Removals to Zurich from the UK
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Transport and customs documentation for a one-bedroom part load from the UK to Zurich cost £2,229 – £2,976, and for a three-bedroom house £4,779 – £6,524. Packing, transit cover and stairs or parking at either end are priced on top, from your own answers. Transit is 4–8 days door to door via Eurotunnel then E17/E25 through France.
Zurich divides into twelve Stadtkreise, and which one you land in changes the work more than the street name does. Kreis 1 is a signed pedestrian zone that opens to vehicles for a few morning hours. Half the city's buildings predate 1950, so the staple is an interwar or early post-war block, not a grand nineteenth-century one.
- Transit
- 4–8 days
- Departures
- Fortnightly
- From Calais
- about 510 miles
- Free survey, then a fixed price
- Customs paperwork handled
- Transit cover priced on the value you declare
- Secure your date online with a 25% deposit
From quote to keys
How your quote and booking work
The price you see online is an estimate worked out from your own list. A free survey turns it into a fixed price, and a deposit holds your date. How the price is worked out
Start my Zurich quoteGet your estimate — about three minutes
Pick your home size or list what is moving item by item, and watch the vehicle fill as you go. Choose a shared load or a vehicle of your own, tell us about stairs and parking at both ends, and your price appears with every line shown. We ask for your name, email and phone number before we show it, and email you a copy.
Have a free survey, and the price is fixed
Pick a weekday slot online for a video call and walk us round your rooms, or send photos on WhatsApp; near our depots we can visit instead. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Once we have surveyed, we do not revise the price upward on moving day.
Secure your date with a 25% deposit
Before the survey or after it, whichever suits you — online, by card. The deposit holds the vehicle and the date. If the survey changes the price and you would rather not go ahead, you get the full deposit back. Otherwise our terms and conditions set out what we charge if you postpone or cancel.
Sort the paperwork in your own portal
You get a private page for your move: the customs checklist for Switzerland and somewhere to upload each document. If you listed your items one by one, that list is already there — add a rough value to each line and it becomes the valued inventory customs ask for.
Collection in the UK, delivery in Zurich
On a shared load you choose the collection day and we give you a delivery window, confirming the day itself once the vehicle has cleared customs. With a vehicle of your own, both dates are yours. The balance is due on the day we collect.
Part-load prices from the UK to Zurich
Zurich is priced in Zone 3 — central France & Germany. These are indicative part-load bands for the transport and the £320 customs documentation fee. Collection beyond 30 miles of our depots adds a mileage contribution, and packing, access and cover are priced from your own answers — each shows as its own line on your quote.
| Property size | Volume | UK to Zurich, part load | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 8 m³283 ft³ | £1,424 – £1,856 | Price mine — studio to Zurich → |
| 1 bedroom | 16 m³565 ft³ | £2,229 – £2,976 | Price mine — 1 bedroom to Zurich → |
| 2 bedrooms | 28 m³989 ft³ | £3,319 – £4,493 | Price mine — 2 bedrooms to Zurich → |
| 3 bedrooms | 45 m³1,589 ft³ | £4,779 – £6,524 | Price mine — 3 bedrooms to Zurich → |
| 4 bedrooms | 62 m³2,190 ft³ | £6,187 – £8,483 | Price mine — 4 bedrooms to Zurich → |
| 5+ bedrooms | 85 m³3,002 ft³ | £8,065 – £11,096 | Price mine — 5+ bedrooms to Zurich → |
Bands are estimates worked out by our pricing engine from the rate card in force today. They are not a quotation. Your price is fixed after a free survey. How the price is worked out
Zurich · Zürich
Getting a removal vehicle to your door in Zurich
Reserving the space through the Stadtpolizei
The City of Zurich calls this a Parkplatzreservation, and it is applied for on the Stadtpolizei Zürich form rather than at the traffic department. The city asks for at least seven working days' notice for a bay in the Blaue Zone, the blue-marked disc parking, and at least three for the Weisse Zone. Shorter notice goes to the Kreischef of your Stadtkreis.
Blue-zone bays are no use to a lorry
Blue-zone parking runs on a cardboard disc: one hour, Monday to Saturday, between 08:00 and 11:30 and again from 13:30 to 18:00, and the permission is written for light motor vehicles. That is not an answer for a removal vehicle, which is why the reserved bay matters. Electronic discs are not accepted anywhere in the city.
