Moving Cost Calculator

When this calculator helps

Moving home is one of the larger one-off costs a household meets in any given year, and across the euro area the bill swings with how much you own, how far you are going, and how much of the work you leave to the crew. Use this calculator when you are budgeting a move, comparing a local hourly removals service against a fixed-price relocation quote, or sense-checking an estimate that has just arrived. It turns home size, crew hours, hourly rate and distance into a realistic ballpark before you sign anything.

It answers the practical questions people ask while planning: roughly what should a 2-bedroom local move cost, how much does a long-distance or cross-border move within the EU add, and is the quote in front of you reasonable. Because it returns a low–high range rather than a single figure, it keeps the genuine spread of removals prices visible instead of implying a precision that does not exist — useful given how much rates vary from one member state to the next.

How to read your result

The estimate combines a labour element (crew hours multiplied by the hourly rate for a 2- or 3-person team and van) with a distance element (a per-kilometre charge for the loaded leg). The low–high band around it reflects the roughly ±20% that real quotes scatter across, depending on the company, the date and how the day runs.

Treat it as a budgeting guide, not a firm quote. It excludes packing materials, a pre-pack service, insurance beyond basic carrier liability, storage between properties, city-centre parking permits, and specialist handling for a piano, safe or artwork. Those are real costs on top, so use the figure to judge whether a quote sits in the right range — and for any move beyond about 100 km, arrange an in-person or video survey so the fixed-price quote is accurate.

A worked example

Picture a 2-bedroom flat moving 30 kilometres across a city. A 2-person crew with a van might take around 6 hours at €60 an hour, which is €360 of labour, plus a loaded-distance charge of roughly €45 at €1.50 per kilometre — a base near €405. Apply the ±20% range and you would budget somewhere between €325 and €485. Add €50–€150 for packing materials if you pack yourself, and a city-centre parking permit where one is required.

Common mistakes to avoid

Most moving budgets across the euro area go wrong not because of the hourly rate, but because of the costs that never made it into the headline figure.

• Forgetting packing materials and proper insurance — boxes and tape for a 2-bedroom home run €50–€150, and cover beyond basic carrier liability is worth confirming on the quote.
• Underestimating the volume — the cellar, loft and balcony storage always hold more than expected, and extra time is billed at the full hourly rate on a local move.
• Not booking peak dates early — late June and July, when school holidays and tenancy changeovers cluster across the bloc, fill up weeks ahead and cost 20–30% more.
• Ignoring access and parking — stairs, a long carry, or a €30–€150-a-day city-centre permit in a major capital all push the final bill above the estimate.

Cross-border EU moves

The single market makes moving between EU countries far simpler than a true international move: thanks to the customs-free movement of goods, there is no customs clearance or import duty on your personal belongings when you relocate from one member state to another. That removes a whole layer of cost and paperwork that an equivalent move to a non-EU country would carry.

Even so, cross-border moves are quoted and run differently from a local job. Removals firms price them as fixed cubic-metre quotes rather than by the hour, the loaded distance is the main cost driver, and the service itself is charged at the mover's domestic VAT rate. For any cross-border move, get a proper survey and a written fixed-price quote — this calculator's hourly-style estimate is best treated as a rough floor for those longer journeys.