Shipping from UK to France

If you’re wanting to send a load or parcel to France from the UK is a fairly easy process and is frequently performed. France holds the second-largest economy in Europe, with its value of import/export up to as much as 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.

Location

France’s location offers multimodal forms of transport, whether it be air, road or sea. With almost half of the country’s border facing seas, this puts France at a prime location for importing loads overseas. Boarding the western edge of Europe, it faces onto the Bay of Biscay (North Atlantic Ocean), the English Channel, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, which offers a buzzing import and export hub for freight and trade.

France is the UK’s closest neighbour within the European continent, which makes importing/exporting from the UK to France fairly quick in turnaround time. Rail, road and air freight are all utilised in France.

Goods and Customs

Goods being posted from the UK to France do not require customs documentation. Please visit your courier’s website to find out which items are prohibited.

Courier Services

When sending your parcel via courier to France, it usually follows a similar protocol as sending packages to places such as Germany and Italy. Make sure you’re aware of the shipping perspectives set in place.

Postal services – mainly suitable for mails, letters, envelopes, parcels of a smaller kind and lower weight.

If postal service is best for the package you are sending, you are generally asked to drop off your packaged to the post office – much like internally sending a package in the UK, door-to-door service is rarely offered.

Courier services – Courier companies are usually private and specialise in bigger or heavier parcels. Usually, courier services are able to deliver your parcel in a much shorter, “express” time (around 5-7 days). A door-to-door service may be offered when you choose to send your parcel with a courier company, however, this may be dependent on the company, so please check in good time before sending your parcel.

When sending a parcel, it is important to make sure your goods are allowed – you can check this on the Royal Mail website. Restricted or prohibited items consist of:

• Synthetic pyjamas that are not fire-retardant; 
• Coins and precious metals; 
• Toys or games containing copper sulphate.