The Altstadt: a morning window, and no right to stand
The old town is two signed pedestrian zones: Niederdorf on the right bank between Central and Bellevue, and the left bank from the Rudolf-Brun-Brücke over the Lindenhof and Münsterhof to the Rathausbrücke. General access runs from 05:00 to 12:00 only, at Schritttempo — walking pace — and outside it a Zufahrtsbewilligung is needed. Neither lets a vehicle stand still.
Interwar and early post-war blocks
The city's own building register puts the largest cohorts in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and just over a fifth of the residential stock is older than 1920. That means tight stairwells, and lifts fitted long after the building.
How this shows up in your quote. The quote asks about each end of the move. Tick “parking suspension or permit required” or “narrow street” for the Zurich end and each is priced as its own line, along with the floor and whether there is a lift. A furniture hoist is not part of the online price: show us the stairs and windows at your survey and, where one is needed, it is priced then.
Where we deliver in and around Zurich
Kreis 1 — Altstadt, Niederdorf and Lindenhof
Everything here is a morning job: the zone opens to vehicles early and closes at midday, and the permit to enter is not a permit to park.
Kreis 4 — Aussersihl and Langstrasse
A signposted night driving ban covers the block inside Schöneggstrasse, Militärstrasse and Kanonengasse from 22:00 until 05:30, so an evening finish there is not possible.
Kreis 5 — Industriequartier
The converted warehouses draw new arrivals, but the inner Kreis is closed to traffic from 22:00 to 03:00 and needs its own access permit.
Kreis 8 — Seefeld and Riesbach
The quays are the first streets the city closes for events. On a Sunday in April the marathon shuts Utoquai, Bellerivestrasse, Seestrasse and Bellevue.
Kreis 3 — Wiedikon and Albisgüetli
Knabenschiessen closes the Uetlibergstrasse for several September days, with parking bans posted the week before and residents diverted via Schweighofstrasse.
Kilchberg and the west shore
A lake-shore village on the west bank, outside the city's twelve Kreise and outside its parking rules.
Zumikon
The Inter-Community School has been on its Zumikon campus since 1971, and the village is its own Gemeinde in the Bezirk Meilen, not part of the city.
Wädenswil and Adliswil
Zurich International School splits its campuses between the two — primary at Wädenswil, secondary at Adliswil — so families often look along this shore.
The road from the UK to Zurich
Route: Eurotunnel or ferry to Calais, then the A26 to Reims and the A4 and A35 down the Alsace plain to Basel — about 510 miles from Calais.
Zurich sits on the Swiss plateau, so nothing on this run climbs an Alpine pass; the last stretch is motorway up from Basel, which is also where the load meets Swiss customs. Drivers who prefer the A5 and A36 come down through Troyes, Dijon and Besançon instead.
We collect anywhere in the UK. Collection is free within 30 miles of our Coulsdon depot; beyond that a mileage contribution applies and is shown in your quote.
When to move
Nothing over three and a half tonnes moves on a Sunday
Swiss law keeps goods vehicles over three and a half tonnes off the road on Sundays and between ten at night and five in the morning, and articulated vehicles over five tonnes with them. A load that reaches the border late on a Saturday therefore stands where it is until Monday.
Lease dates set the local peaks
Swiss tenancy law ends a flat's lease on the ortsüblicher Termin, the locally customary date, on three months' notice, so Zurich's moving days cluster rather than spread evenly through the year. Those dates come from local custom and from your own contract, so check the contract and tell us the date it names early.
Two city festivals and two holidays Britons miss
Sechseläuten closes streets across Kreis 1 and Kreis 2 on a Monday in April, and Knabenschiessen does the same in Kreis 3 in September; both afternoons are half-holidays in the City of Zurich. The city also stops on 2 January and 1 May, which are ordinary working days in Britain.
Paperwork once you arrive in Zurich
In person, by appointment, at Zürich Süd
Someone arriving from abroad has to appear in person at the Personenmeldeamt Zürich Süd, and the appointment is compulsory — nobody is seen without one. You cannot register before you have actually moved in, but the slot can be booked before you travel, and that is the order to do it in. The city then counts fourteen days from the move.
The permit comes before the move
Since 2021 British citizens have been third-country nationals in Switzerland, so the permit is granted before entry and the employer applies for it to the cantonal authority — you cannot move to Zurich and then look for work. If it is not through when the load arrives, customs can release the goods provisionally against a security, repaid once the papers follow.
