fook me what a small world, Swaussie from here lives in Zug I will point him in the direction of this thread. :D

the same as everyone who moves to the uk does i guess. i can get by on the language but i am certainly prepared to learn it before i go.

only downside sounds like the fast cars bit but then i will just have to pay the tax i spose or run on bio ethanol:norty: .

seriously thinking about it so thanks for all the info guys, i will have a look into it tonight.

funnily enough i am off there for holiday next week to geneva, zermatt and interlaken.

Its the absolute best move I have ever made in my life. I live in the German part of Switzerland (Zug) and its a fantastic place for an outdoor life: hiking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, rowing, paragliding etc, Its very much geared towards doing stuff outdoors and Sunday is still considered a day of rest and relaxation. No shops are open on sundays so you find other things to do :D

A little bit of the language helps but is not absolutely necessary as you will always find someone who speaks English but I find it polite to at least try. A weird thing about Switzerland is that it has a French, a German and an Italian part but dont expect an Italian to know German or vice versa. It can be a PITA when you are in the same country as you were an hour ago but now find you cant speak with anyone :D

It seems they never stop building around here so work shouldnt be a problem. I imagine it slows down quite a lot in winter due to the weather?

As an EU resident you automatically qualify for a 5 year B permit when you arrive and after 5 years you will be given a C permit and the ability to own Swiss assets (buy a house). It has the lowest rate of house ownership of developed countries (may be due to the huge amount of deposit you must first come up with?)

Swiss bank accounts are still secretive but if they suspect the money is from a dodgy source then they will give out details. Its no longer a place to store dirty money due to pressures from the EU (Lichtenstein is still one of the best for that)

Speeding is not worth it here, trust me, I am in the middle of a 5 month ban and a staggeringly big fine... It does have some of the best roads I have ever driven but B roads all have a 50mph limit.

I have heard it said that its one of the easiest countries in the world to live in? I have only lived in 3 but by far this is the best. It can seem stifiling some times with all the rules and regs but if you do as expected they love to give you your space and not interfere. And there is a huge Subaru presence in this country.

drop me a PM if you want any more info.

i may well pm you later swaussie. i am very interested in doing it in the next 5 years so will get saving and start looking at the work situation etc.

kind of noticed the subaru presence, guess with the all the snow and bad weather in the winter its a good move.

I loved that place as a kid :cool: and why I would want to go back there. I feel a holiday there next year could be on the cards :)

the Impreza over here is called the "Farmers Ferrari" :D The only places I have seen more Subaru's is in England or back home in Aus. It does make a lot of sense to own an AWD car here but most get by with the cars you expect, Porsche's, Mercs, BMW's etc ;)

Zug is a lovely place to live and I have just spent 2 days mountain biking around here. Even after 6 years I never tire of the views... There are also a lot of expats here which is good as the Swiss can sometimes be a little closed to foreigners and it can take a while to build a circle of Swiss friends. Once you win them over though, I think they are terrific people.

Swaussie is Hotel Guggital still going? Thats where I used to stay as a kid, with great views over the lake and lovely food. Wasn't quite the same as La Reserve in Geneva but the views were stunning :)

And you don't have the mindless vandels/crime either :)

No you most certainly don't and the air feels so much cleaner to breathe, difficult to explain but it just feels different/better!

A VERY good point. I dont even have an alarm fitted to my STi... I also quite often forget to lock it (maybe shouldnt post that on a public BB) :D

People over here still have a respect for other peoples property! It is also amusing being said hello to by teenagers as you walk past them in the street :)

You mean this one Bravo2Zero... Yep still going strong and the views are still as stunning :D

The Restaurant

swaussie,

Where did you live in Aus and how does the lifestyle compare in Switzerland. In quality of living surveys it always seems to be the Swiss or Australia cities at the top.

Thats the one :D :cool:

That's what amazed me. We were on a train from Lucerne with our 1 year old son with a school group of teenage girls. They all started to sing songs for our son to keep him amused. Sounds corny but it was heartwarming and something that teens in the UK just wouldn't do.

sounding better and better all the time, will be glad to be rid of the chav element too.

Obviously the first thing I would say is that they dont really compare. Aus is vast, hot and mostly empty. Here you rarely go anywhere without seeing a house, farmer or other walkers, bikers etc and it snows a lot in winter (something we dont see much of down under) :)

They both have an outdoor lifestyle but Aus is more your go camping, fishing, 4WDing etc. Here is a bit more an active outdoor life.

Quality of life here is (for me) way above anything I experienced in Sydney. I tend to watch very little TV here and find I am annoyed at myself if I spend a nice day inside. In Aus we have a bit of a different climate so a nice day missed can be had the next day or the next day or the next etc :D

Aus is also different in the fact there are very few mountains and maybe that is part of the reason I love it here. The Alps are stunning to say the least and walking in them can sometimes give you moments of "this cant be real"....

I also love the fact we have 4 very distinct seasons here. I just love the changes in seasons and your whole life changes with them. In summer you spend a lot of time walking, riding, swimming etc and in Winter its skiing, snowboarding, snowshoe hiking etc.

The guy I just spent 2 days biking with is heading back to England after living here for 8 years. He just got divorced and is going back to be closer to his sons. He started to drive me crazy after 2 days of hearing him saying, "I dont want to go back, look at this country, I am 15 minutes from home in some of the best mountain biking in Europe, god the air here is clean, etc, etc, etc", he knows how much better he has it here and what he is giving up and to be honest, I feel sorry for him...

I guess the best thing to do Dave is come over and spend a few weeks here if you can and try and look at it from the point of view of "could I live here". Holidays anywhere can leave you wishing you lived there but by watching how people do things, interact with you and how everything operates will give you a bit better understanding of whether you could live here. I guess its not for everyone but you also have the luxury of being an hours flight from home so if you want to visit friends its not going to cost you a months salary and a day on a plane ;)

i wish i could come over for a few weeks and try it, sadly i dont think it would happen.

so far from what i have seen of switzerland i am very keen on moving there.

Go and stay with Swaussie for a week he won't eat you :D

wait until is starts snowing first though :D

when does it start snowing over there?. would be nice if i get a bit of snow next week when i go there.

not for a few weeks yet mate, although you never can tell it usually starts in ernest in December. :D

well i will keep everything crossed, i am going to interlaken and zermatt and up to the schilthorn and jungfrau so a bit of snow would be nice.

i may well be coming back in january/february time for a bit of skiing

I went to Zermatt last year in September and it was certainly snowing up here

looks good, i will pay a visit to there.