If you could live anywhere in the EU

[Questionaboutjoboffer]

which country would you choose and why?

Or if you live in the EU - where do you live and what’s good about it?

In about two years I will be in a position to maybe move and I wonder where in the EU would be good - I have some connection already to Italy and Belgium mainly, but I am wondering what other places I haven’t considered that might be lovely places to live.

I live in Southwest Germany, this is what we like about it:

Nicer/warmer weather
Great kids' clubs in holidays
Fantastic subsidised childcare up to age 6 (We pay about €450 per month under 3 and €300 per month over three for full time. Generous sibling discount also - over 50%)
Schools OK - neither great nor awful.
Excellent parks everywhere. EVERYWHERE.
Independence for kids is normal/expected - from about 6-8 years old.
Teenagers seem more grounded and no worries (at least where we live) about gangs/violence.
Culture of joining local interest-related society/club/group and that feeling like a community. This is also open to newcomers/foreigners and younger people.
Doesn't seem to be "uncool" for boys to be academic.
So many activities around to do - tree climbing courses, barefoot paths, loads of outdoor swimming pools, wildlife, museums, nature parks. Many free or low cost.
Dining out is affordable
Wages good, standard of living is good even if you don't earn much, child benefit, subsidies for people on low incomes etc
(I don't cycle but) you can cycle everywhere
Tenant's rights for renting are excellent
Healthcare is of high quality and accessible, with reasonable waiting times (3-6 months for non urgent) and good culture of employment rights for sickness.
Many people speak English to a high standard. German also not that hard to learn to a basic level.
People in general friendly and keen to interact with small children. Children seen as people rather than an annoyance/inconvenient posession of their parents.
Road network/design is well made and people drive well and safely in general

Things I'm less keen on:
Everything closed on Sundays
Lack of pre-prepared food, lack of diversity in food
I don't enjoy reading/media in German in general
Hard to work if you don't have the right qualifications/experience/aren't in specific fields (tech is fine, for example) and an incomprehensible system of qualifications to disentangle. People train for one specific job and it's hard to change.
Prostitution/brothels are legal and there is a kind of seedy undercurrent to certain things, like all photographers advertise glamour shots like it's the 80s, nude calendars sold in train station etc.
Actually a sense of there being a time warp from the 80s in a lot of life in general (this can be nice, especially walking through little villages, but mostly is just annoying)
People will openly tell you if they think you are doing something wrong
They have this bonkers live and let live attitude to wasps
Expectation that mothers won't work, at least not full time. (This is changing - ish)

@BertieBotts Snap! I'm totally with you on.the pos , and I am happy to put up with your cons.fir a better lifestyle.

I live in a city in Northern Italy and I like it - easy to get places, quite family-friendly, lovely food, generally good healthcare. I would like to move to the mountains though....maybe one day.

@BertieBotts We're in Berlin and I tend to agree with you on much of this....in Berlin childcare is 100% free, although not always of the highest standard (we'd be happy to pay what you pay for better reliability and activities and/or smaller group sizes). Otherwise my biggest con is the general lack of digitalization (maybe reflects your point about it feeling like the 80's).

The above said, i'd totally move to Spain (somewhere like Granada or nearby) when i'm retired. Not sure I can be dealing with German winters for the rest of my life.

My dad lives in rural France (North dordogne area) and he loves it. I'd go if circumstances allowed. Great place if you're an outdoorsy type, not crowded, but within a reasonable distance from big towns and cities. Great food, my dad has been impressed with their healthcare system. All the children over there seem really well behaved and polite!!

I keep thinking of more XD

I also like the general tendency of people to be what would be considered slightly hippyish/geeky in the UK - children dressed in boiled wool suits etc (in the winter) and everything organic and eco-friendly if you have the money to spend on it, as well as a tendency towards things like natural wood toys for children. And I feel absolutely zero pressure to be put together and perfect at all times. "Geek chic" is totally normal (at least where I live) and a natural/minimal make up look with comfortable clothes is typical as well. I like that a lot. Obviously there are people who go in for hair/nails/makeup but not as much as in the UK and it seems to be a personal choice thing rather than expected.

Easy - Côte d'Azur.

I like the Czech Republic, but not knowing the (difficult) language would deter me from actually living there.

We are in Germany as well, albeit near Frankfurt. I like the weather at the moment and love the heat and sunshine. I like that we've got a pool in the garden and it stays hot enough to be able to use it frequently. We get quite a bit of snow for several weeks during winter here as well.
We earn considerably more here compared to the UK. We also got more house for our money than we would have gotten back in England (and we had a lovely house with a garden there, too). Childcare is a lot cheaper. It seems a lot more family-friendly on various levels. My employer is much more supportive, national policies are more favourable and child benefit is nearly double what we got in the UK. Once I've finished work or I'm on holiday, nobody expects me to still be available. My employer wouldn't contact me when I'm off sick. I am OK to take sick days without being made to feel unreasonable. I have a good number of paid child sick days, as does DH.
We haven't got an issue with nursery or school places in our area. DS would automatically get a place at our catchment school, but we've opted to go private. It's more affordable generally but also subsidised by my employer.
I do still feel like I moved back into the past sometimes. I also miss the sea and the beach we used to live close to. However, I do realise this is a better place for DS to grow up in. People on the whole seem less anxious about children. It's OK to just send him off to play while we are at a restaurant, for example.

