off at your address without being dug out from behind somebody else’s sofa. The trade-off is timing, because a shared van leaves when the run is ready rather than on a date set by you alone. If you need a fixed date, book a full van direct instead.
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You book space on a run, we collect from your London address, and your goods stay on the same van all the way to Italy. The route is planned so each delivery comes off in order. You get a delivery window once the run is confirmed, and the crew rings you before they arrive.
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Usually not, provided you are moving your home there. Italy grants the franchigia doganale per trasferimento di residenza, which waives duty and VAT on personal belongings you have owned and used before the move (Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 sets the conditions, including how long you must have had them, and we check that at survey). Our part is the UK export declaration, lodged as your remover, and a bilingual English–Italian inventory. You will need to show that you are moving your normal residence to Italy, usually through registration with the comune or a declaration via the Italian consulate. The goods are cleared where they enter the EU on the French side of the Channel, or travel under customs transit to an Italian customs office and clear there. There is no customs stop at the border between France and Italy.
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The van crosses the Channel, drives south through France and enters Italy by the Fréjus tunnel, the Mont Blanc tunnel or the coast road into Ventimiglia. We choose by where you are going and what the weather is doing in the mountains. Northern addresses usually go through one of the tunnels, while the Ligurian coast can suit the coast road.
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The move itself does not need one, but almost everything after it does, including a lease, utilities and a bank account. You can get a codice fiscale from an Italian consulate before you leave or from the Agenzia delle Entrate once you are in Italy. Your visa and permesso di soggiorno are separate, so check them with official sources or an adviser.
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Usually, yes, although not always in the full van. We check the road from your photos or at survey. If the big van cannot make it, we transfer the load to a smaller vehicle on the tarmac and finish the delivery in that.
Anything not covered here may be on our main FAQ page. Ready to price it? Get a quote.
London to Italy · small loads or a full van
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