Can you get into the Prague old town?

Better than a lorry can. The protected centre excludes larger vehicles, so a van reaches doors that a removals lorry simply cannot.

Is a van sensible over that distance?

For a small consignment with fixed dates, yes. For anything larger, ask us about a shared lorry load as well — we will quote both and say which is cheaper.

What about the stairwell?

Measure the lift car and the lift door opening separately, and send photographs of the stairs. On a small load the single large item is usually the one that will not fit.

Is the paperwork difficult?

Proportionate — an inventory, proof of both addresses and a transfer-of-residence declaration. The distance and the access need more planning than the file does.

Are UK appliances worth taking?

Czechia runs the continental plug and voltage standard. Small items with adaptors are fine; large white goods rarely repay the space in a van.

Can you bring something back?

Ask. A return leg on a well-travelled corridor is easier to fill than people expect and can make the whole trip considerably cheaper.

London to Czechia

A van from London to Czechia

A long run to a country where, at the far end, a van is genuinely the right vehicle rather than a compromise. Prague's protected centre and the older Bohemian towns will not take anything larger, so a small consignment has a real advantage.

Everywhere else on this page a van is a choice. In the Prague old town it is the only vehicle that gets near the door.

Who sends a van this way

People going home after a stretch in London, with a flat's worth of things.
Work relocations to Prague and Brno in technology, finance and academia.
Anybody sending a few items to a family flat in an old-town street.

The road out

M20 and the Folkestone shuttle, then across Belgium and Germany. It is a long drive for a small vehicle, so the plan and the driving hours are settled before anything is loaded.

From Calais the A16 and E40 run through Belgium to Aachen, then the German A4, A45 and A3 past Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg. The A6 and D5 cross the Czech border for Plzeň and Prague; Brno lies south-east on the D1 and Ostrava beyond it.

Where we deliver

Prague — the old town Protected streets closed to larger vehicles. A van reaches doors a lorry cannot.

Prague — Vinohrady and Žižkov Handsome apartment blocks with deep stairwells and small retrofitted lifts.

Prague — the newer districts Purpose-built blocks with proper lifts and parking.

Brno and Moravia A compact centre with access restrictions, easy suburbs around it.

Plzeň, Ostrava and the regions Directly served by motorway with generally good access.

Customs, which does not shrink with the vehicle

Czechia applies the standard transfer-of-residence relief on used household effects. The paperwork is proportionate; on this route the real planning is the distance and the old-town access rather than the file.

Who obtains what

Document	Obtained by	What it is
Detailed inventory (valued, in Czech or English)	Us	Prepared before departure, with electrical and high-value items listed individually.
Proof of Czech residence	You	Registration of residence, or a rental contract or deeds.
Proof the UK residence has ended	You	An ending tenancy, completion paperwork or a closing council tax bill.
Passport and status documents	You	Copies for the file, with whatever evidences your right to reside.
Transfer of residence declaration	Us	Prepared with you and lodged against the inventory.
Export declaration and Czech import entry	Us	Both raised against the same inventory through our agent.

Rows marked You are attached to you as a person and take real time to obtain. Rows marked Us are built here from the inventory. A van load needs the same file as a lorry load — the paperwork does not scale down because the vehicle did.

The stairwell is the job

Anybody who has moved into a mansion flat in central London will recognise a Prague apartment block immediately: a handsome stone stairwell, a lift squeezed into it long after the building was finished, and a door opening narrower than the car it serves.

Measure both — the car and the door opening — and send photographs of the stairwell at the viewing stage. On a van load the good news is that there is less to get up there; the bad news is that the one large item you are bringing is exactly the one that will not fit the lift.

And on the street: the protected centre is closed to larger vehicles entirely, which is the one place on this site where arriving in a van rather than a lorry is an advantage rather than a compromise.

London to Czechia

Questions on this route

Can you get into the Prague old town?: Better than a lorry can. The protected centre excludes larger vehicles, so a van reaches doors that a removals lorry simply cannot.
Is a van sensible over that distance?: For a small consignment with fixed dates, yes. For anything larger, ask us about a shared lorry load as well — we will quote both and say which is cheaper.
What about the stairwell?: Measure the lift car and the lift door opening separately, and send photographs of the stairs. On a small load the single large item is usually the one that will not fit.
Is the paperwork difficult?: Proportionate — an inventory, proof of both addresses and a transfer-of-residence declaration. The distance and the access need more planning than the file does.
Are UK appliances worth taking?: Czechia runs the continental plug and voltage standard. Small items with adaptors are fine; large white goods rarely repay the space in a van.
Can you bring something back?: Ask. A return leg on a well-travelled corridor is easier to fill than people expect and can make the whole trip considerably cheaper.

A van from London to Czechia?

Roughly what is going, both addresses, and how much the dates can move. We will quote the van and, where it is cheaper, a shared load instead.

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