Freight from Portugal to the Czech Republic
We collect goods across Portugal’s north around Porto, the Aveiro and Leiria area, and Greater Lisbon and Setúbal. A full truck from Porto (about 2,600 km) or Lisbon (about 2,800 km) to Prague takes roughly 4–5 days because it crosses the whole of Spain and France. There are no customs formalities – an invoice and CMR note are enough. Check an indicative price in the calculator; we email the exact quote.
Portugal’s industrial towns, from Braga to Estremoz
Portuguese industry is concentrated along the coast between Braga and Setúbal. The interior is sparsely populated, and collections there are the exception – usually stone or cork.
| City | Industry | What we typically carry from there |
|---|---|---|
| Porto | clothing and footwear, furniture, wine | garments and shoes from the surrounding towns, furniture from nearby Paços de Ferreira, port wine |
| Braga | automotive electronics, textiles | electronic components for car makers, clothing |
| Guimarães | textiles, cutlery and knives | home textiles – towels, bed linen, table linen – and kitchenware |
| Santa Maria da Feira | cork processing | cork stoppers, boards and insulation; Portugal is the world’s largest cork producer |
| Aveiro | porcelain and ceramics, metalworking | porcelain tableware and both everyday and decorative ceramics |
| Leiria and Marinha Grande | injection-mould making, glassworks | moulds, plastic parts and glass |
| Lisbon and Setúbal | car plant at Palmela, paper and pulp, distribution | car parts, paper, stock from distribution warehouses |
| Estremoz | marble quarries and stone workshops | marble blocks and slabs, plus wine and olive oil from the surrounding Alentejo |
Textiles, footwear and furniture from the north are covered in depth on our textiles and footwear and furniture pages.
Cork and insulation boards are light but bulky, so a mega trailer with around 3 m of internal height suits them. Marble is the opposite: the trailer reaches its weight limit long before the deck is full. Port and other Portuguese wines follow the rules set out on our wine transport page.
Why the journey from Portugal takes 4–5 days
This is the longest road lane we run regularly. Transit time is governed mainly by drivers’ hours: a driver may drive 9 hours a day, 10 hours twice a week, must break after 4.5 hours and then take an overnight rest. In rough terms the journey splits up like this:
- Porto or Lisbon → border at Vilar Formoso → Salamanca and Valladolid.
- Castile → Burgos → into France at Irun.
- France: Bordeaux → central France → Lorraine or Alsace.
- Southern Germany → Waidhaus – Rozvadov crossing → Prague.
For urgent goods we book a double-crewed truck whose drivers take turns at the wheel, arriving roughly one to two days sooner. It costs more but pays off for time-critical deliveries.
Tolls and lorry restrictions in Portugal
Many Portuguese motorways have no toll plazas: cameras and the on-board unit register each passage and the carrier pays electronically. Tolls on some inland motorways have recently been abolished. All that matters to you is that every charge is included in the freight price.
For collections in Lisbon, bear in mind that heavy goods vehicles face restrictions on the 25 de Abril Bridge, so lorries from south of the Tagus normally cross on the Vasco da Gama Bridge instead. Portugal has no general weekend ban, though local restrictions apply on certain roads around the big cities at peak times and before public holidays.
Several pick-ups for one truck
Portuguese suppliers seldom have a full truckload ready. In the north it is common for a truck to load at two or three firms – cork in Santa Maria da Feira, say, and porcelain near Aveiro – before setting off. We plan the sequence so that goods for the first Czech drop sit by the trailer doors. Single pallets move by groupage through a consolidation depot and take longer than a dedicated truck.
Madeira and the Azores
Both archipelagos belong to the EU and its VAT area, so nothing needs clearing through customs. The goods do, however, have to reach the mainland by container ship, landing in Lisbon or at Leixões near Porto, where the truck takes over. We handle these moves to order, and timing depends on the sailing schedule.
A load can be topped up with goods from Spain on the way – see freight from Spain. All countries are listed under freight from EU countries, and the calculator gives an indicative price.