Hi all,

We are looking to move to Zurich in March. We had a few questions regarding my 14 month old daugher. We will not have a vehicle in Switzerland.

1. How do you take your kids out? Do you need a car seat on the trains? Where do you put the strollers? Do kids go on the trains?

2. How much do extracurricular activites cost? Ie gymnastics, dancing, swimming for kids?

3. How do you transport large goods? We will be buying used furniture and Ikea, without a car how do move this stuff around?

4. How many families here are making a lower wage here? Would love to here how you make it work.

Thanks again all. We are coming from the US so we are so used to our big cars!

Hej..

1. You don't need a car seat for trains. And sure you can take your kid with you, people here are usually very friendly and I'm sure they will help you to enter the train with the stroller.. If you are going to life in Zürich city, there you'll have a good public transportation system to travel through the city and around..
http://www.vbz.ch/vbz_opencms/opencm...blicTransport/

2. I have no idea I'm not a mom.
3.I'm working at Ikea so there you can use the home delivery service or if you can't wait for the stuff you can rent a car.
http://www.ikea.com/ch/de/store/spreitenbach/services
I also leave you a link of mobility. This is what a lot of people how life in cities use while they want to go some where or need to have car like maybe in your case for to transport havey items or so....
http://www.mobility.ch/pages/?dom=6
I hope these post is useful for you. Do not hesitate to ask if you have further questions.

Take care

Quite a few people in CH in general, and Zurich/Geneva/Lausanne in particular choose not to have a car. It's too expensive and not necessary considering how good the public transport is in CH. This has been discussed on the EF, just search on "public transport". Many expats regard this as one of the +++ of life in CH.
Children walk to school or activities, in particular in the smaller villages that surround the bigger cities, and in the countryside.
About the car seats on the trains, the question did make me smile. You don't need one (nor do you need seat belts, helmets or other safety gadgets); do you need those in the US

About activities: sport related activities (i.e. football, swimming, athletics) are arranged through school and don't cost much. Dancing, singing, instruments is another matter the state system is under dimensioned and you have to count on going private, how much depends on the school but ca 200 CHF/term is reasonable. Term = jan - june or sept - dec.

About wages, again you can search on the forum, there are countless posts. <<Lower>> is relative anyway. I'm sure that a search on the EF will help you.

CH is a very nice country to live in and enjoy.
Welcome to the Forum --I.

No car means no problems (seriously) and you'll save a ton of money to boot.

a. yes
b. trains don't have seat belts
c. buy a fold-up stroller
d. some trains even have family wagons

That's a pretty active 14 month old you got there..

Have the goods delivered (normally all retailers of larger items have or can arrange transport

Lower than what..?

Don't worry, once you get the hang of how life is without a vehicle you might not want to go back..

If you are moving to Zürich, you will probably not need a car. If you do need
a car for a few hours, try http://www.mobility.ch. You can get a car for just
a couple of hours or for the day, if you need.


I work in the middle of nowhere, so I have to have a car. I lived here for 8 years
without a car. You can too.

Thanks all. We have never really used the public transport here in the US. its just not practical for where we live. I'm glad our 14 month old isn't that active yet either! We were just trying to get a feel for it. As far as salary goes, we'll probably gross 80000CH or so. It just depends on how much I can make in overtime. I know its on the lower side, so thats why I have all the questiosn as far as budget planning goes. Thanks

Migros klubschule offers classes http://www.klubschule.ch/framedef_1....2347CE0A3666AB

These are more reasonable than private lessons. As you will see from the link, there are plenty of things on offer.

I think the cities are pretty geared up for you not having a car. Being able to get to places and get things delivered are a bit of a given.

You will soon find your feet (pardon the pun).

Good luck,
Gal x

Of course it depends on the company, but in general you should be aware that overtime is not the norm in most companies. It is generally only done when really necessary. There are also a lot of rules about doing overtime, such as you must take a half hour break for lunch, if you work the whole weekend then you must take at least one day off in the week before or after the weekend you worked and so on - the bottom line is that doing overtime is not encouraged...

