Moving to Zurich as a single woman

[AnnaPannocchia]

Hi all,

It sounds like my company will transfer me from London to our Zurich office in a few months.

I know very little about Zurich, besides the fact that it is madly pricey and finding an apartment to rent is apparently impossible. I know Switzerland is usually considered a great place to live for families, but I am a single woman in her late 20s, is it going to be madly boring? Is the dating scene ok (I'd like to stop being single sooner or later!)? How does living in Zurich compares to living (and renting) in London?

My office will be in District 1. Any recs on where to live? I am planning to rent a flat on my own.

If you live in Zurich, please tell me how much you love it! Any tips or recommendations is very welcome.

Thank you very much

Hi

I’m not a single woman and I didn’t live in Zurich....I lived in canton Zug between Zurich and Lucerne just over 20 minutes away on the train) for 5 years, but here are some links which you may find helpful:

The American Women’s Club of Zurich publishes a handbook called “Living in Zurich Handbook” which they can post out to you in the UK and perhaps your company may agree to buy it for you.

Btw anyone can join the club, they have events taking place in the evenings and weekends for professionals:

www.awczurich.org (book is in the subsection ‘Marketplace & Resources’.

Another very useful book which I found invaluable is “Living and Working in Switzerland - A Survival Handbook” by David Hampshire (get the 2015 edition).

One of the very few useful websites for English speaking expats in Switzerland is

www.englishforum.ch - you may find leads on where to live, flatshares, the dating scene, meet ups - I know they have get together with other expats etc.

You won’t really need a car in Zurich, the public transport is fabulous all over Switzerland and many Swiss don’t bother to buy a car. You can buy a yearly train pass; there is a higher rate for free transport once you have this kind of pass, but I bought the half-fare train pass which meant all my train tickets were half-price after purchasing this card. However, I had use of a car so didn’t use the trains all the time.

Print off lots of passport style photos to take with you :)

All shops are closed on Sundays and public holidays with the exception of shops at train stations and the airport. Shops typically close from 4pm (Lucerne canton) and 5pm everywhere else on Saturdays.

There are cinemas with English speaking movies (or other movies may have English subtitles).

Skiing....hiking..... so many guide books and online info and no doubt friends and work colleagues will have suggestions...which reminds me: We weren’t with kids in Switzerland, but there is an amazingly good blog from an American expat which is updated almost every week. It’s called ‘Moms, Tots, Zurich’ but has a wealth of ideas of things to do and places to go (great tips on places to ski, go hiking, take visitors - places to eat, Swiss festivals etc.) here:

www.momstotszurich.com (scroll down for tourist hikes)

Lots of Swiss people actually go to Germany or France at the weekends to do their grocery shopping (you can even get a VAT tax refund at the border, we never bothered, but you need to be careful about the amount of meat you bring into Switzerland as it’s so much cheaper over the border and the customs guys sometimes check lol!).

I never managed to learn any Sweizer-Deutsch as every canton has its own dialect....even the Germans mostly couldn’t understand the Swiss dialects! However, English is widely spoken, especially amongst younger people and they like to practice on native English speakers. It was only really in very rural areas where the older locals don’t tend to speak English (but you can always get by on sign language lol!)

We sometimes used to go shopping in the German border town at Lake Constance and go to the public spa on the lake (very nice).....but if you live in Switzerland I strongly suggest that you go with a friend, sister or your mum to the spa for a day (they do day packages) on Mount Rigi near Lucerne, at Hotel Honegg....check out these photos.....

www.villa-honegg.ch

Also forgot to add:

Become a patron (member) of the charity ‘Rega’ rescue helicopter service.

I know so many people who’ve had to be helicoptered to hospital either skiing, hiking or in one case, a nasty cycle accident. Membership means they will rescue you worldwide and it’s the best value of your Swiss Francs that you will ever find!

Individual membership costs just CHF 30 per annum.

Compare that to paying thousands for a ride!

www.rega.ch

(you will see EN in the top right corner - this means the English language)

Hello

It’s a myth that Zürich is a boring city. There is loads to do but it can take a while to find out about it! Sign up to the RonOrp Zürich newsletter for info on what’s happening in the city and they also carry ads for flats for rent. There’s also Time Out Switzerland and loads of Facebook groups for expats, some of them also organise events. Zürich Together and Outdoors in Switzerland are two of them, I’m sure there are loads more.

