Hi All,

I have just accepted a job in Basel and must say am a little concerned as to what I am hearing and reading about Basel and Switzerland in general and would love some feedback from those of you already out there.

I can handle the fact the Swiss are different but surely the place can't be that bad and the people totally unapproachable? I am a pretty sociable guy and am planning to be proactive and play sports etc but it is a bit of a worry as I am coming out totally on my own and boredom is not great for me

Also, can anyone suggest the best areas of town to look at properties? I have heard some areas you can't leave after certain times etc, although I do hope that is nonsense.

Any help well received.

Cheers

Basel is brilliant mate, i lived ther for 3.5 years and made a lot of friends. There is a massive x-pat community.

Try to stick near the centre when looking for an appartment, then you will have no trouble in getting home, but to be honest, as long as its not after midnight you should get almost anywhere

Nah, in my experience Basel is more lively and safer than a UK market town of similar size. It's not New York or London in either fun or crime terms but it's got an unusually high number of expats in a similar situation to yourself.

As for areas to live in, it depends what you want - super quick walk/commute to work? Right by the bars and clubs? Peace and quiet in suburbia? Countryside idyll in the back and beyond?

Thank you very much, I feel a lot better now

I would probably prefer to be central, nearer the life and soul, at least to start with...any suggestions?

In danger of sounding a little desperate but if anyone fancies a coffee / beer then please do message me and we can exchange numbers.

Cheers

I stayed in Aeschenplatz (Münchensteinerstrasse) when i was there, the price of the flat was very low (1300.-) and was a large 3 room appartment. 10 min walk from the main train station and 10 mins from the centre. There were also trams every 15mins going past my door

There are loads of flats av ailable in basel at the moment, whats your price range and how big do you want it?

If you search for an apartment on homegate, select by say Basel and price, then when the search returns, press the 'Auf Karte' tab, and you can see by the map where they are, simples!

It's all pretty safe, most of the violence seems to happen in KleinBasel and in the early hours. I wouldn't consider it a factor as the upside of KleinBasel is cheaper rents and more bars etc.

Welcome to Basel! It is definately not a boring city with so many ex-pats around. The Swiss are a bit harder to get to know but if you are planning to play sport and are social it will happen eventually!

If you are here this weekend you should join us on the pub crawl, Basel Santa Pub Crawl - December 2011!!! . Will be a great way to meet people and get a feel for different areas of the city.

I have lived in 3 different neighborhoods including klein Basel, Gundeli and the city center. I feel all areas are safe, much safer than many other cities, but of course you should always be aware of your surroundings. I'd be more concerned with tram times than safety if i were you. Anywhere central you can walk home so should be ok.

Any other questions feel free to pm me. Good luck with your move!

Glad you feel better: it's a great place and because there are lots of expats there are lots of people in exactly the same boat. You'll not be bored I'm sure and the even the centre of town is a good place to live. Public transport is excellent and you won't need a car. If you wait 8 minutes for a tram you would feel hard done by.

Good luck

Thank you so much Tony, I think nearer the centre is more what I would prefer.

I hope to make try and meet as many great people as possible and you have really reassured me :-) Let's certainly stay in touch and hopefully meet up over the next few weeks for a beer or two.

Cheers,

Neil

Hey Quark, I think probably more central nearer to start with and then take it from there.

Hope we can maybe meet up at some point when I'm over :-)

Cheers,

Neil

Well I have been looking online and with my salary etc I think 1300 sounds about right. I am nicely surprised you got a 3 br apartment for that price? Everything I have been looking at has been studio / one bed?

Any pointers hugely appreciated.

Cheers! Simples sounds good to me and having a gander now..

I don't live in Basel so I can't give you any advice, but just wanted to let you know that 3 rooms in Switzerland does not mean 3 bedrooms. Most properties are apartments and therefore just listed by the number of liveable rooms. So, a 3 room apartment would be 1 living room, 2 bedrooms plus a kitchen and a bathroom.

Good luck with your search.

Thank you!

I do hope getting involved in a few sports teams will help, I suppose it is about being proactive more than anything else.

I am GUTTED i am not over until Monday :-( would've loved to have come along on Saturday, have a few beers for me!

Thanks as well for the pointers, hope I can meet up with all you lovely people on arrival!

Cheers Fabrizio and I have been told a car is really not necessary so he's staying back.

It is looking more and more like boredom won't be a problem, my job is going to be full on but I do hope to have some friends at the weekend / odd night during the week.

Take care and thanks once again.

Just to echo what a few people have already said really that Basel is by no means boring!
My boyfriend and I moved from the UK 6 weeks ago and have loved every minute so far. I'm very much of the view that life is what you make it and coming to a new place you have to make the effort to go out and try new things as a nice life, friends and a good time won't automatically come to you.
We have a temp apartment for our first two months but have just found a 3 room place for our permanent home here through homegate.ch in Kleinbasel. It's 1570chf per month which is a good size and everything we need.I'm sure you should be able to find something decent for 1300chf per mont. We have found Kleinbasel good for bars which seems to be a bit more reasonably priced than places on the other side of the river.
I certainly feel safe as a girl walking round my neighbourhood alone too.

We are by no means experts as we've only been here a shortwhile but if you have any questions just give me a shout

Laura

dont worry too much about where you choose to live in Basel, most areas are well within a maximum 15-20 minute walk. I live in Gundli and it takes me 8 minutes to walk into the centre of the city - i hardly take the tram as i am quicker on foot.

1 thing you have to keep in mind, and also depends on your permit status etc is there are different tax rates between basel city BS and basel land BL ( the surrounding area) BL is cheaper, but as I said it all depends if you pay the tax yourself or if you are taxed at source.

klein basel is a cheaper area and there are some lovely areas but also some which are a bit crap.

Just realize that the life and soul of Basel has a bed time. Despite its importance in Switzerland, Basel is just a small, sleepy Dorf.

Basel? Boring?

Mate, there is so much to do here, that I can't find time to do all the things that are possible to do!

You can visit France for a meal, go for shopping in Germany, enjoy hike through Schwartzwald in the afternoon, and then finish with a bar hopping in Basel, all in one day!

There are museums, spas, sport clubs, events, you name it - it is here!

On the other hand - if you lock yourself in the room then it doesnt matter where you live.

Cheers!

you didn't have time to do it all, but you just did it all in one day.