So sorry but the German sentence is not the real thing. It should be
Der Schnee in Basel ist wie die herrlichen, auf die Stadt niederregnenden Schneeflocken aus den sanft gebürsteten goldenen Locken eines Engels
Look at this,
http://www.euroairport.com/EN/accueil.php
and you see BSL MLH which is an airport owned 50% by the French Republic, 25% by the Canton Basel-Stadt and 25% by the Canton Basel-Land. An airline which has an agreement with France can land at MLH without any agreement with Switzerland. An airline which has an agreement with Switzerland can land at BSL without any agreement with France.
we don't need any other lausanne lovers, but it is always funny to see people's ideas about one town over another- especially when they aren't that familiar with either/both!
i couldn't say that lausanne is better- only been to basel a few times and would hesitate to make a decision on that-but i love lausanne and we're very happy here.
when we go other places in switzerland i'm happy to be back here in the end-
but if you ask me, too many people love lausanne and apartments are difficult to find so i think you'd be much happier in basel and actually, i'd be much happier if you were in basel too!
The thing is, do you want your car registration to be VD (did you go to the clinic) or BS (yeah, right)?
I'll stick to BL.
Lausanne is covered with dandruff?!?!?!? I definitly stay in Basel.
FYI : both French and German sentences are just wrong.
Lausanne all the way for me! The two biggest advantages are that it's far closer to the mountains, and people are a little more relaxed down here (compared to the stories I hear of the Swiss-Germans being so picky about every minute law/rule being followed).
Several people mentioned airport proximity above, but I think that the two cities are about equal on that - Basel is slightly closer to an airport, but GVA is only 40 mins on the train from Lausanne, and I think there are more destinations serviced from GVA.
If you like to get around by bike, then Basel is easier for riding in the city (much flatter and more cycling infrastructure, more cyclists), but for riding in the mountains then Lausanne is much more conveniently located.
As for language, if you don't speak the local language in Lausanne (French) then you'll have a problem because many local people don't speak English (or don't want to). If you don't speak the local language in Basel (or German) then it is not as much of a problem because (in my relatively limited experience) I've found that people there are much more willing and able to speak English.
This is very true, I somewhat contribute that to the tad more prononounced cosmo feel than in LS, everytime I am in Basel people always ask me what language I prefer , they usually give me a choice (fr, germ, engl...) which only happened to me in Bern, aside of Basel. On the other hand the local feel in LS ain't bad, either. I think people who live in LS would die for it rather than change, it grows on a person, super fast. I think Basel on the other hand is easier to get adjusted to for a newcomer, less enclosed and claustrophobic. Something tells me LS is cleaner, though. Basel is very industrial, innit?
Bah... I tend to take this as a huge plus and minus for Basel and Lausanne, respectively.
As it was mentioned a few times in the thread, we are not Belgian, just living there currently... therefore, my French despite all of my efforts to be nice to the locals and try to talk to them in their language usually results in disgusted faces in return.
In addition to that, I had several situation where they refused to speak to me in English despite obviously being capable... Over the past few years it really became one of my pet peeves...
Just to make it 50/50......Never lived in Lausanne....however...
Being so close to the borders opens up options..esp if you get annoyed with being 'swisseld' every time you go buy some food..
Quicker to get to Belgium from Basel by land..
Wine...Alsace...Champers....not far...
Pharma...yea Basel...
I suppose if you wanted to live in CH as far from the Alps as possible then Basel would be the place....but still days trip are possible...
Good Luck....
Our circumstances are almost identical as yours couple, no kids, salary. Since we didn't find more permanent accommodation, I have to say still moving from the UK.
Make sure you consider the accommodation options. Finding the flat in Lausanne is not really easy and there is not much of good quality serviced apartments. The place to live is very important for all of us. To get your routine and have decent place to live is the first thing you need, when you get there. It is stressful enough in the UK, but trust me it is a piece of cake in comparison with Switzerland. I m talking now with an experience in all aspects of renting. As a landlord, letting agent for 6 years in London and back being tenant here after many years.
We supposed to go to Basel, then the job moved close to Lausanne. I love Lausanne and all there ( should I say apart of estate agents and the fact that after 2 months I was unable to get us apartment). Unless you get the budget for 2 months which allows you to cover initial cost of hotel or temp accommodation your wife will find it really frustrating to get somewhere decent to live. There is currently 20-30 people for one apartment. This is not exaggeration. Ideally if your company can provide some accommodation for you for at least 2 months. It would give you time from day one to focus on finding more permanent place.
Basel has much more choices in housing. The rest was said and from what I read in your lines, things you like to do ( driving somewhere , relax on sofa, or go out for meal and things to do in cities....) Basel seems the better choice for you.
Thanks Stewart! Very good insight... the Lausanne offer seems to be a bit closer to realization right now, so it's really good to have this information on issues with housing. Any other newcomer challenges you faced?
I am a complete stranger to Swiss rules and standards and as much as I'm trying to read up on it, it seems that you can't get a full grasp until you're actually there.
We also moved from Belgium to Switzerland so I understand that language thing. But the two situations are completely different. You will learn French in Lausanne and you won't get the evil looks from people that you said you were getting in Brussels. Many of the evil looks in Brussels were related to the internal language wars and not related to your French skills.