Living in Bern vs Zurich? Pros and Cons please

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21
I must say in the 6 months I lived in Bern I never heard anyone speak French, my husband worked there for over two years & says the same. That could just be us though...

Of course it may have changed as it was a few years ago we lived there but if you want a meal after 22:00 then all that was available was Wendy's. The day my husband arrived in town he walked from the Bear pit to the train station right along the main street and he never bumped into another person, not one. His first thought was what the hell he was doing there! Bern is not all bad though, it does have good some good restaurants and down by the river is really gorgeous. I think that if you have the opportunity to stay there for a few days to check it out then you should but I would also check out Zurich & Zug too if you are serious about living in the German part of Switzerland.

The fast train takes 1 hour between the two cities, only you know if that is acceptable distance to travel home from a night out! Hospital here are world class, I've sampled them a few times so speak from first hand experience.

22
Those were the days; no kids, no mortgage, no responsibilities.... Too old for that malarkey now though

Edit: I just clicked about the Neuchenders! That was so funny, you will probably find me in the archives somewhere.....

23
Bern is NOT bilingual ! The only two cities that are are Biel/Bienne and Freiburg/Fribourg.

Incidentally, the best place to live in Switzerland is Bulles, a tiny town in the Fribourg canton, apparently...Some poll they did last year, with all the major cities way down.

24
I think there is some misunderstanding here. graham did not say that Bern itself was bilingual. Rather, he said

Biel/Bienne, along with a few other towns in the west of canton Bern, are indeed French speaking or bilingual. However, they are quite a ways from Bern itself.

HeatherM

25
I would not rely on French, I have a hard time even with High German. I'd recommend to learn a bit of Bernduutsch if you want to understand the shop assistants .

I would say if you like world cities, with large numbers of people, a hectic lifestyle with lots of opportunities, try Zurich. If you prefer a normal city, Bern is great. You can also have a nice house with a garden just outside of Bern and commute, as Bern is very compact.

26
One thing I have never had is a problem with speaking High German in Bern. If you excuse yourself & ask to speak Hoch Deutsch, peolpe are more than happy to oblige. In most cases, people hear my atrocious Scots-German accent & head straight for the English option ....

Can be a little bit different in the Oberland right enough ......

Rental prices outside of Bern City (Stadt) fall significantly, I am a 10 minute commute to central Bern by train & our apartment is around 1,200Chf cheaper than centre of town.

27
True, Berne city is not bilingual, Biel/Bienne is, and many towns in nearby Fribourg canton are now bilingual due to the number of Swiss-German moving there for the good life. Dudingen, Morat/Murten, Marly, as well as Fribourg, all 20 to 30 minutes by car or train. Many towns in the Bernese Jura have French dominant, the only major industry center is Biel. If you are comfortable with French then best to live in this direction.

Berne is multilingual like all Swiss towns. THere is a British school (up to 12 years) an American (International) school (all ages) and a French school (conditions apply). There are English Montessori schools and of course pre-school too. Organisations exist for every nationality.

The percentages I gave are the proportions who would understand the language - in government meetings, for instance, it is normal to speak German French or Italian as you prefer.

Quiet? Life has perked up in the last ten years, there are 10 theater companies, 10 to 15 music centers, 20 to 40 discos.

>A question for those living in Bern: How much do you travel to Zurich?

>Are visits for an afternoon or evening feasible?

Of a working age population of 100,000 in Berrne and surroundings, about 5000 travel daily to Zurich or Basel and points in between - just see the trains in the early morning. Perhaps 2000 to Swiss Romandie, for instance Neuchatel and Lausanne. It is a pain to drive. Cost with half price abonnement is about 40 fr, people with full abos do go for the afternoon

to Zurich or the evening for a show.

Berne hospitals both private and public are the equal of anywhere.

The decisive factor for me (now that I know better than 20 years ago) would be the quality of life in a pleasant village compared with a block in a city, and the language. If you don't have children then travel times are not a problem.

When you come to Berne get in touch, see berne.carrick.ch and email me.

Just met last week an Englishman who moved to Berne to start up a financial services company, and yesterday an American sick of the lousy social conditions in NY and LA, who has moved here for love.

Graham

www.living-in-berne.ch

berne.carrick.ch

www.amcham.ch (mostly for Geneva)

28
It sounds very much like we'll be giving Bern the preference over Zurich. The cost of living issue combined with the pressures that exist in bigger cities can make life much more of a struggle. Struggle to get appointments, struggle to get nice living space, struggle to commute, etc.

We just wanted to be sure we wouldn't end up cuturally isolated, which is what we feel like a bit here in the Basque country in France. Lots of tourists from outside of the area, but in the end your day to day life is lived with the locals.

I was raised bilingual (German/English), so my only challenge would be learning the Schwizerdutsch (no idea how you really spell that ). And since I went to highschool and college iin Germany the process of setting up a business would be easily achievable, since there are large overlaps in the legal concepts and language.

I'm planning a longer stay for this summer, June/July/August, but by then you will have heard a bit more from me anyway .

29
I think hectic is a bit relative. We live just outside of Zurich and I don't find it hectic at all, compared to living in London, for example. When I've called for doctor appointments, I've been seen within a weeks' time (with an apology for them not being able to see me sooner. There's usually no one else in the waiting room, the doctor is on time. They even called me to say, come 15 minutes later than your scheduled time, as the doctor will be running late! Just thought I'd throw that in there for what it's worth.

My husband was born in Bern and grew up there, and in Solothurn. Bern is the city of his heart. He loves how compact the city center is, compared to Zurich, and the covered walkways so that you can enjoy being downtown, even in the rain. If he could transplant his job to Bern, we'd probably be moving next week LOL. That said though, having put his prejudices against Zurich aside, we are really enjoying life here. The pace can be as slow or fast as you like, you have fabulous train connections to everywhere in the country, and I think it is beautiful as well, in a different way from Bern. I love it here and would happily stay longer term, but do prepare myself every so often for the fact that it is likely that, if we stay in Switzerland, we will move to Bern. The thought of me and our daughter speaking Züridüutsch {sp?} makes him cringe.