Best Swiss City for Young People

I'm self-employed and will be moving to Switzerland from the UK in a few months since the government here want to take away half of everything i earn. I'm only 22 and have visited Switzerland twice before (Bazel and Zurich). I dont really care about the cost of living but what swiss city is the most popular and appealing to people in my age group? I'm moving from SoHo, London a city i enjoy but taxes there are just unworkable for me.

Zurich, although all cities here are sleepy, Zurich offers the most diversity in terms of nightlife etc.

If you look through the social events and concerts threads, you will see that Zurich probably has more than the rest of Switzerland combined.

Hi Eamon,

Depends on what youre into, but the livliest of cities in terms of night life has to be Zurich.

I hope you have a successful move and enjoy your stay here.

I just can agree..... Zurich's the best place for young people

Yes Bertrand I agree with you, but Basel has the edge for meeting up and having fun.

One thing I keep meaning to ask is what is a gene van? It is in your signature, and maybe you need to be a Genevan, someone from Geneva?

I think it's what it means...

In the Swiss French part it would be Lausanne over Geneva. Two universities (UNIL and EPFL), lots of clubs, music, outdoors activities etc.

Can't make a comparison between Zürich and Lausanne. Some others might have opinions.

Welcome to our Forum Eamon, you will find it quieter but with a better quality of life here. My son is 211⁄2 and always moans there are no English speaking wimmen his age here in Bern. (He was born here, but he prefers the English language).

What are you going to do here as a self employed man? Conditions are quite difficult here, you can't just start work as a builder, you have to be qualified and have finished a recognised apprenticeship. You can't start a company, you have to be a qualified "Master of your Trade" Have you found out about working life here?

My take - Zurich - or elsewhere only with a General Abo pass ( surely possible with the tax savings ) for convenient travel - to Zurich

Bern. ...........

and I think he knows what he's talking about, I believe he lives in a train

Is the GA tax deductible for self-employed? Never knew.

OP, my advise would be either Zurich or Basel with Zurich having the edge considering you are coming from a world city like London.

Geneva is the best city for young singles. There are tons of them there from all over. Personally I like Lausanne better, but it's smaller. You can always take the train to Lausanne on the nights you want to go clubbing.

Only for single women

Examine your major drivers

If you love London life , Zurich will come as a shock. Whilst many cultures live here - the diversity is limited. Do not expect a buzz like London or any other major European city. TBH that has more to do with the mentality that the facilities here - ZH may not be deathly dull but it is in a different league. It's a great city to bring up young children safely !!

There are other cities that you should look at first - Barcelona, Berlin etc but most will be affected by the very similar taxation throughout Europe. New York ? Sydney? Hong Kong?

You location will depend on what you do - can you get a work permit for here?

If you are a die hard MTBer of powderhound that CH has a lot to offer - but so would Italy, France and Austria

You seem to have decided on ZH, or has it been decided for you?... have you been here or spent any time here?

Don't worry about it. It makes no difference whether you end up living in Zurich or Nidwalden. As long as you're open to new experiences, you'll have a very interesting time.

EDIT: = Other in the poll, as it makes no difference where you end up: it won't be the same as London, and you can't take London with you.

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Right, you're 22 and taxes are too high in the UK...my aren't we jaded already

Anyway, you're self employed and think cost of living isn't a problem so I assume you aren't a painter and decorator. Let's say you're a magically profitable day trader who, as they're all convinced is the case, will be consistently profitable for the next 20 years. For argument's sake let's say you net £1M per year. Guess what? Cost of living will still kill you? There are a million threads that ask if it's possible to live on 120k. The only answer should be, "not like you can in London mate, unless your interests magically change from dining out and theatre to hiking and biking overnight".

The other thing is that taxes here aren't really lower if you live in anything larger than a hamlet. They just seem lower. Taking everything into account (I live in 8001 Zurich, the absolute best area for young people in Switzerland- since you asked) I don't think I net out any more than if I lived in London, except the cost of living for me is roughly 2.2x what it is in London (I calculated this recently based on my lifestyle).

And finally, you live in Soho I assume by choice. By comparison, I'm afraid there aren't any good places for young people. Your thread title say it all really - Best Swiss City. There aren't any that you'd recognise as being cities at all. Now close your eyes and imagine that you live in the same apartment that you do now, but it costs flat double. Imagine that you live, not in a city of 7 million, but a town of 250 000 (Zurich). Imagine you walk into Pizza Express and on looking at the menu you find that the cheapest margherita pizza is now £20 and other items just go up from there.

In my opinion, going by your post, your making a massive mistake moving to Switzerland. You haven't discovered anything new. Everyone in London knows where Switzerland is located and almost all of them stump up the tax because it's worth it. And this includes almost every banker and almost every millionaire. You get what you pay for. You get to live in a world city, a cosmopolitan maelstrom and....bah, you're only 22, this is the kind of nonsense I used to come out with at 22 as well.

Geneva is dead. I loved Bern, but I would say Luzern or Zürich.

When it comes to socialising and night life, Zurich beats all other cities hands down. You'll meet a lot of diversed cultures and ofcourse the english speaking lot are in abundance.

Wish you a good one.

Cheers,