Moving in Amsterdam has one problem that dominates all the others: the staircase.
Everything else about hiring a mover here -- the quote, the day, the price -- follows from how your furniture is going to get past it.
The staircase, and the trade it created
The classic Amsterdam stair is near-vertical, turns on itself, and is narrower than a two-seat sofa.
That is why so many facades carry a hoisting hook at the top, and why the furniture lift is a separate business here rather than an accessory a mover happens to own.
A verhuislift is a ladder lift that runs up the outside of the building to a window or balcony, worked by an operator.
You can hire one directly if you are moving yourself, or have your mover bring one.
OranjeLift, based on the Herengracht, answers around the clock every day of the year and takes urgent bookings, on 1,289 reviews at a flat five.
Verhuislift.nl on Sarphatistraat is also a twenty-four-hour operation, quotes free, supplies the operator with the lift and handles same-day requests.
Huurverhuislift.nl works more conventional hours from Abberdaan in Nieuw-West, eight to five on weekdays and nine to four at weekends, and Verhuislift Amsterdam on Jacob Tilstraat is another round-the-clock option in the south.
Movers to start with
The firms below range from a full-service removal to a van and two pairs of hands.
Match the level of service to the job rather than to the price, because a cheap crew and a difficult stairwell is how walls get damaged.
Student Service
Based on H.J.E. Wenckebachweg and open eight in the morning to nine at night, seven days a week, for house and apartment moves at student rates.
Its 9,635 reviews are by a very wide margin the largest of any mover in the city, which is worth knowing when the other quotes are all from firms you have never heard of.
Fa. P.M. de Wit & Zn
A recognised removal firm on Archangelkade in the western docks that has been trading since 1923 and will come and quote on site for nothing.
Its office keeps nine to five on weekdays only, so the booking conversation has to happen in working hours.
MBI
Den Brielstraat in West, handling both household and business relocations across the city, open eight in the morning until ten at night every day of the week.
BC Verhuizingen
Analoogstraat in Noord, eight to eight on all seven days, and the only mover on this list holding a flat five stars, across 178 reviews.
Select Movers
A moving and storage service run from the Keizersgracht, open eight to eight on weekdays, eight to six on Saturday and ten to five on Sunday.
The Sunday opening is unusual and useful if a Monday key handover leaves you no other day.
Storage, and why access hours decide it
Storage in Amsterdam solves two problems: the gap between two homes, and a flat that was never going to hold everything.
The units are broadly similar; what genuinely differs is when you are allowed in.
Shurgard runs the widest network, with sites at Aletta Jacobslaan in West, Transformatorweg near the centre, Van Marwijk Kooystraat by the Amstel, Hoogoorddreef in Zuidoost and Softwareweg in Noord, all open seven in the morning to nine at night every day.
1BOX on Schepenbergweg in Zuidoost has the longest access of all at six in the morning to eleven at night, seven days, which is the one to look at if you need to reach the unit outside normal hours.
MijnSafestore on Isaac Gogelweg and Pilotenstraat, and BOXIE24 in Zuidoost, both close on Sundays, so weekend-only access is not an option there.
Getting a quote that holds on the day
Never accept a price given over the phone without the mover seeing the property, at minimum through photographs of the stairwell, the doorway and the street.
The single most expensive surprise in an Amsterdam move is a lift that turns out to be necessary and was not in the quote.
Ask four things of every quote: whether it is fixed or hourly, whether the furniture lift is included, what the insurance covers, and what happens if the day overruns.
Get more than one, and get them in writing.
The kerb outside your door
A van needs somewhere to stand, and in most of Amsterdam that means arranging it with the municipality rather than hoping.
Established movers do this routinely and will usually handle the application as part of the job.
Ask explicitly who is arranging the loading space and by when, because the application is not instant and the answer being “you” on the morning of the move is a genuinely bad start to the day.
Booking, and when not to move
The end of the month is the busiest window in the Dutch moving calendar, because that is when leases turn over, and the summer compounds it.
Book several weeks ahead for those dates and expect less flexibility on price.
If your dates are movable at all, a mid-month weekday is easier to book, easier to park and generally cheaper.
The lift firms are booked separately and can run out before the movers do.
Packing, and the first night
Declutter before you pack rather than after, when everything is already in a box and in a new hallway.
Label by room rather than by contents, since the person carrying it only needs to know where to put it down.
Keep one clearly marked bag with bedding, chargers, toiletries and whatever makes coffee.
It is the difference between a first night and a first ordeal.
The paperwork nobody warns you about
Moving address in the Netherlands is a formal act, not just a courtesy to your friends.
Register the change with the municipality within the required period, then work through the bank, the insurers, the health insurer and the energy supplier.
Arrange mail forwarding for the overlap, and keep the mover’s documentation until you are sure nothing was damaged.
To compare firms and storage sites, browse the full list of Amsterdam movers and storage.
Related guides
- Amsterdam Cleaning Services: A Practical Guide
- How to Choose a Phone Repair Shop in Amsterdam
- Where to Shop for Furniture in Amsterdam
Moving with school-age children?
See our guide to international schools in Amsterdam.
If you are moving with children, read how the Dutch education system works before you choose an address -- catchment affects school priority.
