Car transport
Car transport to London
500 kilometres and a stretch of sea. And one thing to know now: the ULEZ registration for a foreign plate can take up to ten days.
Why this route
One driving day, plus a crossing
London lies about 500 kilometres away by road, plus the Channel crossing. On the Shuttle from Calais that is thirty-five minutes; by ferry from Dunkirk or Calais about ninety. Either way it is one driving day.
What really sets this destination apart from Paris or Frankfurt is not the distance but the paperwork. London layers two charges on top of each other — the ULEZ and the Congestion Charge — and for a foreign plate that works differently than for a British one. A car on a Dutch plate has to register with EPC PLC before entering, even if the car comfortably meets the standard. And that registration can take up to ten days.
That is the most important sentence on this page. Anyone who decides on Thursday that the car has to be in London by Saturday does not run into a fine because the car is too dirty, but because the plate was not in the system in time. Which is why I ask for British runs to be booked well in advance.
Your route
Netherlands → London
One direct drive from the Netherlands, your own car, one dedicated driver, from your door to the destination. Every other destination in Europe I drive just as readily.
direct route · 1 dedicated driver
Price indication — London
One-way
~ 500 km · ~ 1 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 300
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 450
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 910
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 750 excl. VAT
Return (combi)
~ 500 km · ~ 2 driving days
- Driver fee
- € 600
- Travel expenses (calculated up front, no mark-up)
- € 730
- Total (indicative)
- ± € 1.610
incl. 21% VAT · ± € 1.330 excl. VAT
Prices may vary slightly due to variable costs such as hotel, fuel and tolls.
Who sends a car here
Four situations where this works
London is the most expensive city in Europe to keep a car in, and at the same time one of the places where people still want one. Usually for a concrete reason.
A second home or longer stay
Dutch people living in London or spending months there often do not want to be without their own car, not for the city, but for the weekends outside it: the Cotswolds, the south coast, Oxford. Without a car that is awkward, and hire in Britain is expensive.
Buying a car or having one collected
Britain is an interesting market for Dutch buyers, particularly for classics and for cars delivered there in larger numbers. Going yourself means a crossing out, a day driving on the wrong side of the road and a crossing back. I do that and you do not.
Concerts, matches and fairs
The O2 Arena, Wembley, the Royal Albert Hall, ExCeL and Olympia draw audiences from the continent all year. Wembley and the O2 sit far from the centre and are easier to reach by car than by the last train, certainly when it runs late.
Fixed moments in the year
Wimbledon in late June and early July, the Chelsea Flower Show in May, the London Marathon in April and the Notting Hill Carnival over the August bank holiday weekend. In those periods the city is full, whole districts are closed off and arriving by car is slow, reason to agree the delivery address precisely in advance.
The route
Five hundred kilometres, and a stretch of sea
Two things that have to be arranged beforehand, and then a run that is short but not straightforward.
- 01
Applying for ULEZ registration
Up to ten days before departure
This is the step that sets the planning. A foreign-registered car has to register with EPC PLC before entering, even if it meets the emissions standard, and that can take up to ten days. I start it as soon as the run is fixed, but the run therefore has to be fixed in time.
- 02
Collection in the Netherlands
Morning
I collect the car where it stands, walk round it with you and photograph its condition at departure. The same procedure as on any other run.
- 03
To Calais or Dunkirk
± 320 km
Via Antwerp, Ghent and Dunkirk to the coast. Belgian and French motorway, with French tolls on the last stretch. I plan generously for check-in, because a missed boat or shuttle means waiting for the next one.
- 04
The crossing
35 to 90 minutes
On the Shuttle the car stays below in the train and it takes thirty-five minutes; by ferry about ninety. Which of the two it becomes depends on the time and the forecast. In a storm the ferry sometimes does not sail, and then the Shuttle is the safer choice.
- 05
On the left into London
± 130 km
From Folkestone or Dover on the M20 and the M25 into London. Driving on the left takes most people a moment to adjust to; for me it is routine, and I take it more gently than on the continent. I deliver to the agreed address, with photographs of the condition on arrival, and come back by train or by air. That is in the price.
Practical points
The ULEZ registration is the real obstacle
The Ultra Low Emission Zone applies in all boroughs, twenty-four hours a day, every day except Christmas Day. For non-compliant cars — petrol below Euro 4 and diesel below Euro 6 — that costs £ 12.50 a day. But for a Dutch plate the point is a different one: a foreign-registered car has to register with EPC PLC beforehand in any case, even if it comfortably meets the standard. Without that registration the system sees an unknown plate and a fine follows, however clean the car is. And that registration can take up to ten days.
