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A good removal company will ask which Prague district you are moving to before it quotes. Access here varies more than in almost any European capital, from restricted vehicle zones in the historic core to prefabricated blocks with lifts on the edge of the city. That answer changes the crew, the vehicle and the price.
Prague has 1,407,084 residents and holds around 354,000 foreign nationals, roughly a quarter of the city and about a third of every foreign resident in the country. It is by a wide margin the largest destination for international removals to the Czech Republic from Britain, and it has the most awkward delivery conditions in the country.
None of that is a reason to worry. It is a reason to survey properly. The Prague moves that go wrong are almost never the ones where something was difficult. They are the ones where something difficult was discovered on the day.
A moving company that has worked this city before will raise access on the first call. If the international moving quote you have been sent does not mention your district at all, ask why before you compare it with anything else.
| Population | 1,407,084 |
|---|---|
| Around | 354,000 foreign residents |
| About | 1,050 km from London by road |
| Overland | the whole way, no sea leg |
| Restricted | vehicle zones in the centre |
Prague is split into numbered districts and most Czech addresses carry the number. Foreigners tend to ignore it. Removal companies cannot, because the number is a reasonable shorthand for what the crew will be dealing with.
Prague 1. The historic core. Narrow cobbled streets, restricted vehicle access, permits needed in advance, and buildings with no loading bay and often no usable lift. Beautiful to live in, expensive to deliver to.
Prague 2, Vinohrady. Grand nineteenth century apartment buildings with high ceilings and stairwells that were never designed for a three seater sofa. Lifts, where they exist, were retrofitted into the stairwell void and are small.
Prague 7, Holesovice and Letna. Popular with newer arrivals, mixed housing stock, and street parking that fills early.
Prague 4 and 11, Chodov and Jizni Mesto. Prefabricated blocks with lifts, wide landings and room to park a vehicle. Usually the easiest deliveries in the city, provided the lift is working and large enough.
Prague 6, Dejvice. Embassies, university buildings and a lot of family housing. Access is generally reasonable and it is a common landing point for corporate relocations.
Prague 5, Smichov, and Prague 8, Karlin. Both heavily redeveloped, with newer buildings that have proper service lifts. Karlin in particular is now easier to deliver to than most of the centre.
Where a lorry cannot reach the address, the crew parks legally nearby and transfers your belongings to a smaller vehicle for the final stretch. This is routine in Prague and it is not a sign of a bad removal service. It is a sign that someone checked.
It does add cost, because it adds a handling stage and crew hours. The point of raising it now is that a shuttle priced into the original quote is an expense. A shuttle discovered on delivery day is a dispute.
Bringing household goods into Prague is no different from bringing them into Ostrava. Relief from import duty on personal property comes from Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009: your normal home outside the EU for at least 12 continuous months, goods owned and used for at least six months before you left, and entered for free circulation within 12 months of establishing residence. Alcohol and tobacco get no relief. You will need an EORI number and proof of your Prague address.
The full conditions, the sources and what customs will ask you for are set out on our Czech Republic removals page. Read that before you pack, then come back here for the access questions, because those are the Prague specific ones.
Cubic metres, measured at survey. Prague flats are often smaller than the British homes people leave, so a proportion of what you own may go straight into storage. Decide that before the load is quoted, not after it arrives.
The biggest single variable in this city. Floor level, lift, permit zone, shuttle, hoist. Two identical loads to two Prague addresses can differ substantially on this line alone.
Sole use of a truck against shared space on a part load, which American moving companies call a consolidated shipment. Then whether the crew packs, you pack, or you split it.
Ask for the quote broken down across those three. A single total tells you nothing about which one is likely to move.
These pages cover the parts of the job that moving companies price on their own rather than folding into a single figure.
Prague is divided into numbered districts, and the number is not decoration. Prague 1 is the historic core with the tightest vehicle restrictions. Prague 2 covers Vinohrady, Prague 5 Smichov, Prague 6 Dejvice and Prague 8 Karlin. Give your mover the district number and the street, because access rules and parking permits differ between them.
In much of the centre, no. Prague operates restricted vehicle zones and paid parking areas where a large removal vehicle needs a permit arranged in advance. Where a permit cannot be obtained, the crew transfers your belongings to a smaller shuttle van for the last part of the delivery. That adds cost, so it needs settling before the price is agreed.
Frequently it will not, and this is the most common surprise on Prague deliveries. Nineteenth century and Art Nouveau buildings have tight turns and lifts added later that take two people and a suitcase. Measure your largest pieces and the narrowest turn before the survey. A hoist through a window is a normal solution here, not an exotic one.
Usually yes. The prefabricated blocks in areas like Chodov, Jizni Mesto and Prosek have lifts, wider landings and space for a vehicle outside. The trade off is that lifts in older blocks can be small and occasionally out of service. Ask your mover to confirm lift dimensions rather than assume a lift solves the problem.
It depends on whether you have sole use of a vehicle or share space on a part load. Sole use drives straight through. A shared load waits until the mover has enough volume heading the same way, so it takes longer and costs less. Ask for a collection window and a delivery window in writing for whichever you choose.
Usually not, if you qualify for transfer of residence relief. Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 allows personal property to enter free of import duty when you move your normal home from outside the EU. You must have lived outside the EU for at least 12 continuous months and owned and used the goods for at least six months before you left.
No. We are not a removal company and we do not own lorries. We are a free enquiry service. Your details go to one vetted mover that covers the journey, and that firm contacts you directly. We do not run a price comparison and we do not pass your details to a list of companies.
Collection address, delivery address, move date, rough inventory and access notes. Enough to start a real conversation with a firm that covers the journey.
Get your free quoteMoving elsewhere in the country? See Brno, Kladno, Mlada Boleslav, Kolin, or start at our Czech Republic removals page. For a wider view of European removal options, see our European removals pages.
A trading name of DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07425576, data protection registration ZB022743. Trading since 1 November 2010.
We are a free enquiry service, not a removal company. Your details go to one vetted mover from the AGM Group network. Accreditations held across the network include FIDI FAIM Certified, BAR Overseas, IAM, EUROMOVERS and FEDEMAC. Not every firm holds all five.
Destination covered on this page: Prague, Czech Republic (CZ).