I would like to ask you about some, probably beautiful (or not) cities, such as Munich and Stuttgart (and other small towns in the south Germany).
Has anybody lived there? Munich looks like a very nice place (on the pictures and videos).
Can anybody give his or her opinion how is south part of Germany (Munich, Stuttgart, other south towns) if it is compared to German part of Switzerland?
I will appreciate any true and honest opinion.
I apologize it this discussion already was on this forum.
I spent a year living in Stuttgart before coming to Basel (well, with 1.5 years back in London in between).
I prefer Stuttgart; the atmosphere in the town centre, cafes, bars, clubs and restaurants is much better than here. The variety of food is much better, and the festivals in the nearby towns and villages are really cool.
However, life is easier here. Basel is flat (Stuttgart is in a valley) so cycling out of the town is very easy. I can cycle across the borders to either France or Germany in less than 15 minutes. My job here is better, pays more and the commute much much shorter. Public transport in Switzerland seems better.and Basel airport is much easier to get to, with more flights, than Stuttgart airport.
If someone offered me a good job in the centre of Stuttgart (not Boeblingen like last time!), for the same salary as I get here in Basel, I'd move.
Stuttgart: same proper working and clean atmospher but more relaxed than Switzerland. The railway will be a nightmare for some more years because of the big biolding project but it is very well connected. For flights, rail/fly combi to Francfurt is hard to avoid. Good connections within Europe but not as good as Basel. Socially, it's not that easy but (metaphor) more oxygen than Basel or Zürich.
Munich: more big city feeling than Stuttgart, quite open but the locals can be as a challenge as anywhere else. Flatt but quite large urban area, so the location of work/home is a big issue. Airport has good connections, only some transcontinental might ,force you to fly via Frankfurt. Close to Austria, which opens many nice vacation possibilities. Munich is a bit "isolated" from the rest of Germany (my feeling).
Konstanz: Medium town feeling, or even small town if you are used to megapoles, but the lake is everything, kind of Swiss flair to it, not that cheap.
Smaller cities south Germany: same inconvinients as Stuttgart but stronger. Some small places in Swabian part are quite conservative, industrial ones not really (Mannheim is a world in itself). Many dormitory-towns between Stuttgart and Munich, if you ask me.