Hi. I'm sure there's been countless threads asking the same questions so apologies in advance if that's the case.

My family (wife and 2 babies) are moving to Basel around Feb 2013 from London.

The question I have is, is it worth bringing our own furniture (bed, cots, wardrobe, etc) and electrical goods (e.g. Vacuum cleaner, tv, these work in Switzerland)? I'm assuming these are expensive in Switzerland.

My company is putting up the cost of removal.

My understanding is that most properties to rent are unfurnished.

Also do double buggies for babies fit in the tram?

Any advice is welcome.

Cheers

K

Welcome to the forum

Yes, there is loads of helpful stuff here from people who have been in a similar situation. Have a dig around with the search function, trying "relocation" etc and you will get all the questions answered that you didn't even think to ask yet

And the answer the specifics...

Yes, bring stuff. Yes, mostly unfurnished. And yes, double buggies fit trams, but it can be a squeeze

Bring what you can ..... and replace at your leisure, once here, what doesn't work in your new abode - much better (and cheaper) than having to equip from scratch.

...... but bear in mind that some movers, have a nick to order list, on which may be some of your more expensive to replace items.

Thanks for the tips!

Don't bother with lightbulbs, they're the screw in type here, but bring lampshades if you want. Be aware that when the Swiss move out they take light fittings too, leaving you with bare wires, so you'll need to buy new fittings and bulbs asap once you arrive. Vaccuum cleaners, tvs, computers, etc, work fine - you just need to change the plugs or use a UK to Swiss adapter.

Bed sizes are slightly smaller in the UK iirc so again be aware of that. Also single duvet sizes here are larger - 160cm x200cm - as are pillows so UK duvet covers and pillows won't fit Swiss.

Make sure that wardrobes can be fitted into your apartment as some have low ceilings. We couldn't bring our 2.3m units from our 2.6m ceiling rooms to our 2.1m ones.