Leicestershire → Italy
Leicestershire to Italy
Fewer households go this way than to France or Spain, and the ones that do tend to be more complicated: a mountain range in the middle, restricted zones at the end, and a property that may not be finished.
Three kinds of Italian move
Northern cities for work — Milan and Turin, a flat, a start date and urban access. Tuscany and Umbria for property, very often a restoration. And the lakes, usually a complete household and usually an access problem worth photographing.
Over the Alps, or round them
The first leg is the same as every European job from here: M1, M25, Kent, the crossing. Then Italy offers a genuine choice.
For the north, down through France past Dijon and Lyon and over the Alps — Mont Blanc into the Aosta valley or Fréjus into Turin. Both are toll tunnels with vehicle restrictions and both can close in weather.
For Tuscany, Rome and the south, the passes are usually best avoided: down the French Mediterranean coast, across at Ventimiglia, then the A10 to Genoa and the A1 south.
The restricted-zone check
Almost every Italian city of any age restricts traffic in its historic centre, enforced by camera and fined automatically. If your delivery address sits inside one — likely in Florence, Siena, Bologna or central Rome — the job needs a comune permit arranged in advance or a transfer to a permitted vehicle.
Neither can be organised on the morning, so the exact address is checked against the zone before anything leaves Leicestershire.
Codice fiscale first
Applied for through the consulate before you go, because nothing else in the Italian process works without it. Then the address proof, the residency registration at the comune, and the inventory in Italian.
Italy checks documentation more closely than France or Spain. That is a reason to start earlier rather than a reason to worry.
Restorations, and waiting
A large share of these moves attach to a house still being worked on. Holding the load in store here until there are finished floors and a door that locks is almost always better than delivering into a building site and hoping.
France covers the first part of both Italian routes in more detail.
Worth knowing
Leicestershire to Italy, before you commit
Which way does the vehicle go?
Decided by destination. Mont Blanc or Fréjus for Turin, Milan and the lakes — toll tunnels with vehicle restrictions that can close in bad weather. For Tuscany, Rome and the south, down the French coast and across at Ventimiglia instead: longer on the map, steadier in practice.
What is a ZTL?
The camera-enforced restricted zone over the historic centre of most Italian cities, with automatic fines for unauthorised vehicles. Delivering inside one needs a permit arranged in advance through the comune, or a transfer to a permitted smaller vehicle.
What does Italy want on paper?
The codice fiscale first — the tax code, applied for through the consulate before you go. Then proof of the Italian address, residency registration at the comune, and an itemised, valued inventory in Italian signed by you.
Our Italian house is being restored.
Then hold the load here. Furniture delivered into an active restoration is at best filthy and at worst ruined, and restorations overrun in Italy exactly as they do in Leicestershire.
Can you move heavy or awkward pieces?
Stone, marble, cast iron and framed art all travel regularly, crated or braced rather than blanket-wrapped. Flag them at survey — a marble table top changes the crew size, not just the packing.
Do you deliver to the lakes?
Como, Maggiore and Garda are steady destinations. The access issue there is the shore road and the drive rather than the property, and photographs of the final approach are worth more than any description.
Is Italy slower than the other routes?
The documentation is checked more closely and more of it is handled locally by the comune, so it rewards starting earlier. The driving itself is no worse than Spain.
Send the exact address. We'll check the zone.
Whether the street sits inside a restricted zone changes the vehicle, the permit and the delivery method. It is the first thing we look up.