My husband got a new job in Baar ZG. As we live in the Thurgau now and it takes him between 90 minutes and 2hrs to get to work we want to move to the area in summer. We have two kids (8 and 10).

In particular we have looked in Baar, Zug, Cham and Rotkreuz so far. I want the place not to be too small as we live in tiny village (2000 inhabitants) right now and want to try something else. Kids will go to public school (we are Swiss). Some "international atmosphere" would be highly appreciated.

I do wonder what you think about life in the canton of Zug in general and the different towns in particular. So please, if you have a minute, fire away

Also these places are worth a look:

Walchwil
Unteraegeri
Oberaegeri

They are smaller towns than Baar/Cham etc... but great for kids and lovely views.

cheers
SC

Thanks for this input, Swiss Cheddar.

Unterageri is closer than oberageri. We're there, and it's nice.

The lake is trying to freeze at our end of the lake right now...is it because we are cooler than oberageri?

We drove to Unteraegeri last Saturday because we heard that it's beautiful. We found it a bit far off, however, and will probably prefer to live somewhere "down in the valley"

Have you checked out Steinhausen?

I think it's the third biggest geminde after Cham and Baar.

PS: The number 8 bus goes to Baar if you want to commute, and by car you can also get to Blickensdort (Baar) very quickly from Steinhausen.

Hi Texas Lynette,
From another Texan, we enjoy Baar quite a bit. It has about 24,000
people. There are great connections to Zürich and Luzern.

Good luck!
Grant

Down in the valley = fog for most of the autumn. Both ageri's sits above it.

Yeah, I heard about the fog. I live in Foggy Hollow already now, I can deal with that pretty well, but it's a good point.

Love Doctor, we went to look at an appartment in Steinhausen. It was very nice, but the location next to that blue factory and behind the railway station was awful. It did not disqualify the whole town though, it would just have to be another corner.

"Fellow" Texan -glad you like it in Baar. We actually found a flat there that we really like, except that it is a little on the small side and in compensation it's expensive... so we probably have to continue looking...

Silverburn, I know you're right. Luckily nobody in our family gets the blues from the lack of sun -we live in Foggy Hollow already.

I would recommend Cham. It´s much more beautiful than Baar and Zug and you can find everything you need(except a gym...). But if you are looking for more pace and things to do you will have to go to Zurich, it's really quiet and calm in every "city" in kanton Zug .

Okay, thanks for that, tayna. Where I currently live the social highlight of the year is the stage performance of the local gymnastics club (Abendunterhaltung Turnverein) So, I guess it will be more city-like wherever we go...

I am not looking for the big-city-hustle-and-bustle, I'd just like to go shopping without having to tell the lady at the cashier how my kids are doing in school, I mean we only just moved here again -a year ago. We're the ones who did the inexplicable thing of moving abroad and coming back

I don't know, if I explained myself...

I have to second silverburn here about the fog. Here's a pretty descriptive picture I took last October... I was amazed how local the fog was at times. That little cloud there above Zug just wouldn't go away.



I still like it here in downtown Zug though now that I know that it's a mistake to judge the weather by just looking out of the window :-)

okay, I get the picture...

There is a gym in Cham - Newton Sports on Hinterbergstrasse above the Mercedes dealership.

Friendly staff and perfectly good equipment

I think you have it covered with Baar, Zug, Cham and Rotkreuz. Baar, Cham and Rotkreuz are like a big villages whilst Zug is more like a town. They all have good communities and facilities and it is easy to get around by public transport or car. We still have a floor free in our building in Baar and the rental agent is Peikert in case you want to have a look what they have. I wouldn't worry about the fog as it seems you're used to it and it's not that bad. People do like to go on about it though but think its those that obsess about the weather in general. Good luck with the move!

Zug is generally overpriced (and dull) and good places may mean putting a kid on Ebay. Have you thought about Thalwil, a little more tax, a little less rent so holistically it may balance, but closer to Zurich etc.

Yes, we considered Thalwil too. Unluckily we did not see an appartment there that was cheap enough to make the balance. The good thing is, you just made me check on the train connections and I discovered that one can travel from Thalwil to Baar in almost no time So thanks!

Have you considered Luzern? If you are looking for something "bigger" and like the idea of Thalwill than I would think Luzern may be an option. Train time to Baar can not be that bad.

If you are after city living that would be an option. if you are just after more international people, then most of the places already mentioned will have that.

Good luck.

Thanks!

We haven't considered Lucerne so far. It takes a little longer to get to Baar than from the places right around it, but not that long. Certainly feasible. However, during our searching process we realized that what we'd really like is the place to be as near as possible. If hubby has 15 or fewer minutes for one way, he could even come home for lunch. We have never had that before and would love him to spend more time with us.

How do you like it in Risch by the way?

It looks like we've found a place It's big enough, in a perfect location (right next to green belt), and GREAT for kids. Ugly '70ies kitchen and baths though but we'll be able to cope with that. It's in Cham and we should get the contract by the end of the week. Let's keep fingers crossed