Hello everyone,

we moved from London to Zurich last November. Although I am not British, I miss London (not England but London itself) despite it gangs, tube, crowds etc. I miss the shops, which are open every day until late, I miss the parks (here it's more like bigger gardens then parks). We lived there for 10 years, and been here much shorter time so maybe this is not enough to agree with the fact that Zurich is the best city in the world to live????

So, I have a question for people who moved from UK to Switzerland (or even better from London to Zurich, if there are such people on this forum): where do you like better? Are you thinking of going back? How long did it take you to settle here?

Also, is there an equivalent of lasminute.com and Argos here?

thank you.

Uetliberg is a big park so is Zürichberg. Have you been to Botanischer Garten Zürich?
http://schweizbilder.ch/izueri/botan...her-garten.asp
No it's not big but on a sunny morning a very lovely spot indeed.

We have been here for two years, both worked in London but lived just North (Herts) but went in for work.

We love it, you will get used to the shopping, but the parks are not gardens but mountains just get on the train and get out there its great.

hope you settle.

Hi,

I grew up in the UK near Manchester and we moved out to France last year.

Nothing will compare to London (except the large US and Asian cities) or the UK generally on the basis on consumerism, convenience and choice....it's just a fact to get over and make compromises.

We too are in the process of choosing a city to live in in CH. We visited Zurich and found it a bit too posh for us...and we could never afford a home there.

That said we can see clearly how CH in general can offer a high quality of life, like those funny rankings say. But you must work at it...you can't just move and instantly expect kharma!

I was glad to leave the UK, we're almost 30 now and are looking for a place to raise kids in the future. I think you just have to accept compromises and differences in culture.

You could always go shopping in Munich!

Richard

Hi Lana,

My wife and i moved from the UK in April. We lived just outside London in Kent (Bexley) and i used to work in the City.

I agree with you that there are things that we miss, the opening times of the shops has to be the biggest thing to get used too after the language of course, but you will get used to it. We have 18 month old Boy and to be honest i get to spend much more time with him now than i did in the UK.

Although my daily jorney is the same (Bexley to London vs Winterhtur to Zurich) i now look forward to the quiet and peaceful Sunday's where you can go out and explore a bit, rather than walk round some shopping centre and spending money just for the sake of it.

Also, because both mine and my wife's parents are split with new partner's ,in a selfish point of view we do not have to spend every weekend making sure that we visit the grandparents and get the favorite comment of "we have not seen you for ages"

I am not saying that we have decided to stay here yet, but the early signs are promising.

hi lana

i was living in london for 3 years before moving to berne 2 weeks ago. of course i'm not settled yet and there are things i miss already, as there are other things i don't miss at all! so everytime i get a bit nostalgic about something in london i remind myself of something i didn't like there and it puts everything into proportion! :P

heh i still miss things from greece (which i left 3 years ago) and i don't think i will ever stop missing it. i try not to think about it too much and focus on the good things that each country has to offer. and i believe there are loads of those here!

There was a great set of letters to the FT earlier this year where correspondents set out their conflicting claims for why each city was better - was very interesting and amusing, if anyone has them??

Editing my post entirely....here is the search to do to read the letters:

http://search.ft.com/search?queryTex...true&dse=&dsz=

Seems quite a few people throwing toys out their prams here!

Nearest alternative I found to Argos in terms of product range would be either Gysi or Coop City - Coop City seems closer to Argos in terms of prices.

However, to my knowledge neither of these offer a catalogue service or the handy "pick it up from collection point A" shopping system of Argos - they're just regular shops with a wide range of goods.

Hi

We moved here from London - lived for 11 years in Hampstead then 1 year in Amersham. We've been here for just over a year and are planing to stay as long as possible

I miss having good friends that you can have a drink with - I think everyone I meet thinks I'm an alcoholic as I'm always asking if they want to meet for a drink / want a glass of wine etc etc. I missed some of the shops when I moved but don't mind now

The things I like about Zurich are that everyone mixes - there isn't the huge social divide that there is in London (and I know I'm bad as I lived in Hampstead....) but I like it that everyone here goes swimming in the lake and doesn't live in gated communities. Also we have 2 small children and I would not like them to grow up in London - here you have all the outdoor sports etc whereas I've seen kids in London and all they talk about (I'm talking girls at primary school) is what designer lables they have bought that weekend! I want my kids to have more freedom.