Good luck,

Jim

When it comes to the cost of activities for kids, it depends on whether you are paying for activities in English or those for locals. The ones specifically for expats are likely to be much more expensive, but if your child is going to learn the language you will find lots of great activities for less cost.

There are also lots of playgroups for English speaking toddlers and young children, which are cheap, too, and a fantastic way for you and your child to meet people and find out how other parents are doing things.

We moved here when my daughter was two and never considered buying a car. It really is so easy with the trams, buses and trains, and if I needed help getting on and off nearly every time someone would offer to help me. You will usually find space to leave your pushchair, although sometimes I did fold it up to make things easier.

As for transporting stuff, we used mobility.ch. You can choose what kind of vehicle you want (e.g. van for moving furniture) and it was a very cheap and easy way of doing it.

Zürich is a great city for kids, as there is so much on offer, with playgroups, museums, the local community centres, lots of nice parks, great swimming places, the forest etc etc, so it is easy to have a nice lifestyle. We love it here.

Kate

You will be pleased to know that children under 6 travel for free on public transport, and can even ski for free.

From the age of 6 to 16, you can purchase a Family Ticket for 20 francs for a whole year, and the children then continue to travel at no extra charge when accompanying their parent.

Some are cheap. eg swimming pools may only charge something like 3 francs for children, or under 6 may also be free.

Average wage is around 65,000 pa, so you are above average

To save money:
1. Rent outside the city centre, prices drop dramatically
2. Go shopping in bulk
3. Use those specials! Swiss supermarkets do great specials - don't ignore them. You can buy groceries at 30% off all the time if you try.
4. Buy a GA for your and your partner, then use the public transport system a lot. You'll have a wonderful time exploring and you can use all transport for no extra charge (ie: pay once for the GA and then pay no more for the whole year)

Hi,
Main expense would be your house rent, like other members have pointed out ensure you have got a right place to stay (not too expensive).
and Not all overtime will be paid, please get this confirmed with your employer,in many cases it might be compensated with holidays.

Having a car in Zurich is like throwing away half of your salary away and spending more time in commute.
if you wish to have any lessons in english (swimming, skiing etc...) it will be more expensive, English schools are very expensive.

Thanks again for all the repies. When we were in Zurich 2 weeks ago, I was told to expect OT. An average of about 10 hours extra a week. In our budget I am not planning on it. great to hear about the baby friendliness of the Swiss. We plan on having our daughter integrate into the Swiss culture with activities, school and language. We are trying to decide whther or not to move to Switzerland tomorrow. Just a little concerned about money. We plan on living outside Zurich, maybe Winterthur. SOmewhere where we can lessen our rent expenses

One points about delivery. My experience is that next day delivery isn't usual from many suppliers. If you're going to be getting a lot of stuff, I'd hire a van.

Rents drop but public transport may not be as convenient, and costs could be higher.

Without a car this is much more difficult. How much stuff can one person handle, with a toddler in tow, on public transit? Local shopping on foot with a shopping buggy is a different story.

This is so true. You can plan meals around things on special. It doesn't mean you have to buy in bulk. Also, if you shop shortly before store closing, particularly on a Saturday, you may find items reduced that have reached their sell by date.


The public transportation system is excellent and child friendly.

Making the decision is the tough part. I think it would be fair to say that there are families who have a higher income and families who have to manage on much less. My personal opinion is that for people who have never had to be extremely careful with money, the idea of living on a budget and having to be cautious about spending does not come naturally. This is not necessarily a reason to turn down a career move.

I would recommend that before you make the decision you have a very clear indication from your employer with regards to the relocation package, if one exists. This is one area where they can be a great deal of latitude. Those who are not careful can find themselves paying for things they never dreamed of. Some companies have more flexible policies than others. When relocating, there is far more to consider than just the job offer and salary, so my advice is to look carefully at the entire package before making a final decision.

Indeed. There are three slices of income tax - federal, cantonal and local. The cantonal and local taxes vary according to where you live. Sometimes quite dramatically. ( Cantonal tax calculator here, in English ).