Door-to-door removals from the UK to Bern. We pack and load in Britain, run the road leg to the Swiss frontier, and our Swiss destination agent clears customs and delivers to your address in canton Bern. BAR Overseas Group member, fully insured.
Removals to Bern from the UK (Berne) are handled end to end — we pack and load in Britain, run the road leg to the Swiss frontier, and our Swiss destination agent clears customs and delivers to your door in canton Bern. German is the working language here, and the practical details of a Bern delivery are genuinely different from anywhere else in the country, which is why this page exists rather than a generic Switzerland one.
Bern is the Swiss capital and it moves at a different pace from Zurich or Geneva. The federal administration, the embassies and the university supply most of the households we take there, and the city is noticeably calmer, greener and cheaper than its bigger rivals. It is also small enough to cross on foot, which families arriving from a British commuter town tend to find a pleasant shock.
Bern is the federal capital and moves at a different pace from Zurich or Geneva. The federal administration, the embassies and the university supply most of the households we take there, and the city is calmer, greener and cheaper than its bigger rivals. Our Switzerland removals page covers the customs position in full, and it is worth reading before you book anything.
Bern’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its famous six kilometres of covered arcades — the Lauben — are exactly the kind of beautiful architecture that makes a removal awkward. Vehicle access under and around them is restricted, cellar entrances are often the only practical route for bulky items, and staircases in the sandstone buildings are narrow and turn tightly. Anything large goes in through a window on a furniture lift, and we plan that in advance.
Bern old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its famous covered arcades — the Lauben — are exactly the kind of beautiful architecture that makes a removal awkward. Vehicle access under and around them is restricted, cellar entrances are often the only practical route for bulky items, and the sandstone staircases turn tightly. Anything large goes in through a window on a furniture lift. Where a piece needs protecting for a tight turn or a window entry, our custom crate service and export packing handle it.
Diplomatic and federal postings make up an unusual share of Bern arrivals, and those often come with their own documentation requirements on top of the standard Swiss removal-goods file. We ask early which category you fall into. The full Swiss customs position — Übersiedlungsgut relief, the six-month rule, Form 18.44 and the inventory requirements — is set out on our removals to Switzerland page, and it is worth reading before you book anything.
For a Bern delivery specifically, the thing to get right is sequence: your residence registration in canton Bern needs to exist before your goods arrive. If your permit and your moving date do not line up, our Lower Dicker storage can hold everything in the UK until Switzerland is ready — almost always cheaper than a container sitting in bond at the Swiss end.
Allow 10–14 days door to door. Bern is central and the road leg is unremarkable; the constraint is at the far end, where an old-town delivery has to be fitted to whatever access the Lauben and the cellar entrance allow. A Kirchenfeld or Breitenrain address is quicker to complete than an Altstadt one. The same window applies across our European removals service.
A sole-use load sits at the faster end because it travels direct with no transhipment. A shared part-load waits for a scheduled departure, which is the trade-off that keeps the cost down. Late July and August are the busiest weeks across the whole industry, and winter weather can affect a date in the higher cantons between roughly November and March — we build that contingency into the plan rather than promising a day we cannot hold.
We are a small, family-run Sussex firm, established in 2017, and international removals are a core part of the business rather than something bolted on. The crew who pad-wrap your furniture in the UK are our own, working to our white-glove method — each piece wrapped in your home and unwrapped only once it is standing in its room in Bern. We compile the itemised inventory that a Swiss entry depends on, and we do not hand your goods through a chain of subcontractors.
We are a member of the British Association of Removers Overseas Group, we work to the BS 8564 quality standard for international moves, and every consignment is fully insured. Read our customer reviews, use the free volume calculator to size your load, or call 01323 848 008 and speak to Mark about your Bern move directly.
