zurich. as cost of living isn't an issue for you, you can keep a pied a terre in london and fly back most weekends. best of both worlds:

- lower taxes
- skiing in winter
- access to london and other major cities in europe

yay what a lifestyle. I used to do this. Just what you need after a hard week at work and a relaxing weekend is 3hr travel time (times 2). Also, better not do it too often because UK tax residency can sneak up pretty quick.

Had to say Fribourg now, didn't I? Even if it is a bare-faced lie.

and just to put the census in context, what percentage of the voters live in zurich?

Most. But that's why not because.

3 hours is no big deal. esp. if you can work during this travel time and make the travel time 'free'.

if you stay in switzerland for 3 months in the year (say skiing and summer) you can still fly back every weekend without residency trouble.

you can party on the friday, go out saturday and even do a bit of shopping on a sunday (!) before flying back.

In Suisse Romande- it's got to be Lausanne. Great choice for music, bars, restos, cafes, access to Valais, Suisse Germanic regions, France across the lake. Lavaux region with the great Cully Jazz Festival in Spring, and Onze Plus Jazz Festival in Lausanne.

Beaches, swimming pools, south facing exposure in winter...~50 minutes direct to Geneva airport by train (one stop in Geneva city)...

I'd only consider places like St. Gallen or Geneva if the Swiss build the http://www.swissmetro.ch/ ...

What...wish somebody stopped me then.

Don't assume everyone's life is so quiet and calm as it so often seems here

Thinking about it, Neuch ain't bad at all...Really chill.

Heh, where is the sarcasm in geographical terms...
Ok, I say Prague and I mean it.

Anyways, in German speaking part (I am not sure if OP speaks fr), Bern wins it for me. In our area, it would be Geneva. It's evil paced, too many corporates, but hopping and exciting, loads of unies, activities, etc. For me, anyways.

So you honestly mean it?! Ok: I worked for more than two years in Bern and decided to commute from Zurich. That's how boring it was. Maybe it is better on the weekends, but when I went for a dinner with colleagues during the week, you have a hard time to find a half-decent pub which is open and has more than five people at 22.00! (The colleagues were from Bern, so it's not that I didn't find the right places...)

Best thing for young people in the city really is the good train connection to Zurich. Only cool thing was swimming in the Aare... but then: Zurich has a lake for that purpose. And again: my yacht does not possibly fit into the river.

Ok, you had to rub it in, didn't ya.... I think OP won't be concerned about squeezing some yacht somewhere the first few months. Anyways - I take your word for it, really. I do like Bern, so pretty and everything I ever needed there was available, I guess it take living here to compare. But I never lived there. I was mostly there on weekends, too, so the restos were making cash on tourists, opened and available. Friends who lived in Bern enjoyed it, but told me they could "breathe" much better in our end of CH. I see their point, too.

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

But there's never a free runway slot for my G550 at Kloten.

Then you are simply not important enough. When I was flying from Kloten during the last WEF, there were apparently penty of slots and parking places available...

There also seems to be a secret underground scene in Geneva that only I know about as when we lived there we were out all the time. I hadn't realized I was in the "in" crowd, which is weird as I've never been before. lol.

I have to agree, I think Fribourg has more going for it than Bern (even my Bern-based friends agree, honest)

So much more in fact. Fribourg is lovely, but I think anything other than GE/Z and our london teen will have a heart attack or his head will explode. He'll need to ease into life in Lausanne or Fribourg.

Seriously, I love Bern, so she does not have to be perfect
But I probably wouldn't choose it for the poll, Lausanne/Basel/Zürich are a better match for this question (in any case quite different to London/Soho as others have said). Then again Bern is not some far off island, you can easily go to Fribourg/Biel/Thun (although it's pretty dead after closing of the Selve-Areal)/Lausanne/Neuenburg/Basel/Zürich for weekends. Boring to many but nice to most, and near to various interesting places.. the Switzerland of Switzerland.

Lausanne and it can beat Zürich because of the relaxed, friendly francophone culture.

Sorry, I'm a bit of a chauvin.

we have letten (on top)?!

Bern was a blast. You just had to find the fun. It doesn't jump out at you.