UK to Turkey
Removals to Turkey
The only destination on this site reachable two genuinely different ways — a long road run through the Balkans, or a sea movement to an Aegean or Marmara port. They carry different handling counts, and which is right depends on where in Turkey you are going.
Road and sea to the same address are two different quotations with two different counts. We send both.
Who moves this way
- Households retiring or relocating to Fethiye, Bodrum, Kalkan and the Aegean coast.
- People moving to Istanbul or Izmir for work, usually into an apartment.
- Second-home owners furnishing a coastal property in stages rather than all at once.
How the goods travel
By road, a short crossing with the vehicle and then a long land run through central Europe and the Balkans. By sea, your goods are containerised at a UK port and shipped to an Aegean or Marmara terminal. The road option can be two handlings; the sea option cannot.
Overland, the route runs through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria to the Kapıkule crossing, then the O-3 to Istanbul and onwards. From an Aegean port, the coastal roads serve Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye and Kalkan, and the D550 and inland routes reach Izmir and beyond.
Where we deliver
Customs, and who obtains what
Turkey is outside the EU customs union and its household-effects process is more demanding than the European routes on this site. Relief on used household effects exists on a transfer of residence and is claimed against a detailed inventory, with a residence permit as the central supporting document. Start the permit long before you start the move.
The file, split in two
| Document | Obtained by | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed valued inventory | Us | Item by item, with values, and translated. Turkish customs expects detail rather than carton counts. |
| Turkish residence permit | You | The central document for the relief. It takes real time and the move should not be booked around optimism about it. |
| Turkish tax number | You | Required alongside the permit for most formalities. |
| Proof of the Turkish address | You | Tapu on a purchase, or the registered lease on a rental. |
| Proof of leaving the UK address | You | Closing council tax, a tenancy end or the completion statement. |
| Full export and import declarations | Us | Lodged by us or our appointed agent against the inventory. |
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.
Road or sea, and what each costs you in handlings
The road route can be two handlings. A dedicated vehicle loads at your house, drives the length of Europe and the Balkans, clears at the Turkish border and unloads at your new address. Nothing is set down in between. It is a long commitment of a vehicle and a crew, and for a full household going to Istanbul or the Marmara region it is a serious option.
The sea route cannot be two. Goods are loaded, containerised — at a depot or, at extra cost, at your property — shipped, unloaded at the Turkish port and delivered. That is four at best and six where a depot is involved either end. What it buys is cost, particularly for the Aegean coast, where the sea route lands you close to the destination and the road route does not.
So the geography decides more than the preference. Istanbul and the north-west favour the road. Bodrum, Fethiye, Marmaris and the Lycian coast favour the sea, because the port is near and the overland alternative adds a long domestic leg after an already long journey.
Then the access at the far end, which on this coast is its own subject. A great many expatriate properties sit above the road, reached by steps, on a hillside with no turning space for anything large. The approach is surveyed by photographs before the vehicle is chosen, exactly as it would be for a lane in Britain.
And the heat. Summer work on the Aegean coast is moved to the early hours as a matter of crew safety, which affects the hour a vehicle can be at the door rather than the plan itself.
the UK to Turkey
Questions on this route
- 01
Road or sea?
Geography decides it more than preference. Istanbul and the north-west favour the road, which can be two handlings. The Aegean coast usually favours the sea, which cannot — but which lands you much closer to the destination.
- 02
Can a dedicated vehicle really drive to Turkey?
Yes, through central Europe and the Balkans to the Kapıkule crossing. It is a long commitment of a vehicle and a crew, and for a full household to the north-west it is a genuine option.
- 03
What is the hardest part of the paperwork?
The residence permit, without question. It is the central document for the relief, it takes real time, and the move should not be booked around optimism about when it will arrive.
- 04
Our villa is above the road on steps.
Common on the Lycian coast and entirely workable once it is known. Send photographs of the approach and the steps and the vehicle is chosen from those rather than from the volume.
- 05
Does summer change anything?
The hour rather than the plan. Coastal work in high summer starts early as a crew safety matter, and resort traffic affects where a vehicle can stand.
- 06
Can we move in stages?
Yes, and on second homes it is the usual pattern. Goods are held here and shipped in loads, which adds handlings that we will count openly.
Moving to Turkey?
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.