Hi all,

First post, not really used to this forum stuff, so will probably get the wrong idea of how its supposed to be used and annoy everyone, so sorry first of all.

Not a totally new subject I know, but I feel it has a slightly different angle.

In three months my girlfriend and I intend to move to Zurich from London, it would be very handy to have some advice on do's and dont's.

Top of the list is obviously where to base ourselves?

• My job will be in Oerlikon, outside of the city. I have not figured out if this is good or bad, but one thing is for sure I wont have to make the daily executive decision of where to buy lunch from, looks like its canteen fodder or a sandwich shop. This is definately going to be a down side of Zurich, London is fantastic for the choice of cuisine at lunch time, for example today its Fuzzy's Grub (if you've not heard of it google it), hmm dont supose thts ain Zurich either, anyway I digress..

• Dont mind a 30-40mins train ride, infact in a sad school boy way I am rather excited about the commute, those trains are great compared to the drain of the tube each morning.
• We would like to be in a place where there is a choice of bars and restaurants close by, but I have a feeling that to achieve this you need to be in the heart city. We currently live in Fulham so I guess we are looking for the Swiss version, if its possible to make that comparison or would that just be rude.
• The tiny romantic part of me would like to live at the foot of a moutain in a wooden chalet with a girl called Heidi, I dont think this will be possible as my girlfriends not called Heidi and I guess the commute would be way too far. So I guess I will just have to settle on the penthouse flat over looking the lake and having bbq's on the terrace. Somehow I dont think its going to be like that either, will it? If you do live like that, then I will be more than happy to be your new best friend, just drop me a line, even better if you have a boat as well.
• Is the web site homegate.ch the only dam property web site in Swizerland? Its rubbish! All the photos are of dark and dingy looking flats, its not exactly getting me excited about the propspect of decent rental accomodation. Cant wait for Foxtons to branch out over there, I cant stand those guys but at least the web site is half useful.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Spidy


To be in an area with other English people.

Although you will find the food choices in Oerlikon far more limited that in London, it is not a complete food desert. There are a couple of good Asian places, a few cafes, a dodgy Indian and a ton of kebab and pizza places.

If you don't like the commute plenty of expats do live in Oerlikon. But Zürich is pretty easy to get around. So if you want to live more centrally then you still won't be more than half an hour away from the office by train. The trains here are a lot nicer than squeezing onto the tube in London. Lake views with easy access to transport are in Seefeld, Enge and Wollishofen. But expect small, expensive places with no parking. Head up north towards Altstettn or Oerlikon and prices become more reasonable. Most appartments here are pretty modern and nice. The photographs on homegate tend to be more an indication of poor photography with cheap cameras than the quality of the flats.

The rental market can be pretty competitive here. So it is definitely worth trying to set yourself up with some temporary, furnished accommodation and spend a few weeks familiarising yourself with the area and finding an apartment. This can be expensive, but worth it if it means that you find a place that you like. Is your company helping with the relocation?

Oh, and pretty much everywhere in Switzerland is at the bottom of a mountain of some description. So you just need to get your girlfriend to change her name to Heidi before you come over.

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If you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space. But I'm greedy and like my space.

I am going to write the following in very blunt style because I have a good idea of where you are coming from, and what you are probably used to in London.

a) Oerlikon is concrete surburb of Zürich city, further from the lake. Luxury it aint , but then youre from Fulham.

b) You will be frustrated by the lack of what I would call "Italian deli sandwich shops and anything resembling Pret-a-Manger". Take away is not as widespread as in UK for much other than pizza. It can be done but dont expect cheap chunky food.

c) Dont commute. I say that again dont commute: because you dont have to.

d) Almost everywhere that is not up a mountain is well connected. Trains from Oerlikon to Zürich main station and lake (Stadelhofen) runs about every ten minutes and takes about 10 minutes. Live by the lake and you obviously pay the premium.

e) the apartments are often as they look on homegate, but I have yet to see an apartment in Zürich that was anything but clean and habitable on the inside, even though they look rough and bland from the outside.

f) Foxtons are shit. The tank and artillery batteries in the borders and mountains are there for a reason and will plot, track and engage any green and yellow minis driven by wankers.


dave

Thanks for the info so far, it all good stuff.

Before this threads runs on, I mixed up, the office is in Opfikon, which is not that far anyway, but thought I would just put that right.

I do like the idea of no commute, but I would be so bored living near that place, would be fine if I had a couple of kids I guess.


Currently checking out Seefeld, Enge and Wollishofen..

There are loads of other discussions of this topic in which the various areas are discussed. Do a search using the menu selection above.

dave

Yes, Opfikon is a completely different story. I am assuming that you are going to be with UBS then, correct me if I am wrong. If so you will be arriving just in time to enjoy the cafeteria being in a tent while the renovate the main one.

There are two very good Asian places here, and then there is, uhmmmm, let me think now. Oh that's right. Nothing...

But the trains run every 15 minutes into the city, every half hour from Opfikon and every half hour from Glattbrugg, which are both about 10min walk from the office and close to each other.

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If you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space. But I'm greedy and like my space.

Correct in one, I take it you are as well. Sounds awesome , not. So you see my problem, if I'm working on an vacuous industrial estate, I need to live in area thats a bit inspiring. I think I am tending towards Enge.

Slightly cheaper than Seefeld, better motorway links to get away at the weekend. Perhaps even get a place with a view of the lake.