In terms of dating, there seems to be loads of single guys and I’ve not had a problem meeting people, despite being in my late 30s and a single mum. Check out Tinder and the Inner Circle. I think Bumble also works here but I’ve not tried it yet. Guys don’t seem to approach women in bars here so don’t feel too despondent if you feel totally invisible when you’re out!

In terms of where to live, it depends on budget. I’d look at Kreis 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8. Any commute you have will be a dream compared to London. Will your work put you up in an apartment for a few weeks when you move over? I’d also ask at your new work place, they might advertise places there too if people are moving away.

Stock up on cosmetics and skincare before you move as prices are inflated here. For example, Nars tinted moisturiser is 70CHF here compared to £30 in the UK. Hairdressing is also expensive - 300CHF for a cut and colour - and the styles can be rather expensive.

I really miss the UK’s clothes shops! There isn’t much of a range on the high street here so you’ll probably find you do most of your clothes shopping on trips back home.

Do shout if you have any other questions. I know how daunting it is moving to a new place

Seefeld and CrazyDane thank you so much for your kind replies! Really helpful, you made me feel a bit less nervous about the move!

The funny thing is, I lived in Asia for years right after uni, and many would consider that a lot more daunting than moving to Switzerland! But I really loved London and felt very settled, had many friends and so on, so I am afraid nervous about swapping this for a place I don't know much about.

I am originally from Milan, which means I will be able to go home and see my family a lot more often than from London, so that will help me at the beginning when I don't know anyone.

@seefeld my budget for accommodation should roughly be CHF 2000/ month, do you reckon that is enough even for Kreis 1? From what I read properties are madly expensive there.

Thank you again!!

All I've got to say is, how exciting.
Only went there whilst travelling through backpacking, best B&B of all the places we staying in Europe, crisp clean white sheets.
Best wishes.

Not sure about rents in kreis 1, you might get lucky though! Have you looked at Homegate.ch to get an idea what’s out there?

It’s so easy to get to Milan by train so you’ll definitely be able to see your family more often.

Yes, the trains to Milan used to go past our apartment in the village we lived in, in Zug canton!

In our last weekend of living in Switzerland we had a couple of nights in Milan and took the train there (although I had taken the train to Rome on another occasion and had to change in Milan. Another friend was also changing trains in Milan to go to Venice and her handbag was robbed by a gang at Milan train station).

One place for the O/P to check out which is slightly cheaper to rent an apartment is the town of Thalwil in Zurich canton and on the main train line to Zurich and the airport...nice lake views too.

A good resource (website and App) is

www.search.ch

(Includes train timetables, maps, weather, cinema, TV guide, telephone directory for the whole of Switzerland).

Also www.sbb.ch - the Swiss train operator; you will find info about the annual train passes (GA and half fare passes).

I did Zurich as a single twenty something recently :-)

I'd really suggest getting a house share for a couple of months, try out the city. All the 20-mid30 somethings I know live in house shares there. There's no shame in it and you can easily get a share in a beautiful 150m apartment with a cleaner that way. Try wgzimmer.ch. Anything cheap on your own will have about a million people viewing it through agencies, so you're better looking to take over from someone leaving. They have really weird housing contracts - you can only terminate 3 times a year with massive amounts of notice, so it's easier to find someone to take over informally if you have to move in a hurry.

Zurich's a weird mix of dead boring and really exciting. Everything shuts on a Sunday and you have to be silent. Most Swiss people just leave for the mountains and the place is dead. When I first arrived I googled 'what to do in Zurich on a rainy Sunday' and first hit was 'get into hard drugs'. But then the clubs are good and lots of bands come. There are loads of really well paid foreigners (particularly male bankers ), but because houses are expensive, everyone lives in house shares, no car etc, you have soooo much pocket money so you can go wild with nightlife, shopping, skiing, spas etc. We partied very hard. Compared to London, you will have loads of disposable income. Transport, food and accommodation are all much cheaper as a proportion of your income. Sucks if you're not on a Swiss salary though!

My experience for housing: around Langstrasse, kreis 5: good if you like partying, bit noisy, less clean and Zurichy (better for me). Avoid Seefeld kreis 8: soul destroying silently judging Louis Vutton toting neighbourhood. Foreigners not welcome. Kreis 6 for families. Oerlikon cheap well connected but a bit suburban. I liked living round Milchbuck best because it was quiet but not too Swiss.