Potential Lausanne Switzerland opportunity

[thebestwife]

As the title says my husband is in (very early) talks to relocate to Lausanne. What can anyone tell me about the area? Lots of expats? As expensive as I'm thinking it will be?? We have 3 children - what type of accommodation would we be looking at and an idea of prices? International schools may be covered although we would consider local schools also.

Sorry for all the questions! I'm really keen to hear as much info as possible!

Thanks!

Hopefully Mme Lindt (and others) will be her soon. Currently it's the awful coach crash that's the focus of posting I think.

To start to ball rolling though, for accommodation try immo.ch. Not sure about Lausanne but when we lived in Zug you could only move four times a year.
Have a look at your local authortiy website, don't know the name in French, in German it was the geminde. That should have info on taxes and schools.

Lausanne is lovely.
We used to live around Morges which is beautiful with a brand new international school. For international schools in Lausanne look at college Champittet and mont Olivet. Home gate.ch is good.
Expensive en Suisse, but super. Enjoy!

Also, for an insight into other stuff try looking at englishforum.ch

My SIL lives in Zurich - food is really expensive there and she says that most people from Zurich actually do their food shopping in Germany.

Agreed, Lausanne is very close to the border though so it shouldn't be a problem.

Lausanne is a lovely little city. It has a huge expat population. The place is beautiful and the weather fab.

Accommodation is expensive and within the city is mostly apartments. Apartment living with 3 kids is a question of choice, the Swiss have strange rules; no flushing the loo or showering after 10pm, shared washing machines, no noise on a Sunday etc. You may be happier in a house just outside the city.

Driving in Lausanne itself is a piece of cake, everything is traffic-lighted.

Schools and childcare are hideously expensive, if you are not on an expat contrat you may want to consider sending them locally. Everything is expensive when compared to the UK. The French border is just under an hour away though.

There are various internet groups and forums which can help you eg. Moms in Vaud, Lausanne Mom and English Forum.

Have you lived abroad before? I must admit i found Lausanne and Switzerland the hardest place to adjust to. Allow yourself plenty of time to settle in, Switzerland isn't known as 'Europe's landlocked island' for nothing. Also try reading these books; 'Know It All Passport', ' Living and Working in Switzerland' by D. Hampshire, 'Swiss Watching' by Deacon Bewes...Goodluck!

and the xenophobes guide to the Swiss.
It was the rules that made me want to leave almost from the moment we arrived.

Thanks so much for the responses so far. Yes we actually live Europe at the moment - home is UK. Would only consider the private schooling if it was covered by the expat contract which it should be.

YellowBalloon and ripishere thanks for the book recommendations and websites - I will take a look and if it looks like it's an opportunity for us then I will be back to ask more questions! :)

Lausanne is a great city! Given that you are in the UK (I presume?) you should have at least a day trip, if not a weekend, there before you decide. You can fly into Geneva with many airlines, and Lausanne is 40 minutes drive from Geneva airport. I think it's a lively city with a large student population, more bustling and 'real' than international-diplomats/UN-HQ Geneva. Friends who live in Lausanne enjoy lovely modern houses with big gardens in semi-rural suburbs a short distance from the city. But you should visit if you've not already... let us know how you get on.

If you do make the move, I second the recommendation for these books:
Know It All Passport' and ' Living and Working in Switzerland' by D. Hampshire.

Also check out:

www.glocals.com/lausanne

www.genevamum.com

www.lausannemom.com

www.englishforum.ch

www.comparis.ch for lots of cost related info including insurance, property and cars. Picks up info from the other big property sites.