Moving to Geneva. Live in France or Switzerland?

[hikawamama]

We have 2 children and will move to Geneva in a few months. We have 2 primary school aged children and would love to hear peoples thoughts on any differences between the local state school systems in the Pays de Gex, canton Vaud and canton Geneva and lifestyle factors too (activities, transport, English support, learning French support) etc. Thanks in advance!

Canton Vaud. Not France. Rural France surrounding Geneva is lovely but a bit dead and quite run down. There are some lovely Swiss villages on the edge of lac Leman, some with quite a few expats some with less.

There is life in the Swiss villages and towns, yes the shops shut early but there is more for DCs to do, schools are better equiped for integrating foreign kids. Local schools will provide seperate language lessons for your DCs. Property over the border in France is cheaper but unless you are on a terrible salary in Geneva you should be able to afford something decent in Canton Vaud.

Canton Geneve i have not lived in but i believe it is more expensive than Vaud and personally i much prefer Vaud, it is lovely and friendly.

Hello! V interested to find out more about this, too. I'm about to move to Geneva with two small children - but thinking of living on the other side of lake, in Messery/Nernier or farther into France, what with work being on the Rive Gauche side and having heard good things about the area and its schools. Does anyone already live there and think it's workable?

if you will be paing tax or employing people or owning property of any kind, Switzerland by a country mile

Look on englishforum.ch there will be plenty of threads and ppl to advise on this subject.

Canton Vaud is lovely, excellent schools with great French integration. We have been here a year and children are fluent. I would suggest looking at nyon, coppet, versoix and the villages in between.

Get to know the differences in the education system to see which would suit your children best. Talk to people who have experience of French / Swiss schools as their approaches differ from the English approach. Many schools on both sides have integration programmes formon Franco phone children. There are lots of services / activities in English and always possible to find an English speaker when you need one. There is a good train line along the lake from central Geneva but apart from that, you may find yourself driving a lot, possibly more so in France. Property prices are a significant factor, Geneva, Vaud and France in descending order of expense. It is a beautiful area and there are good things about each location.
Anyone I don't know the area you ask about but do check out the commute at peak times as the border crossing can be tricky!

Hello, I'm moving to Geneva soon with two toddlers. I'll be working on the left side of the lake, so am looking for a village in France, just over the border. Does anyone know if Veigy is a good place to start – ie is the local school all right? Does it take for ever to get across the border in the mornings? Is there a queue of belching traffic marring the bucolic loveliness?! We're also considering Messery, Hermance, Nernier etc. Any advice'd be hugely appreciated