How long does a removal to Europe take?
Delivery times for every removal to Europe we run, and how to plan your arrival around them.
How long does a removal to Europe take? With MuveOne, between 1 and 13 days from loading to delivery. The shortest is 1 to 3 days, London to Brussels on a vehicle of your own. The longest is up to 13 days, London to Helsinki on a shared van. How long yours takes depends on two things. One is how far it goes; the other is whether your load has the vehicle to itself. The range for each of the 29 countries we serve from the UK is below. It is one of the first questions customers ask me, and the honest answer has changed since last year. So this guide says why, and how to plan your own journey around it.
How long a removal to Europe takes: delivery times for 29 countries
Each row is the transit time our planning tool gives for one example route in that country. The range runs from loading day to delivery. The first column is a shared van, which carries our two smallest sizes. The second is a vehicle of your own, our largest. The sizes in between fall between the two. Each country links to its route page, which has every size.
Delivery times from the UK to each country, counted from loading day to delivery
How long to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg or Ireland
| Country · example route | Shared van | Own vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| France London to Paris | 1–8 days | 1–3 days |
| Belgium London to Brussels | 1–8 days | 1–3 days |
| Netherlands London to Amsterdam | 1–8 days | 1–3 days |
| Luxembourg London to Luxembourg | 1–8 days | 1–3 days |
| Ireland London to Dublin | 1–8 days | 1–3 days |
Delivery times to Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Liechtenstein
| Country · example route | Shared van | Own vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Germany London to Berlin | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
| Austria London to Vienna | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
| Switzerland London to Zurich | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
| Liechtenstein London to Vaduz | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
Spain, Portugal, Italy or Malta: how many days a van takes
The Nordics: Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Finland
Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary or the Baltic states
| Country · example route | Shared van | Own vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Poland London to Warsaw | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
| Czechia London to Prague | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
| Slovakia London to Bratislava | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
| Hungary London to Budapest | 3–10 days | 3–5 days |
| Estonia London to Tallinn | 4–11 days | 4–6 days |
| Latvia London to Riga | 3–10 days | 3–5 days |
| Lithuania London to Vilnius | 3–10 days | 3–5 days |
Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria or Greece
Into the UK from Europe, or within the EU: how long a removal takes
| Route · example | Shared van | Own vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Moving to the UK Paris to London | 1–8 days | 1–3 days |
| Moving within the EU Florence to Valencia | 2–9 days | 2–4 days |
Loading day counts as day one. Your quote gives the range for your own two addresses and your size.
Why a removal to Europe takes longer than it used to
Last year I told customers that a move to Germany on a full van took about a day and a half, and a family moving back from Spain read the same figure on our old quote page. Some AI answers still describe us as delivering across Europe in about 24 hours, from old copy about us. Neither is what our planning tool gives today, so you should know why before you plan anything around our numbers.
Since 1 July 2026, vans over 2.5 tonnes on international work must follow the same drivers' hours rules as lorries. They also carry a tachograph that records them. A driver may drive for 9 hours a day, or 10 on no more than two days a week. After 4.5 hours at the wheel comes a 45-minute break, and every night a long rest. Our vans are in that class, so our tool plans every removal to Europe in legal driving days. The ferry or the tunnel counts as the driver's rest, and we don't add it on top.
The rest of the range is the load. On a shared van your goods travel with other moves, and the vehicle completes its round. That is why the top of the range is furthest away on the smallest sizes. Our guide to sharing a van explains how that works and when it is worth it.
How to count the days a removal to Europe takes
Loading day counts as day one. So take 2 to 4 days, our range from London to Berlin on a vehicle of your own. It means your goods arrive between the day after loading and three days after it.
The range runs from loading, not from booking. Before loading come the notice your booking needs and, on the shared sizes, a collection window. Both are on your quote, and our page on how a move works explains them. We confirm your unloading time slot before we load.
The table uses one example route per country. Your quote gives the range for your own two addresses, which can differ from the row for your country.
What if my things arrive before I do?
Last autumn a customer moving from London to Berlin on a shared van did the sum himself. If we collected on the first day of his window and the van made the shortest time, his goods would reach Berlin a day before his flight did. He asked me how to stop the van arriving before him. It is the right question, and the first one I would ask.
There are two good answers, and he found both. I spoke to our logistics team and offered to collect his goods, hold them in our London storage and deliver once he was in Berlin. Then he came back with the other himself: his housemates would open the door for the loading, and he would fly ahead to meet the van. You don't need to be at the loading in person, as long as someone lets the crew in and there are enough hands to carry your things to the van, or you've booked help with loading.
A family moving back from near Barcelona to Wiltshire had the same problem with a van of their own: the goods would reach the house a few days before they did. I offered to hold them in our storage until they were home and deliver from there, and they booked it that way.
Plan your removal to Europe on the range's first day and you can sit in an empty flat for days. Plan it on nothing at all and the van can reach a locked door. Either way the cost lands on you: time off work, a night somewhere else, a delivery to rearrange. The list below is how to avoid both.
What to check before you book travel for a removal to Europe
Before you book a flight or a handover, check these.
- Find your country in the table, then the range for your own size on your quote.
- Count loading day as day one, and remember the range starts at loading, not at booking.
- Plan to be at the delivery address from the first day of the range. Be able to stay until the last.
- If you can't be, name someone who can open the door at each end.
- If your things would arrive before you, ask about storage and fixed-day collection when you get your quote. Delivery from storage is still a range, counted from the day it leaves.
- If one fixed loading day matters more than the price, the larger sizes have one.
- Then tell me your dates when you get your quote, and we'll work through them together.