UK to Iceland
Removals to Iceland
The one route on this site where a dedicated vehicle cannot travel with your goods the whole way. There is water in the middle, and water means a container, and a container means handlings. Here is exactly how many and where they fall.
No road route exists. Anybody quoting you a two-handling move to Reykjavík is describing something that cannot happen.
Who moves this way
- People relocating to Reykjavík for work, frequently in energy, research or tourism.
- Households moving to Akureyri and the north, where the onward leg from the port is substantial.
- Returning Icelandic households bringing a UK home back, usually as a single container load.
How the goods travel
Your goods travel by road to a North Sea port, are loaded into a container, and cross by sea. The vehicle does not travel with them. That single fact is what separates this route from every other page on this site and it is why the count is higher here whatever service you buy.
From the Icelandic port of arrival, the Ring Road serves the whole island. Reykjavík and the south-west are close; Akureyri and the north are a long onward leg on good but exposed roads where weather closes routes rather than slowing them.
Where we deliver
Customs, and who obtains what
Iceland is outside the EU customs union, so the file here is a full export and import rather than an intra-European movement. Relief on used household effects exists on a transfer of residence, claimed against a described inventory. The inventory does more work on this route than on any other, because it is the only thing that travels with a sealed container.
The file, split in two
| Document | Obtained by | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Valued inventory | Us | Written at your door, in detail. On a sealed container it is the only record of what went in. |
| Icelandic kennitala | You | The national identification number. Nothing much can be done without it, so begin early. |
| Proof of the Icelandic address | You | Lease or purchase contract, plus registration of legal domicile. |
| Proof of leaving the UK address | You | Closing council tax, a tenancy end or the completion statement. |
| Passport and residence permit route | You | Whichever route applies. Immigration advice is not something we give. |
| Full export and import declarations | Us | Lodged by us or our agent. Iceland sits outside the EU customs union, so this is a full entry. |
Rows marked You are attached to you as a person and take real time to obtain, so start them before you have a moving date. Rows marked Us are built here from the inventory written at your door.
Counting a sea route honestly
Here is the sequence, in full. Loaded at your house. Driven to a North Sea port. Loaded into a container — either at a depot or, on a dedicated container, at your property. Shipped. Unloaded at the Icelandic port. Delivered to the address. That is five or six events depending on where the container is stuffed, and no arrangement reduces it below four.
The one thing that does reduce it is taking a container to yourself and having it loaded at your house rather than at a depot. It costs more and it removes an entire handling at the UK end, which on a sea route is the handling most worth removing.
Which brings the packing. On a sealed container crossing the North Atlantic, everything is being handled by cranes and forklifts at both ports and by people who will never meet you. Export-standard packing here is not a preference and we will not quote the route without it.
And the onward leg. Reykjavík is close to the port. Akureyri and the Westfjords are not, and in winter the roads to them close rather than slow. A delivery date to the north of Iceland is a plan with a weather condition attached to it, which we would rather say now than in February.
the UK to Iceland
Questions on this route
- 01
Can a removals vehicle drive to Iceland?
No. There is no road route. Goods travel by road to a North Sea port and cross by sea in a container, which is why the handling count on this route is higher than anywhere else on this site.
- 02
What is the lowest count achievable?
Four, by taking a container to yourself and having it loaded at your property rather than at a depot. It costs more and it removes the handling most worth removing.
- 03
Is export packing compulsory here?
We will not quote the route without it. A sealed container is handled by cranes and forklifts at both ports by people who have never seen your house.
- 04
How far is the onward leg?
Short to Reykjavík and the capital region. Long to Akureyri, the north and the Westfjords, on roads that close in weather rather than slow — which we plan around rather than promise through.
- 05
Is Iceland inside the EU customs union?
No, so the file is a full export and import rather than an intra-European movement. The inventory carries more weight here than anywhere else on the site.
- 06
Will UK appliances work?
Iceland runs the continental plug and voltage standard. Small items are fine with adaptors; large white goods rarely justify container space on this route.
Moving to Iceland?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and how firm the dates are. We will send both options with the counts on them and say which we would choose.