understand. well I'm getting my head clearer, thanks all for the tips / help. I have a relocation agent, so at least I have something to start off with them in terms of areas and my expectations. Then if I need furniture I suppose I'll have to get it. Just seems like a lot of hassle for 1-2 years. But, if furnished are hard to find, I might just have to...

So can I ask for one final round up please folks? Anymore suggestions for places which are either nice, or near a lake etc which would be in my sort of price range? Lets assume Thalwil or Horgen are at the top of my price range... so far we have Thalwil, Horgen, Winterthur, Uster... anymore top tips?

PS - what I'm thinking of is places like winterthur, or baden, or zug, or uster. Places that are say 30 mins from the HB or the airport etc.

Suppose what I'm interested in is why you'd choose there as well. Thanks for all the help with this, is excellent to get input from locals!!!

Baden is very nice, but I am completely biased, have lived and worked here for years. The commute to Zurich is easy, plenty to options and finding an apartment is not impossible. Not easy either, but it can be done. But anyways, you have a relocation agent, they should do the hunting for you and answer ALL your questions. If they are not familiar with the area, they should tell you so, otherwise you may end up in one of the less desireable areas and you will only find that out when it is too late.

Hi Mrs D - yes I managed to find a relocation agent. Is a pity I'm not relocating to Baden would have been nice to use you, but thanks for the advice in the PM about finding an agent. I am meeting them for the 1st time next week, so hopefully they can help me. What I'd really like in advance is to have my head clear on roughly where I'm focused and what that means in terms of tax / commute / rental prices etc. I know they can help me narrow it down, but I'd like to be able to go to them and say for example... 1) is kusnacht 2) uster and 3) baden etc.

But think all of this help means I'm starting to hone my thoughts

Took me almost 3-months to find a decent 1 room flat in Seefeld.I lived in business apartments, hotels, before finally finding a place in Seefeld. Mind you I'm also a foreigner, but actually a Swiss guy through a business meeting mentioned to me he is moving out, and I came to look at the place, applied through the agency, and surprisingly got the flat over 3 others he recommended(swiss, 2 Germans).

Seefeld is pretty much close to the center. There are grocery stores, restaurants...but taxes are very high. I guess that's the price you pay for convenience.If you don't mind being a rare foreigner in the area,and paying higher taxes, go for it.

kev, you might also want to try places further down the coast (on the same side as Küsnacht) which will not be as expensive - like Stafa, Mannedorf. Both places are still on the lake but as they are further via the Sbahn from the HB (about 25-30 minutes), its cheaper.

Greetings,

My wife and I live in Brüttisellen and we find it to be conveniently located next to the city of Zürich (10 minutes by train), contains IKEA and other large shopping venues, as well as being approximately 9 minutes by car to the airport.

Cheers

I don't think Zug is a good option for you really IMHO, other than tax savings. You will commute over an hour each way everyday.

Exactly. So from a tax point of view the Höfe district of Schwyz fits the bill best - just some few minutes more than Horgen on the same train.

Hi all - thanks for the input! Think you're right Zug is probably too far out. If I can get somewhere on the "airport" side of the lake (although prob not that near the lake) I could go with that, or somewhere outside like Winterthur, Baden or Uster.

Getting head clearer thanks! Think advice to rent a car and drive around all those places some day and see which takes my fancy is the way to go.

Frequency of trains? If you're on the S4 (which includes Adliswil), in peak hours trains come every ten minutes, in non-peak (including weekends and public holidays) it's every twenty minutes ... regular as clockwork ...

From Adliswil it's just over 15 minutes to the HB.

As for swimming, getting to the lake is not so easy (can be done by bus, though) but there's a fantastic pool - indoor & outdoor, diving boards, slides, toddler pools, swimming lessons / swimclub ...

Another advantage to Adliswil (which some people may see as a disadvantage) is the cultural diversity ... I mean, on my first visit to Adliswil to inspect a couple of apartments, I heard people speaking Greek near the station - which I found familiar and comforting, from growing up in Australia ...