The Congestion Charge is separate from it
The Congestion Charge is a separate charge for the centre and rises from £ 15 to £ 18 a day on 2 January 2026. It applies on top of the ULEZ, not instead of it. If the delivery address falls inside the congestion zone, I include that in the indication rather than passing it on afterwards.
A British fine does reach you
A Penalty Charge Notice is £ 180, or £ 90 if paid within fourteen days. For non-British vehicles Transport for London uses a European debt-recovery partner, so the idea that a London fine never reaches a Dutch plate is out of date. That is exactly why I arrange the registration beforehand rather than gambling on it.
Recurring events
Wimbledon in late June and early July, the Chelsea Flower Show in May, the London Marathon in April and the Notting Hill Carnival over the August bank holiday weekend. In all those periods whole districts are closed off, hotels are dearer and traffic is slower. The O2 Arena, Wembley, ExCeL and Olympia also run all year; for an event at one of those I agree the delivery address especially precisely.
Luggage travels with it
No trailer is involved, so whatever fits in your car comes along. For a move or a longer stay that saves a separate shipment, and on this route it also saves a second crossing.
Compare your options
The same car from the Netherlands to Southern Europe, three ways, three price tags. With a trailer, watch which one you are comparing: riding along on a scheduled line from depot to depot is the cheapest there is, but a transporter making the run for your car alone charges per kilometre and bills the truck’s journey home as well. Between those two extremes sits a factor of five.
Trailer transport
€675 – 4,500 excl.
± 10 working days, or 2–3
- €675 – 850 if your car rides along on a scheduled line
- But then you take it to the depot yourself and collect it yourself on arrival, ten working days later
- If the transporter runs for your car alone, door to door, it goes per kilometre — open ± €0.95, enclosed ± €1.35 — and the truck’s journey home counts too. Utrecht–Marbella comes to ± €4,500
- Luggage in the car usually not allowed
Driving it yourself
± €0.25 per km + your time
± 2 – 3 days of your own
- You drive the whole route yourself
- Fuel and tolls come to roughly €0.25 per kilometre
- Plus a hotel night on the way and a flight back
- And two to three days of your own time
Monarch DriveDrive-it-Back
± €2,040 excl. for Utrecht–Marbella
± 3 days
- One dedicated driver drives your own car, door to door
- Half what a transporter charges to make that same run for your car alone
- On the day you choose, not the day the line departs
- Load the car with your own luggage
- 360° condition report + daily updates
Trailer prices, September 2026: the line prices from one large Dutch car transporter's own route pages, the door-to-door price from a Dutch specialist in exclusive car transport's own rate calculator. My figure is the indication from the calculator above for Utrecht–Marbella, one way. All amounts exclude VAT so they can be read side by side. Travel expenses are calculated up front and included in the fixed price, with no mark-up.
Frequently asked
What people ask about this route
Yes, even if it meets the emissions standard. A foreign-registered car has to register with EPC PLC before entering. Without that registration the system sees an unknown plate and a fine follows, however clean the car is.
For London, further ahead than for other destinations: the ULEZ registration can take up to ten days. I start it as soon as the run is fixed, but those ten days cannot be shortened.
The ULEZ is £ 12.50 a day for non-compliant cars, petrol below Euro 4, diesel below Euro 6. The Congestion Charge for the centre is a separate charge and rises from £ 15 to £ 18 a day on 2 January 2026. What applies to your car and your address is in the indication beforehand.
Usually on the Shuttle: thirty-five minutes and more reliable in bad weather. By ferry it takes about ninety minutes. I choose on the time and the forecast.
Yes, this is a regular route. I take the other side of the road more gently than the continent, particularly on roundabouts and when merging. That is where it goes wrong for people who do it once a year.
By train or by air, depending on the time of delivery. Both are in the price, so you see no separate line for it.
How I safeguard your car
Clear about cover
Your own policy stays leading. Damage caused by me: I cover the excess up to €500. What I do not have is stated just as plainly.
Signed transport agreement
Every arrangement — excess, route, planning — recorded in writing beforehand.
360° condition report
Your car's condition fully documented with photos, before and on delivery.
Reply within 24 hours
A personal answer from one point of contact, not a call centre.
Elsewhere on the site
Further into Britain, or the rates first?
The other direction
And if your car needs to come back from London?
Bringing your car back from London costs ± € 1.070, against ± € 910 for the outbound run. Over this distance I travel to your car by train and those hours sit in the driver's fee; on the long routes I fly and that falls away. Otherwise it is the same trip, in reverse.
Ready to have your car transported safely?
Request your indication with no obligation. Within 24 hours you will have a personal reply.