Your car, and the residents' parking card
Once your vehicle is on Swiss plates, the address on the Fahrzeugausweis must be changed at the Strassenverkehrsamt within a fortnight of the move. The city says plainly that without that change it cannot send you the new Anwohnerparkkarte, the residents' parking card, which is what makes a blue-zone bay usable to you at all.
Customs when moving to Switzerland
Switzerland is not in the EU. You need Swiss customs Form 18.44 (Effets de déménagement), a signed valued inventory in duplicate, a residence permit or confirmation of application, and a rental contract. Clearance is handled by our Swiss agent at Basel or Geneva.
Check every document you’ll need for Switzerland →Official pages worth bookmarking
- Stadtpolizei Zürich — reserving a parking space for a move ↗
- Stadt Zürich — access permits for the pedestrian zones and night bans ↗
- Dienstabteilung Verkehr — notifying a crane or hoisting platform ↗
- Stadt Zürich — registering after you move in (Zuzug) ↗
- Gemeinde Kilchberg — street and parking closures on the west shore ↗
Local rules change. We checked these in September 2026 and confirm the current position for your street when we plan your delivery.
Moving from Zurich back to the UK
Leaving works in the opposite order. Tell the city as you go, and keep the Abmeldebestätigung it issues: the city lists that confirmation among the documents used for the export of removal goods. Where a child leaves Switzerland with one parent, both parents have to sign the deregistration.
In the quote box, switch to “to the UK” and Zurich moves to the collection end.
Moving to Zurich — your questions
How much does a removal from the UK to Zurich cost?
Transport and customs documentation for a one-bedroom part load from the UK to Zurich cost £2,229 – £2,976, and for a three-bedroom house £4,779 – £6,524. Packing, transit cover and stairs or parking at either end are priced on top, from your own answers. Transit is 4–8 days door to door via Eurotunnel then E17/E25 through France. Small consignments travel as part loads from around £1,096 for roughly 5 m³. Your own price depends on volume, the packing and cover you choose, access at both ends and how flexible your dates are — the online quote works it out in about three minutes.
How long does a removal to Zurich take?
Transit to Zurich is typically 4–8 days door to door. We run fortnightly, both directions. A part load waits for its scheduled run and is given a delivery window; a dedicated vehicle travels direct on the date you choose.
Can a removal lorry park outside my building in Zurich?
Only if the space has been reserved first, and it is the Stadtpolizei Zürich that decides. Its Parkplatzreservation form asks which zone the bay sits in, because the notice the city wants differs between the blue-marked and the white-marked bays. It may also put you in the nearest free bays rather than the ones you asked for, so send us the street and the house number early.
Can you deliver into the Altstadt pedestrian zone?
It has to be a morning. General access to both old-town zones runs from five until midday, at walking pace, and a Zufahrtsbewilligung is what gets a vehicle in outside that. None of it confers a right to park, so the job needs a reserved bay as well as the permit. Nothing here turns on what an engine emits: Zurich has no Umweltzone, and no badge is sold or checked.
Our new address is in Kilchberg, not the city. Who closes the street?
The Gemeindepolizei Kilchberg, on a form and a clock of its own. Closing a street, a path or a parking space there is applied for at least five days ahead, and the conditions can include telling the neighbours and keeping a lane clear for the emergency services. A City of Zurich reservation carries no weight across that boundary, and Zumikon and the lake villages each run a counter of their own.
Will my Zurich flat need a furniture hoist?
Often, in the older blocks, where the stairwell turns tighter than the sofa does. Where a mobile crane or a hoisting platform has to stand on public ground, the Dienstabteilung Verkehr must be notified three working days beforehand, or seven working days if a parking space is closed for it.
How do I book my move to Zurich?
Get your estimate online in about three minutes. You can secure your date straight away with a 25% deposit — refunded in full if the survey changes the price and you would rather not go ahead — or have the free survey first. Either way the survey fixes the price, and the balance is due on the day we collect. Your customs documents, inventory and dates are then handled in your own online portal.
Other cities we deliver to in Switzerland
Other European destinations
Price your move to Zurich
- About three minutes
- No card needed for a price
- Fixed after a free survey
Zürich, Switzerland · page reviewed September 2026