Devon → Portugal
Removals from Devon to Portugal.
The far corner of the continent and the longest drive we do. Everything that goes to Portugal crosses Spain first, so the planning is a Spanish run with another day on the end — and the paperwork is its own thing entirely.
Portugal has changed as a destination. It used to mean the Algarve and very little else. It still mostly means the Algarve, but Lisbon, Porto, the Silver Coast and the cheaper interior now make up a real share of what we send, and the people moving are younger than they were.
Getting there
Out of Devon the same way as everything else — M5, M25, Channel crossing — then down through France on the western corridor past Bordeaux, over the Pyrenees at Irún, and into Spain. From there it depends where you are going.
Northern Portugal comes in across Galicia towards Porto. Lisbon and the centre come through Salamanca and across the border at Vilar Formoso. The Algarve runs down through Spain to Seville and crosses at the Guadiana into Faro. Three different Spanish routes for three different parts of a fairly small country.
Destinations
The Algarve
Faro, Tavira, Lagos, Albufeira, Loulé and the inland villages behind the coast. The best-served part of Portugal and the most predictable to deliver into, with the usual exception of hillside villas on steep private drives.
Lisbon and the Setúbal peninsula
City apartment moves with the complications that implies — narrow older streets in Alfama and Bairro Alto, lifts that will not take furniture, and some genuinely severe hills. Hoists are used here as they are in Italy.
The Silver Coast
Nazaré, Óbidos, Caldas da Rainha, Peniche. Growing quickly with British and other northern European buyers, mostly houses rather than apartments, and generally easier access than the cities.
Porto and the north
A working city rather than a resort, with an old centre that has the same access constraints as Lisbon and a hinterland of villages in the Douro that do not.
Central Portugal
Tomar, Castelo Branco, Coimbra and the interior. Cheaper property, more land, more renovation projects, and rural tracks that decide the final vehicle.
The paperwork
You will need a NIF before anything can be entered. Household goods move as baggagem — a personal-effects import tied to a change of residence — which requires a certificate of residence from the Portuguese authorities and an inventory that genuinely matches what is on the vehicle.
Portugal is reasonable about all of this, but it is procedural. The documents have to agree with each other and with the load. We prepare the UK export side and work with a Portuguese agent on the import entry.
Before you ask for a price
Have the destination region, the type of property, the access at the far end, the rough volume and your date flexibility. The hub page explains how groupage scheduling works, which matters more on this route than any other because of the distance. If you are choosing between here and Spain, the transport considerations are similar — the paperwork is not.
Devon to Portugal — questions
What is a NIF and when do we need it?
The Portuguese tax number. It is needed for the import entry and for essentially every transaction in Portugal, including buying or renting. Get it before the move — the customs paperwork cannot be completed without one and that holds the load, not the lorry.
What does "baggagem" mean on our paperwork?
It is the Portuguese term for a personal-effects import — household goods accompanying a change of residence. It carries relief from duty where the conditions are met, and it needs the certificate of residence and an inventory that matches the load.
Is the Algarve still the main destination?
Still the largest by some distance, though the Silver Coast and the area around Porto have grown a lot. Central Portugal — Tomar, Castelo Branco, the interior — is cheaper again and attracting people who would once have gone to the coast.
Does the load go through Spain?
Every time, overland. There is no realistic direct route, so a Portuguese move is a Spanish transit plus a final leg. That is why it is the longest of the four and why transit windows are wider.
Can you deliver to a rural quinta?
Yes, with the usual caveat about the final approach. Portuguese country tracks can be rough, and after rain some are genuinely impassable to a heavy vehicle. Photographs and an honest description of the last kilometre are worth more than any assurance we could give you here.
What about damp and storage at the far end?
Worth thinking about. Portuguese houses that have stood empty can be damp, and unloading soft furnishings into one is asking for trouble. If the property has been shut up, air it before delivery day or let us hold the load briefly.
Moving to Portugal from Devon?
Send us the two addresses and roughly what's going. We'll come back with a written quote once we've had a proper look at it.