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If you’re moving from the UK to another country, renting a van and driving your belongings yourself can look like the obvious way to save money. And for a small move, it can be. But the rental price is only one part of the cost. You’ll also need to load everything yourself, drive what may be hundreds of miles, pay for fuel and crossings, unload at the other end and, depending on your rental agreement, potentially return the van to the UK. If loading takes longer than expected, you may need the van for an extra day too. That’s why it’s worth weighing up three options before you book: self-drive van hire, an international man-and-van service, or a full-service removal company.
There are three very different ways to rent a van for an international move, and the price tag only tells part of the story.
| Option | Typical cost | Who loads and unloads? | Who drives? | Packing help | Customs support | Best for |
| Self-drive van hire | £ | You | You | No | No | Small moves where keeping costs down is the priority |
| Man and van | ££ | Movers | Movers | Usually optional | Varies | Small to medium moves where you want affordable professional help |
| Full removal service | £££ | Movers | Movers | Often available or included | Yes | Larger moves, fragile belongings and people wanting more support |
Disclaimer: cost tiers are relative, not fixed prices. Exact costs depend on your route, van size and the company you choose.
The cheapest option on paper isn’t always the cheapest one in practice. What matters is the total cost once your time, travel and any extras are added in.
If keeping costs down is your main priority, choosing to rent a van to move abroad and drive it yourself can make sense. You pay for the vehicle, then handle everything else: packing it correctly, carrying furniture and boxes, securing everything so it doesn’t shift in transit, driving internationally and unloading once you arrive.
The upside is obvious: no professional labour to pay for. The catch is that you’re now doing the part of the move where experience actually matters. Heavy furniture is awkward to carry through doorways and down stairs, poorly secured items can shift during a long journey, and loading a van efficiently takes far longer when you’ve never done it before. What an experienced crew might finish in a few hours can eat up most of a day when you’re learning as you go, and if that pushes you into a second rental day, the saving starts to shrink fast.
There’s a physical side to it too. After loading an entire household, you may still have several hundred miles of driving ahead of you.
For many smaller international moves, a man with a van international move is the useful middle ground between doing everything yourself and booking a full removal company. You still use a van rather than a large removal truck, which keeps the price down, but a professional driver handles the transport, and usually the loading and unloading too.
That’s worth paying for on two counts: movers who do this for a living load and secure a van faster than you will, so it doesn’t turn into an all-day job, and they know how to handle heavy furniture and awkward items without damaging them over a long road journey.
For a flat, a student move or a fairly small household, this is often the sweet spot between price and convenience.
A full-service international removal company costs considerably more than either option above, but you’re paying for a much more complete service. Depending on the company and package, movers can professionally pack your belongings, dismantle furniture, protect fragile items, load everything, transport it abroad and unload it at your new home.
This is particularly worth considering if you’re moving:
The more valuable or fragile your belongings, the more that professional packing is worth. A removals company can also help with parts of the move that have nothing to do with carrying boxes: for destinations with customs procedures, movers can tell you which documents you need and help you prepare your shipment correctly.
If you’d rather focus on the move itself than organise every part of transporting your household, the higher price can be worth it.
Before booking a rental van, get a few moving van quotes and compare what professional transport would actually cost for your route.
The difference between self-drive and professional transport may be smaller than the advertised van rental price suggests, particularly once you add fuel, crossings, tolls and several days of hire.
With Sirelo, you can request quotes from moving companies and man-and-van services that handle international moves.
Comparing quotes doesn’t commit you to booking a mover. It simply gives you a realistic figure to weigh up against the total cost of driving yourself.
The advertised daily rental price is the figure you’ll usually notice first. For an international move, though, you should really be calculating:
Van rental + additional rental days + fuel + tolls + ferry or Channel Tunnel + international cover + mileage charges + accommodation + return travel
That can look very different from the original headline price.
Fuel is particularly important when comparing self-drive with professional transport.
According to the latest UK government figures cited in the research for this page, average pump prices for the week commencing 31 August 2026 were 161.61p per litre for petrol and 183.49p per litre for diesel.
Imagine your loaded diesel van manages around 30 mpg and your journey covers 600 miles. That would require roughly 91 litres of diesel, costing around £167 at the current UK average price. And that’s only the fuel: it doesn’t include toll roads, a ferry or Channel Tunnel crossing, fuel bought elsewhere in Europe, or a possible return journey.
A longer move can easily turn fuel from a small extra into one of the largest costs of driving yourself.
