I was surprised to hear that Zurich is more expensive thanLondon. I have opinion that London is overpriced city.

1. What exactly is cost more in Zurich?

2. What is more expensive in London?

3. Is Zurich generally more expensive?

1. Food. Eating and drinking out (much much more). Average rents. Clothes. In fact most things you buy barring some elecrical goods.

2. Central rents. Some electrical goods if you don't shop online. Some food in supermarkets.

3. Yes.

Adrian has summarised things nicely.

As a Londoner I travel home every 2 months and London prices are like a free gift at the candy store by comparison. I can almost justify the cost of the flights by the savings on food, hair cut, dry cleaning and basics like razor blades that I make buying in London rather than Zurich.

London food prices are about 1/2 to 1/3 of the prices in Zurich.

Don't get me started on the great Zurich rip-off accommodation prices which make London seem a bargain. Even cinema here is more expensive than London which is notoriously over-priced.

The ONLY thing I've found comparable is electronic goods like TV, Blu-ray players etc which seem to be priced about the same.

Oh and the monthly travel card in Zurich is MUCH better value than the rip-off London Oyster card, quite aside from the fact that London transport is a mess of cancellations, broken down vehicles and treating passengers worse than cattle where Zurich is clean, efficient and on-time.

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My Blog: "A Grumpy Brit in Switzerland"

Hi yes I'd definitely agree that food is more expensive - especially for nice meat and fish. As for rents, I think you get much better value for money in Zurich - the quality of apartments is high compared to what you would get for a similar price in London.

How much average person pays per week for food in Zurich? I understand that every person is different, but I mean average person who buys average/normal quality food.

put it this way, i paid 50chfs for a normal sized steak (beef entrecote) from the butchers. food is stupidly expensive, esp. meat.

And eating out, even for a very average meal, is even more stupidly expensive.

To throw a little spanner in the works:

1. Labour
2. Taxes

Yes, labour is much more expensive in Switzerland overall so not only will things cost more but you will earn more here than in London...mostly and occasionally up to twice or three times as much.
When you then add in your tax savings the chances are that most people are going to be better off here than in London. The average man and the poor man in Zurich most probably have better lives with higher proportions of disposable income here than in London.

3. Yes, Zurich is more expensive than London, no doubts.

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Living it up in Gersau.

The only city in Europe (except for Geneva) which is more expensive than Zurich is Moscow.

Food + Eating out is double.
A cleaner £20 hour probably at least double
Medical insurance probably double but required by law.
Car repairs double
Speeding fines from 40 chf to 400 days earnings + prison

Parking tickets cheaper

It is nice to know. It seems that Zurich has more ordnung (order). I was in London yesterday and was shocked about some ghetto areas; also subway train was cancelled too. It makes you unhappy especially after you paid 8 pounds for a train ticked.

I also head from friends that quality of food in Switzerland is very good, much better than in UK or US. Probably you pay more, but you get better quality food.

I heard also that quality of health care is much better in Switzerland than in UK or US.

You heard wrong unless you like bland food.

Another question
What about the other cities in the Germanspeaking part? Are they also so expensive like Zurich?

Ummm, where exactly do you think Zurich is?

Err in the German speaking part. Or did it suddenly slide down next to Geneva when I wasn't looking?

Zurich is in the German part (or you removed it to Alaska? ) I mean the other cities in the German part.

Oops, maybe I misread his previous post (or he surreptitiously slipped in the 'other' whilst I was not looking)

And edited the quote in YOUR post? Nice try

While Zurich is expensive, the cost of London is dis proportionally expensive compared to what people earn there.

At least in Zurich people are earning between 25-40% more than people who live in London.

Which is the same throughout most of the UK to be honest. London is more extreme, but the last year I lived there, the cost of stuff just kept going up and up and up and pay was frozen at levels that already made it very hard to afford rent + council tax + car, let alone other "luxuries" like internet, days out, food shopping and so on.

In the end both me and the gf were working but we couldn't afford to rent a flat in an area that we felt safe living in. It was either live in a ghetto area or get rid of the car. Seeing as public transport out of the major cities in the UK is a joke, it's not really an option.

It's late. Good night. (And Zurich is still more expensive than London)