Of all the ways to describe a Greek move, London to Athens is the one people type most often. It is also the leg where the widest range of options exists, because both ends have real infrastructure and both directions are busy.
London gives you departure choice: groupage services leaving weekly, dedicated vehicles that can collect from a Zone 2 flat, and container shipping loaded at the Thames or south coast ports. Athens gives you Piraeus, the busiest container gateway in Greece and a short run from most of Attica.
Send the move once and you are connected with a vetted moving company from our network that already works this leg. No charge, no obligation, and you talk to the mover from there.
London is the part of this leg most likely to go wrong on the day, and almost never because of the driving. It goes wrong because a vehicle cannot legally or physically stop where the goods are.
Controlled parking zones need a suspension arranged in advance, and boroughs vary in how much notice they want. Red routes rule out stopping altogether in places. Mansion block lifts are often too small for a sofa. Victorian conversions have staircases with turns that decide whether a wardrobe leaves through the door or the window.
None of this is exotic. It is just detail that has to be known before a vehicle is booked, and it is the difference between a quote that holds and one that changes on the morning.
Most Athens households live in blocks rather than houses. That is the defining fact about delivering there, and it produces a different set of constraints from London's. Three broad areas, three different problems.
Kolonaki, Plaka, Exarchia and the older central districts have narrow streets, steep sections and buildings that predate any thought of a removal lorry. External lifts are common on larger jobs because internal ones are too small. Athens movers
Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni and the coastal strip are easier for access and popular with people arriving from abroad. Newer blocks, better lifts, parking that a vehicle can actually use. Still worth confirming the floor.
Kifissia, Maroussi, Chalandri and the northern belt mix larger houses with apartment blocks. Access is generally good, though gated developments can have their own delivery rules and time windows.
Athens to London is just as busy: people taking up jobs, students, families returning, households consolidating back. The transport is much the same. The paperwork is not, because goods entering Britain need an import entry and relief has to be applied for before they travel. If you are swapping households between two homes, say so, because a vehicle loaded in both directions changes the economics considerably. Greece to UK moves and relief, export packing, the Greek certificate and container options.
The details that decide whether moving day runs to plan.
Often yes, and it needs arranging in advance. Controlled parking zones require the bay to be suspended, and boroughs set their own notice periods and fees. Red routes may not allow stopping at all. Tell the mover your borough and postcode at enquiry stage so this gets checked before a vehicle is booked.
Road is usually quicker door to door for smaller loads, because it does not wait on a sailing schedule. Sea generally works out cheaper for a full home. Neither can be given a firm number until the route is fixed, since the Italian ferry crossing alone ranges from around eight hours to over thirty.
Frequently not, particularly in older central blocks. Lifts in Kolonaki, Plaka and similar districts were often installed into buildings that never had one, and they are small. Larger items may need an external lift or the stairs, and both cost more than a straightforward lift delivery.
Yes. Weekly groupage services run this leg and small consignments share vehicle space with other people's goods. It is the cheapest option by a wide margin for a modest volume, and the trade-off is that your collection and delivery dates flex around the service rather than the other way round.
No. Clearing at Piraeus means the goods are through customs and available. Delivery to your address is a separate leg with its own vehicle, its own access questions and sometimes its own cost. Check whether your quote is to the port or to the door, because the two are very different numbers.
Send the London borough and postcode, the Athens district, your dates and roughly what is coming. A vetted moving company from our network checks parking, lifts, the route and the paperwork before quoting.
Get your free quoteWe are a free enquiry service and a Working Member of AGM Group. We connect people moving between London and Athens with vetted international moving companies from that network. We do not carry out removals ourselves or run our own vehicles.
Use this page to gather the access detail, then hand it straight to the mover so the quote is right first time.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder, International Removals Companies.