It’s also easy to underestimate how long an international DIY move takes. You might need one day to collect and load the van, another to travel, and another to unload or return it. If you’re moving a lot of furniture, loading alone can take several hours, particularly if you’ve got stairs or need to dismantle items first.
Extra rental days mean extra cost, so price it based on a realistic schedule rather than assuming everything fits neatly into a 24-hour rental.
One-way international van hire sounds ideal: collect the van in the UK, move abroad, and leave it near your new home. In practice, international one-way rental is much more restricted than domestic one-way hire.
Availability and conditions differ by rental company, country and branch, and additional charges can apply. Some rental arrangements require the vehicle to be returned to the country where it was collected, which changes the economics of the move completely: you’re now paying for the return fuel and crossings, potentially another night away, and another day or more on the road.
Some rental companies allow international one-way journeys on selected routes. Where they do, the conditions and one-way charges usually depend heavily on exactly where you collect and return the vehicle, so always check the exact return location before booking.
An unauthorised international drop-off can get expensive fast. For example, one Enterprise location in the Netherlands currently states that an unauthorised international one-way drop-off can incur a €1,200 repatriation charge excluding VAT, on top of the normal one-way fee.
Never assume you can simply leave the van in another country just because the rental company operates there.
As a general guide, international van moves cost around £700 to £1,400, depending on the route, vehicle size and type of service. That figure can cover very different kinds of move, so make sure you know what’s included before comparing prices.
A few things move the price:
Small vans cost around £80–£150/day, medium vans £100–£180/day, and large vans £150–£300/day. A full move to Europe using a hired van typically ranges from £700 to £1,400 for 3–7 days.
| Van Size | Average Rental Cost |
| Small (e.g. Ford Transit) | £80 to £150 / day |
| Medium (e.g. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter) | £100 to £180 / day |
| Large (e.g. Luton style) | £150 to £300 / day |
Disclaimer: The prices above are estimates. To get accurate costs, request quotes from van hire moving companies.
A bigger van generally costs more, but choosing too small a vehicle can be a false economy if it means making another trip.
Once you’ve decided which type of service suits you, the next question is how much space your belongings need.
Calculate your moving volumeSmall and medium panel vans work well for boxes, luggage and a limited amount of furniture. For a flat or small household move, a Luton van is often more practical, since its square loading area gives you significantly more usable space.
The most popular choice is a Luton van, available in 3.5 tonne and 7.5 tonne versions. Here’s what you need to know about the load volume and what fits inside.
Don’t look at volume alone, though. Vans also have maximum payload limits, and a fully loaded household move can get surprisingly heavy.
| Van Type | Load Volume | Internal Size (L × W × H) | Payload |
| 3.5T Luton Van | 17–20 m³ | ~4.1m × 2.1m × 2.1m | 900–1,200 kg |
| 7.5T Luton Van | 30+ m³ | ~6.5m × 2.3m × 2.3m | 3,000–3,500 kg |
These are our best rated companies for international van moves and full removals from the UK. Fill in the quote form below and you’ll get free quotes from every company covering your specific route.
A driver and a van, no packing crew. The cheapest way to get a professional behind the wheel.
Packing, loading and customs support included. Worth it if you’d rather not touch a box.
Compare all of them in one go. Fill in the form and you’ll get up to 5 free quotes from every company that covers your route, man-and-van and full-service alike.
International moving costs vary a lot by destination.
| Destination | Estimated Cost Range | Typical Rental Duration |
| France | £800 – £1,100 | 3–5 days |
| Germany | £950 – £1,250 | 4–6 days |
| Spain | £1,100 – £1,400 | 5–7 days |
| Ireland | £700 – £950 | 2–4 days |
| Portugal | £900 – £2,500 | Varies |
Disclaimer: The prices above are estimates and vary by season, company and van size. Portugal reflects the man-and-van total published on its own guide; request quotes to confirm rental duration.
Use these figures to set your initial budget, but remember they’re averages. Your final price depends on the exact starting point, destination, volume and service.
If you’re moving to Europe, use the relevant route guide below for more specific advice on costs and transport options.
| Destination | Guide |
| France | Van hire from the UK to France |
| Germany | Van hire from the UK to Germany |
| Ireland | Van hire from the UK to Ireland |
| Portugal | Van hire from the UK to Portugal |
| Spain | Van hire from the UK to Spain |
This guide sticks to choosing the right type of van move. Head to the country guides above for route-specific costs, companies and other practical details.
