Fulham → Portugal
Removals from Fulham to Portugal
The furthest of the four by road, and the one where households tend to move completely rather than partially. If you are going to Portugal you are usually going properly — and the load reflects that.
Portugal changed character over the last decade. It used to be almost entirely retirement to the Algarve. Now a good share of the Fulham households we move that way are working — remote workers in Lisbon and Cascais, families who wanted the coast without giving up a career, people who looked at the cost of a house in SW6 and did the arithmetic.
The practical consequence is that Portuguese loads have got larger and more complete. A retirement move often left the London furniture behind. A family relocating takes the lot, which means a full export pack and a longer planning runway.
The long way round
There is no short route to Portugal from London, and anyone telling you otherwise is not driving it. From Fulham the vehicle goes round the M25 to the M20 and through the tunnel as usual, then runs the whole western length of France — Rouen, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers, Bordeaux.
At Bordeaux it continues south to the Spanish border at Irún, and then crosses almost the entire Iberian peninsula: Burgos, Valladolid, Salamanca, and out to the Portuguese frontier at Vilar Formoso. From there the A25 runs west towards Aveiro and the coast for Porto and the north, or the A23 and A1 turn south for Coimbra, Lisbon, the Alentejo and the Algarve.
It is a serious drive with mandatory rest periods built into it, and we plan and price it honestly rather than pretending a vehicle can do it in one push. The Algarve in particular is close to the far end of continental Europe from SW6.
NIF first, everything else second
If you take one thing from this page: get your número de identificação fiscal before you do anything else. The NIF is the Portuguese tax number and it underpins every subsequent step — renting, buying, residency, customs. It can be obtained through a fiscal representative or at a consulate, and it is the single most common bottleneck in a Portuguese move.
With the NIF in hand the rest follows: proof of your Portuguese address through a deed or rental contract, your residency certificate or evidence that the application is in progress, and then the document that matters most for us.
The certificado de bagagem
Portugal's process pivots on the baggage certificate. It is obtained through the Portuguese consulate covering your UK address, and it formally records the household goods you are importing as used personal effects belonging to you. It is built from the inventory.
Which is why the inventory has to be right. It needs to be itemised and valued in Portuguese, and — crucially — it needs to match what is actually on the vehicle. If the certificate lists one thing and the load contains another, clearance stops while somebody reconciles the two. That is the most common Portuguese delay and it is entirely a paperwork problem rather than a transport one.
We prepare the inventory to the standard the certificate needs, handle the export declaration and the transit documentation, and tell you when to apply for what. You cannot start the consular side too early.
Delivering in Portugal
The Algarve is mostly kind. Villas and apartments on the coast generally have room to park and a usable approach. The exceptions are hillside properties above Lagos, Carvoeiro or Ferragudo, where the drive up is steep, narrow and occasionally unmade — a smaller vehicle for the final leg solves it, but only if we know.
The cities are harder. Lisbon's Alfama and Bairro Alto are steep, cobbled and narrow in a way that has to be seen. Porto's Ribeira is much the same. Buildings in both have staircases that make a Walham Green conversion look spacious, and some deliveries genuinely need an external hoist through a window. All of which is fine, and all of which needs establishing before the load leaves Fulham rather than on arrival.
The Silver Coast and the Alentejo sit between the two: rural properties with good main-road access and sometimes a final stretch of track.
Packing for the distance
This is the longest road journey we run and the packing reflects it. Everything sealed rather than blanketed. Crates for mirrors, glass, marble and art. Tighter loading with less void, because a load that can shift over two thousand kilometres will shift. Books in small boxes, always.
If the Fulham property has to be handed over before Portugal is ready — a common sequencing problem — we can hold the load in sealed containerised storage here and export when the destination is genuinely available.
Weighing Portugal against the alternatives? Spain shares most of the route and the overview page covers how dedicated and shared loads compare.
Straight answers
Fulham to Portugal, the long route explained
How does a load actually get to Portugal?
Entirely by road. Out of SW6 to the M20 and the tunnel, down the western side of France to Bordeaux, across into Spain at Irún, then the long diagonal through Burgos, Valladolid and Salamanca to the Portuguese border at Vilar Formoso. From there the A25 runs west to the coast and the A1 goes south for Lisbon and the Algarve. It is the longest drive of the four destinations we serve.
What is a NIF and when should we get one?
The número de identificação fiscal is the Portuguese tax number, and it is the first thing to arrange — before the property, before the move, before anything. It can be obtained through a representative or at a consulate. Nothing else in the process works without it.
What does Portuguese customs require?
Your NIF, a certificate of residence or evidence of your application for it, proof of the Portuguese address, and a certificado de bagagem — the baggage certificate obtained via the Portuguese consulate covering your UK address, which lists your household goods. Plus the itemised, valued inventory in Portuguese that the certificate is built from.
What is the certificado de bagagem exactly?
It is the document that formally records the household goods you are importing as your used personal effects, obtained from the consulate before the goods travel. It is the pivot of the whole Portuguese process, and it has to match the inventory on the vehicle. A mismatch between the two is the most common cause of a delay at clearance.
Can you deliver to the Algarve?
Regularly — it is the single most common Portuguese destination. Most Algarve properties have decent access, though hillside villas above Lagos or Carvoeiro can involve steep, narrow private drives that need a smaller vehicle for the last part. Send photographs of the approach at survey.
What about Lisbon and Porto city centres?
Both have the classic old-city problem: steep cobbled streets, tight corners and buildings with staircases that are narrow even by Fulham conversion standards. Lisbon's Alfama and Bairro Alto and Porto's Ribeira are genuinely difficult. A transfer, and occasionally an external hoist, is normal rather than exceptional.
Is Madeira or the Azores possible?
Those are shipping routes rather than road moves — the goods go by container from the mainland. It is a different process with different timings and we would quote it separately rather than as an extension of a road move.
We are letting our Fulham flat and moving to Portugal. Does that affect anything?
Not for the customs side, provided you are genuinely transferring your residence. It does affect the move logistically — a flat being let furnished means only your personal things travel, which is a smaller, more selective load and a different kind of packing day.
Can garden and outdoor furniture go?
Yes, and most Portugal-bound loads include it. Anything with a fuel tank must be completely drained and declared. Barbecues need cleaning properly — customs officers do open them, and a filthy one is an unnecessary conversation at a border.
Apply for the NIF today, then come and talk to us.
Portuguese moves are decided by paperwork lead times far more than by transport. The earlier the documents start, the calmer the whole thing is.