Also the standard of living we have here is much higher than we could afford in London - and my husbands commute is 5 minutes now which means he gets to see lots more of the kids (and me! though he might complain about that )

I like the bit about not having to see everyone one each weekend - but now that they have been over and have seen how nice it is here (they thought it snowed all year???) they are always over and I end up seeing them for weeks at a time!

Anyway - any of you Londoners fancy meeting up for a drink... see there I go again!!

WOW!!!!! That is so beautiful

We just moved from London as well. We've been in Holborn for the last 16 years so its quite a shock to be in Zurich. Where do people go for the Shoreditch, Farringdon type drinking holes? Is there a china town? A good dim sum restaurants perhaps? Or even a vietnamese restaurant? Any wine stockists that anyone can recommend? ... Help!

I miss Old Compton Street...especially Nero Cafe there.. good location for eye candy.. hehehe
and also Fried Chicken Shops.. which are everywhere in London...(ooh that spicy chicken wings..). Still can go and buy even at 11pm.
That big Hyde Park on weekends....
and the bridge between Charing Cross and South Bank where I use to walk everyday...
Made promise to myself.. once I got a job here .. I will use my first salary to fly back to London...for weekend getaway.

Dont know about Vietnamese but the Blue Monkey in Zurich is the best Thai restaurant i've ever been to. Not cheap perhaps, but deffinately good for a special occasion!

Thanks for the tips! Will definitely try the blue monkey out.

Whats with the funny weather? I can't keep up. Its bright blue sky in the morning, warm enough to be without coat, then heavy shower and freezing breeze in the evening. Is this a common feature?

Yeah, that'd be cool. A spritzer and a yarn is a good thing!

> How long did it take you to settle here?
2 years...

I did a 1 year stint in Zurich before moving back to London for 10 years (last 6 years Canary Wharf), then I came back, possibly for good. After a year here the 2nd time I was convinced it was a good idea. My other half took 2 years to be convinced too.

There are some good factory shops for designer stuff, and the sales can be quite good. The fashion here is a bit wacko, but if you know what you want you can get fantastic bargains.

> Also, is there an equivalent of lasminute.com and Argos here?
How about http://www.preisinsel.ch/de/haushalt/ for Argos?

And a rip off of last minute:
http://www.ltur.com/ch/index.html

toppreise.ch is a favorite comparison site of mine.

Hope this helps. London is only a short flight away if you miss it. When I land in London, I think it is great to be back. Somehow I'm always pleased when it is finally time to come back here! London is great to visit, but I would not want to live there any more.

The best thing about London:

going to the pubs

The worst thing about London:

you can only go to pubs

On a serious note, I must say that I miss the way of working in London. I know every place is different and perhaps this is too much of a generalisation but it looks to me that there is less attention to the worker. Payrises are more of an extraordinary event, very rigid times, the old idea that the more you stay in the office and the more productive you are, working from home is not even an option. I sometimes miss the flexibility and modernity of working in London, though I might agree that this can be different from place to place. Let's not forget that work is quite a long part of our week so it has an impact.

sorry, but were talking about one of the richest countries in the world and a city that fullfills all type of luxury requests and needs you can just think of...so no doubt you can find A LOT of very good wine stockists. i recommend Baur au lac. one branch is located in shopville/hb. its a smaller one, but for a start ok.

there are some asian/chinese(vietnamese im not sure of) restaurants with big variety on dishes, prices and quality of food. depends on how much you want to spend?

watering holes...in zürich exists to my knowledge about/at least 5-6 pubs.
in central area/location.

anymore questions?

some comments make me just smile...in vice versa i think of coming to shocking London: where the heck do people go for a swim, where is the lake? freezing shock..where are the hills?

Try this: http://www.sante.ch/
The shop is called Vinothek "Sante" and is located at Schmiede Wiedikon (Tram No. 9 or 14). You can also shop online. They have a fantastic selection of Spanish and Italian wines, ports etc. (also some good Swiss wines) and very good Whiskys (their single malt selection is excellent for Switzerland). It's really worth going there and taking a look.