Hey. After a rough few years in the UK, my Swiss wife & I are planning to move to Switzerland in the next 12 months. We havent decided where to live in CH, but Ticino or Bern are top contenders at the moment. I've spent lots of holidays in Switzerland over the last 8-10 years and my German is pretty good.

Whilst I've travelled loads and I'm a confident / outgoing person, I'm both excited and unsettled at the thought of new country / new life. My life in the UK has been safe, secure and (up until 5 years ago) very good. I have a couple of business ideas to pursue, but no firm career plans. My career has dominated my life so far, so that doesn't stress me too much - must find balance Daniel-Son. My wife would pick up a fairly good job quite quickly and we plan to rent initially whilst deciding exactly where to settle. My ideal plan would be to travel around CH for 2-3 months and end up at the place that works. Countryside with City access... life quality, better weather, good food...

Questions: 1. Where is this place?
2. Do they have SKY tv? ;-)

Tips, advice and general banter welcome. Oh. Other question (aimed at Brits) is what do you miss from home?

Cheers ears

Bern is the easier road to travel in my opinion for getting settled.The Tessin is nice but the infrastructure is less developed in everyday amenities.I honestly hope things for you and your family improve in the coming months and years.

I would think Bern too, depending on what sort of work you'll both be looking for. It's central so pretty easy to reach most parts of Switzerland.

Yes, you can organise Sky TV. Can be a bit fiddly, but can be done. Best thing is if you can use a UK address (parents, siblings, friends) then just bring the box and card over with you. You can get an LMB and dish easily here. Otherwise, if you don't have a UK address, there are companies who can look after a Sky account for you, but expect to pay extra for the privilege.

Hi Manucunian and welcome! Nice to have more Mancunians here

I definitely think Bern would be your better option for countryside, easy access to city and easy access to full on mountains. We are outside Basel and have beautiful countryside and only 9 mins into Basel by train, but proper Big Mountains are over an hour away .. so not so good.

Sky .. no problem! Better to bring your own with you though .. you can easily buy freesat digiboxes over here but they are not likely to have all the sky plus add ons and, of course, if you actually want to use the Sky subscription services, I think you need the real thing.

Life will be good over here. Good luck!

PS miss the Manchester rain .. no really! It either pours down or is bone dry here. A nice bit of settled drizzle for a fortnight or so wouldn't go amiss ....

A) Which part is your wife from?

B) What are your qualifications?

C) Which Swiss languages do you and she speak?

Tom

Thanks H,

Have been told this before. Maybe The Tessin is idyllic but a slower moving place...? Have only holidayed there before and haven't been to Bern yet, but plan to visit for a nosey. Thanks!

Thanks this is helpful - I don't plan on being a member of the Royle family but I think the comfort of SKY will keep me sane at times of need ;-)

Bern is definitely winning the poll so far.... Thanks for the sky tips. It's funny, although I am cursing the incessant rain at the moment, I'm sure at times i will miss Manchester's drizzle... Although better weather means more outdoor stuff which is a massive bonus...

Ta

Do you and/or your wife speak fluent German? Not always essential if you are sent over to work for a large International company- but certainly is if you want to start your own business here. Times are hard even in Switzerland and many companies and businesses struggling to keep going, partly due to the strong Swiss Franc. I really wouldn't come on the off chance of finding work- as it is almost impossible to find accommodation without being able to prove that your income can support the rent, etc, and private health insurance cover is obligatory from day 1 (although you have 3 months to put in place, back paid to day 1) and very expensive. It is just not easy honest- you really have to do your homework first. Wish you luck though.

Incessant rain here too, sorry.

@st2lemans -

A) Zurich
B) I left Uni early and ran a successful business for over 10 years (interior design sector). My wife is v well qualified in international tourism.
C) she spks Swiss German, English (including street Mancunian) and French. I speak German and English (bit of French) and we're both planning to learn Italian this year.

I know based on the above, life in the German speaking parts would be easier. I do like the idea of living in Ticino, how have you found living there Tom?

Excellent news on the language front - although street Mancunian is not strictly essential to work in 5* Hotel in Gstaad, Montreux or Zermatt- not even Bern

However it is a fact that the Swiss tourism industry is very down at the mo due to high Swiss Franc and low $,£ and world crisis, so not much recruitment taking place.

Maybe we could teach street Mancunian to Switzerland:

Lesson one: alright ar kid, wot y'onnabout?

Could be useful for those trying to break into new markets in the UK

Ok we have developments....

1. My better half and I plan to visit CH in Spring for a week... get a train pass to see as many cities & large towns as possible, so we can get a better feel for areas (I need a city in my life!)

2. In the summer we'll come back in the car - with our chocolate labrador :-)) - for 2 weeks travelling / camping / visiting the areas we're most interested in.

3. Then we can argue for 14 hours straight on the way back...

Great - but make sure you've got all the paperwork, jabs, microchip, international passport, etc for that lovely choc lab. You won't have problems coming here, but getting back into UK is such a palaver.

Is it really? We've got pet passports (we have Swiss cats) plus paperwork & dog microchip etc. Will need to get dog insurance though just in case she breaks free and licks someone to death in a terrible freak accident...

When my wife arrived in the UK with her two cats we had to hang around the vet quarantine centre @ heathrow for 2-3 hours but it wasn't too bad.

My mates think its hilarious when I have to shout at the cats in Swiss German for them to understand. Are we the only ones with multilingual pets...?