South of France - second most of Bertiebotts pros. Biggest change for me is that I am much more active and outdoors. I am not at all sporty, but now I mountain bike, swim probably at least once a day for 8 months of the year. Play padel three times a week and have a good social life because of this. Hiking and outdoors Pilates and body sculpting. I never thought about this aspect of life before I arrived and would find it difficult to give up.

We do have the ability to live anywhere in the EU. We are choosing to live in Central (ish) London.

We lived in Madrid for 3 years when the DC were younger. I'd totally move back there permanently if I could.

Holland for me. Happy kids, great infrastructure, direct people who are easy to communicate with.

Another vote for Southern Germany snd what everyone else said. Plus proper seasons, snow in winter, sunny summers. Close second would be NE Italy, lakes, mountains, wine and the sea.
Belgium very under rated, but too grey and wet in winter for my dream location.

Northern Italy here too. Love the lifestyle and the variety of places to go.
Strongly dislike pasta now though. Desperately miss shops like Home Bargains.

We have just got back from Bavaria (DH born there) and we are formulating a 5 year plan to move there permanently.
However, we also own a property in Spain and I speak pretty good Spanish and have friends there so that’s an option, although not as good for work prospects for DH.
We might split ourselves between the 2

I’m also in Germany and agree with most of what one of the first posters said. However I’m in a state where childcare is 100% subsidised between the ages of 1 and 6 - although it can be tough to find a spot. I definitely don’t see nude calendars or advertisement on trains. Food is absolutely amazing but that’s because it’s a major city so you get as much variety as you could dream of.

It’s a good place to live with children. I’m personally not in love with the language / culture so wouldn’t want to live here as a single adult if I had a choice right now.

If I could choose anywhere in Europe I’d be tempted by Sweden in the summer, town by the coast in Spain or Italy in the winter.

That's funny. I like pasta more now than I used to - and I have zero tolerance for bad pasta! I even tried to take some with me to the UK in case I couldn't find any I like but dh vetoed it. 😀I recently went to stay near Utrecht in the Netherlands and loved the facilities and lifestyle but have no idea what it's really like to live.

We’ve lived in Southern Cyprus for the last 6 years. The weather has been amazing, beeches on our doorstep and travel options (pre covid) to Israel and Jordan were dead easy. The people are lovely and nearly everyone speaks some English. Cheap flights available to get you home. Food tasty.

the cons though
greek is bloody hard to learn
local schools are patchy, private English schools expensive
food is expensive, wages are also low.
driving can be nuts, really not uncommon to find people coming at you on your side of the road.
38 degrees in August is too much, especially as we didn’t have air con in our house.

Winters in Granada can be very chilly! (DS spent a year at the university, had to buy him extra blankets, duvets and rugs for his flat)
It's quite high and there's ski slopes not far away, in the Sierra Nevada. The Spanish royal family reportedly skis there.
That said, it's a beautiful, very civilised European city with a good quality of life. Excellent tapas which used to be free with drinks but i understand they are starting to charge now, like the rest of Spain.
However, I prefer Cadiz and surrounding area, much warmer and there seems to be a bit of a milder microclimate on the Atlantic side of the straits of Gibraltar, rather than the Med. It's a bit further south.
There's at least a couple more hours of daylight in January than in the UK and temperatures range between about 16 to 22 C, occasionally higher. In early 2020 we had regular temps of up to 25 degrees while Mediterranean coastal areas had snow!
This year in January we had mostly 18 to 22 degrees and very little rain, if any.
It too is a lovely, civilised city, with fewer tourists than Granada. (Except when the giant cruise ships come in, but it's easy to check when they're due and avoid the town centre during the day.)
Both cities have an exceptional bar/restaurant scene and food culture.
Summers might be rather more trying....

Why restrict yourself just to the EU?

Thanks so much for the messages so far - very interesting.

The people who live in Northern Italy - can I ask what towns you live in?

The things people are saying about Germany sound lovely. As do all the other places.

My daughter spent a year in Bologna. Maybe not the best city, but being the North ( ish), its easy enough to get around. She loved the life and culture. I visited quite a bit, so a few things I noticed.
Meat was expensive in Italian supermarkets, but plenty of fresh food markets. There are fast foods, but it's limited. Bureaucracy in Italy can be a nightmare. Dealing with officialdom can take forever. Every piece of paperwork is in triplicate.

My daughter ended up in hospital overnight in Italy and she said the care she got was excellent. Far more investigations for her injury than she would have got here.
Dogs are allowed into shops.All shops apart from food ones. Just to make you aware.
I like Italy .

Sweden, my husband is a citizen. We have been wondering about possibly moving there when our children are older. As we can work remotely we are thinking of spending the summer holidays etc in Sweden.

Much more family friendly, very good education, good healthcare etc.

If only there was some kind of reciprocal arrangement where British people could just move and make a life anywhere in the EU, just because they wanted to.