Switzerland is priced by volume, at the same rate to every canton — a shared load runs from £145 per cubic metre with a 4 m³ minimum, and a dedicated vehicle, yours alone with no transhipment, starts at £4,250. Bern is noticeably cheaper to live in than Zurich or Geneva, though the removal rate to it is the same national figure. Bern is noticeably cheaper to live in than Zurich or Geneva, though the removal rate to it is the same national figure.
| Your home | Typical volume | From |
|---|---|---|
| Studio or single room | 10 m³ | £1,450 |
| One-bedroom flat | 18 m³ | £2,610 |
| Two-bedroom house | 30 m³ | £4,350 |
| Three-bedroom house | 45 m³ | £6,525 |
| Four-bedroom house | 62 m³ | £8,990 |
| Five-bedroom house or larger | 85 m³ | £12,325 |
These are the prices you pay. International removals are zero-rated for UK VAT, so unlike a domestic house move there is nothing to add on top. Import duty or VAT levied by the destination country, where your goods do not qualify for transfer-of-residence relief, is separate and is payable there rather than to us.
What changes between Swiss destinations is the delivery leg rather than the rate — the access notes above are what shape a Bern quote. Volumes here are typical rather than measured; the survey sets the real figure and the price is then fixed in writing. Our free volume calculator gives you a cubic-feet number in a couple of minutes. For the supplementary tariff and what is included, see the Switzerland page or the full European rate card.
The capital and its neighbours — Fribourg half an hour away is markedly cheaper. The national rate is the same wherever the load goes in Switzerland — what changes is the access, the language at the door and the timing, and each page covers its own.
Allow 10–14 days door to door. Bern is central and the road leg is unremarkable; the constraint is at the far end, where an old-town delivery has to be fitted to whatever access the Lauben and the cellar entrance allow. A Kirchenfeld or Breitenrain address is quicker to complete than an Altstadt one.
Our Swiss destination agent. We pack, load, inventory and export from the UK and run the road leg to the frontier; the agent clears customs and delivers to your address in canton Bern. That local knowledge matters here, because the delivery problem in Switzerland is almost never the distance.
Bern’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its famous six kilometres of covered arcades — the Lauben — are exactly the kind of beautiful architecture that makes a removal awkward. Vehicle access under and around them is restricted, cellar entrances are often the only practical route for bulky items, and staircases in the sandstone buildings are narrow and turn tightly. Anything large goes… We establish all of it at survey and price any shuttle vehicle or furniture lift into the quote from the start.
Normally not. Used household effects can usually be imported free of duty and Swiss VAT as Übersiedlungsgut when you are genuinely transferring residence, subject to the conditions on use before and after the move, your residence permit or registration, and a full itemised inventory. Vehicles, alcohol, tobacco, firearms and plants are handled separately from the standard relief. Federal and diplomatic postings in Bern often carry their own documentation on top of this, so tell us which category you are in early.
Yes, from anywhere in the UK. Our vehicles run regular collection routes through London, Sussex, Norfolk, Wales, the Midlands and Scotland. Those are collection runs rather than premises — our only depot is at Lower Dicker in East Sussex, and that is where every European load is consolidated, checked and sealed before it travels.
Usually through a window on an external lift, or down through the cellar. The Lauben restrict where a vehicle can stand, and the sandstone staircases behind them turn too tightly for anything substantial. Both routes are normal here; which one applies is a survey question, not a moving-day discovery.
Yes, they are a good share of our Bern work. Those postings frequently carry documentation requirements beyond the standard Swiss removal-goods file, and often need an itemised valued inventory and invoicing to a department or relocation provider. Tell us the posting type at the first call so the paperwork is right from the start.
Outside the old town, generally yes — Länggasse, Kirchenfeld and Breitenrain are conventional and a vehicle can usually get close. Inside the UNESCO core it is among the harder Swiss deliveries. Bern is the city where the answer depends most sharply on which street you are moving to.
Call us for a free, no-obligation quote, or use our online form. Whether it is a shared part-load or a whole house, we have handled the route before and we will handle yours with care.