Tell us about your move
Where you are moving from and to, when, and roughly what is coming with you. It takes about two minutes, it costs nothing, and you are not committed to anything at the end of it.
In Essen it is often the street that decides, not the distance: whether the van can stand outside the door and whether the A40 happens to be clear matters more than the few kilometres between two districts. Comparing shows which moving company has planned for that.
Essen is a city with two faces, and when you move you notice which one you are standing in. Around the centre, in Rüttenscheid, the Südviertel, Holsterhausen and Frohnhausen, the buildings stand shoulder to shoulder: four floors, rarely a lift, and cars parked end to end outside the door. In the south, in Bredeney, Heisingen, Werden or Kettwig, it gets greener and hillier. Narrow streets run down to the Ruhr there, and in the old centres of Werden and Kettwig a large lorry cannot reach every front door. In the north, in Altenessen, Katernberg or Borbeck, the approach is usually easier and a space is easier to find.
Between north and south lies the A40, and it is the stretch that most often holds up a move in Essen. Moving from Steele to Frohnhausen or from Altenessen to Rüttenscheid covers only a few kilometres and can still take a long time in rush hour. A moving company that knows Essen puts the drive in the late morning.
There are no fixed prices, because hardly any two moves are alike. As a rough guide for a move within a city: a room or a small flat from a few hundred euros, a family flat over several floors with dismantling and assembly well over a thousand. What your move costs is only stated in the quote.
These points decide the price:
Whether a fixed price or billing by the hour suits you better is explained in Fixed price or hourly rate for your move?.
In Rüttenscheid, the Südviertel and Holsterhausen a no-parking zone is hard to do without: otherwise the van stands a street away and every box is carried twice as far. You apply at the City of Essen; the road traffic authority is responsible. Allow around two weeks, because the signs have to be in place some days before the date. Many moving companies handle the application and the signs for a surcharge.
Essen belongs to the Ruhr low-emission zone, and vehicles need a green sticker. For a moving company that goes without saying; on a borrowed van it is worth a look.
Month-ends and Saturdays are taken first. In Essen two things are added. At the start of term in April and October many students of the University of Duisburg-Essen move, and small transports are in demand then. And on big trade-fair days Rüttenscheid is full around the fair and the Grugapark, as are the exits of the A52. A weekday in the middle of the month, outside the fair, is usually the calmest choice.
Many moves lead out of Essen into the neighbouring cities, to Mülheim, Bottrop, Gelsenkirchen or Bochum. The distances are short, and companies from those cities serve Essen just as well. Anyone who compares several quotes therefore often sees prices further apart than expected.
Where you are moving from and to, when, and roughly what is coming with you. It takes about two minutes, it costs nothing, and you are not committed to anything at the end of it.
Every request is read by a person before it goes anywhere. It then reaches the companies whose service area covers your pick-up address — you do not have to find them or ring round.
Each one arrives by email with a link to your own page. Compare the prices, read what each company says it includes, and ask them anything before you decide.