Basel VS Zurich

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1
Hi everyone,

Apologies for having started the N-th thread on Zurich vs Basel but now I am in the same boat as the other members who asked the same question in the past.

I have two different job offers to evaluate, one in Basel, one in Zurich. I am an Italian currently living in London.

Let's keep the "professional" aspect on a side for a second and let's just assume they are equally advantageous (they are not )

Where should I focus between Basel and Zurich in respect of everything that is not the professional aspect (cost of life, hobbies, culture). A bit of myself to help you with your comments:

- like outdoor activities: cycling, running, skiing;

- aged 30-35;

- not much into museums, theatres, cinemas;

- like going out for a drink 1-2 nights a week;

- fly to Rome once/twice a month;

- prefer warm climate over cold (I know this is Switzerland though)

- don't mind driving but I will then plan to get a car, which I don't have at the moment

- I would like to keep commuting to office below 45 mins each way but still living in a decent flat

any suggestion welcome

Thanks!

2
If you can spare the time and money come over for a long weekend and spend a full 24 hour in both towns.

3
Sorry not to have mentioned in my initial message: I have visited both already, Zurich slightly more than Basel.

I have a light preference (gut feel) for Zurich over Basel but can't really tell why.

4
depends where the office is in each city.

5

Damn, I wanted to suggest live in one work in the other. 8 minutes too long.

6
People move to Basel for job offers, not the city...

Honestly: You can find decent flats in both places, Zurich is more lively, Basel offers cross border shopping and typically the cheaper flight connections as the airport is well connected with budget airlines while Zurich offers as a hub more flight destinations. Coming from London will both be dull and boring, Zurich slightly less so.

7
Zürich hands down.

8
Treverus pretty much summed it up. Although I wouldn't say ZH would be dull and boring, it's certainly not as big and busy as London but there is always so much to do here and it's small enough to cycle from one side of the city to the other in 20 minutes. ZH also has the lake and mountains which Basel doesn't. I live in ZH and love it, I was in Basel last night and it's nice enough, but feels much more provincial to me.

As others have said too though, it depends where the offices in each city are. And 45 mins commuting? That's not much for London but a hell of a lot for either of these cities. Most people I know commute on tram (or bike or foot) and their journey is within 15 - 20 minutes, mine is 5 by bike, 10 by tram or 15 on foot.

9
Basel is a great place. Its small. Friendly. lacks the pretentiousness of the other big cities. Its certainly a much cheaper airport for traveling.

Zurich is the closest Switzerland has to a city. It has districts, life, work hard play hard. It is practically the capitol, so by train everything is 3 hours away or less. Countryside is all really close, its slightly closer for Skiing and the mountains, although in fairness not much in it.

I think Basel you will make friends easier, I certainly did. But coming from London you may find it small. I would say if you come over and take the job in Basel, at a later stage you could change jobs and move to Zurich, but it would be harder to do the other way around.

Personally I like Zurich, its I would say my preference (but my really good friends are still from Basel), I have lived in the 3 big cities. Of those 3 big cities I think my friends and family have all preferred weekend visits to Basel.

As a side note : more so in Zurich but definitely a consideration for Basel. As part of the job offer, have the company assist you finding an apartment!

10
We used to live near Zurich, we now live near Luzern.

My wife summed it up saying that if we had to go to Basel to work, we'd widen our scope to jobs in other countries too. (she's lived and worked in Basel too).

I think what she meant was, in Switzerland you really can have your cake and eat it, but not so much in Basel.

11
I beg to differ... they do have cake, it's just a bit on the hard side...

12
One of the reason that is leading me out of London is the incredible amount of time wasted on commuting, this is why I would like to keep commuting time reasonably limited (45 min or less)

13
My preference is for Basel (although I think Zurich is great too and wouldn't really shed a tear if I had to live there).

Basel's advantages:

- Small, friendly, really easy to commute to work and just get around (a bike is the perfect vehicle here).

- Basel has been a crossroads for 2000 years; there are lots of foreigners here and that's just the way it likes it.

- If Basel Airport has a flight to where you want to go (Rome certainly), it's really convenient; it's fast to transit through and easy to get to (I live in the middle of Basel and often take my bike if I don't have any checked-in luggage).

- Zurich has the lake, close mountains and some very nice countryside. Basel has the Rhine and Alsace . (The countryside in Baselland and Solothurn is nice too - great if you're a cyclist).

- Basel has much nicer weather.

- Did I mention Alsace? It's literally minutes away wherever you live in Basel.

These advantages are actually quite slight (because Zurich is nice too), so I'd probably just flip a coin...

14
wouldn't it be easier to move house than move country?

15
Zurich.

Question closed

16
Moving country is way more cool.

17
Hi,

live in Basel and work in Zurich. As the people in Basel say there are 2 good things about Zurich: the lake and the railway station so you can leave Zurich. I much prefer Basel to Zurich. All you have to do is look at Bahnhofstrasse and the type of shops there to realise that it is better to live in Basel.

People choose to live in Basel and live in Zurich for work or if they have clothes or expensive cars that they think it is important to show to other people. I have lived in Basel for 28 years and I never feel bored here.

Even though it would reduce down my travel time significantly to live in Zurich rather than Basel I know I made the best choice. If you have no choice then Zurich is okish.

Have fun

Martin

18
The only good thing about Basel?

The train to Zürich!

19
Hi,

as I said I live in Basel and work in Zurich. I never ever felt I wish I lived in Zurich rather than Basel. I could live in Zurich but I think I would get bored quickly. I much prefer flying through Basel than the over sized Zurich airport. I can save so much time as it is so quick to get through and that is what you want in an airport. In Basel no one cares what car you drive, the friends you have, the clothes you wear or your material possessions. I much prefer that to what I have seen in Zurich.

I know both cities very well and I have spent a lot of time in both and so I have no idea why you groaned me for stating a perfectly reasonable statement about why I find Basel superior.

Also, even though I am not a football fan FCB is easily the best team in Switzerland.

Have fun

Martin

20
Basel is a terrible place.

The airport basically is run by the French (I think that says it all ) - you've to take a slow, often overfull single bus line there, while in Zurich you get excellent SBB trains, Trams, and also tons of regional buses including Post Auto to bring you there. Oh, and mostly cheap low cast carriers (but not cheap!) operate from there, while ALL international carriers - most obviously - operate from ZRH, being the world city it is! Pick global, pick Zurich!

Also, you've literally no sports going on in Basel. They've one, single sports team that basically gets all the money. No other sports survives besides that. While in Zürich, a true world city, you can watch literally unlimited different sports, in Basel you've just one single sports team, sucking up all the money and destroying Swiss football.

In Zurich we've several clean lakes, clean rivers, clean forests..

In Basel? Not so much! Nowadays, they claim the Rhine river is clean, and while probably semi-truth, I wouldn't swim in there.

Also, in Basel it's hard to get a good beer. The Feldschlösschen is just too close. In Zurich, you can get good local beer. In Basel? Not so much! (Ueli Beer is alright.. but in ZRH you get much more choice!)

And Zurich does see some real snow, Basel does only see industrial "snow" from their chemistry works..

Unless you hate yourself (or like cheap German goods), move to Zurich