Got another possible opportunity in Zurich.

Could be good biking, but might be logistically quite difficult…

I lived in Zurich for 5 years and its **** ace…..

Someone on here was complaining about Switzerland, how everyone was too up-tight.

Zurich is full of foreigners. and the swiss are a bit uptight until you learn to speak a little german. i made loads of swiss friends. the only people who complain are the ones who just live inside the “ex-pat” community.

I speak French, is that going to cut the mustard in Zurich?

Zurich is full of foreigners. and the swiss are a bit uptight until you learn to speak a little german

Can’t imagine the British being up tight about a load of foreigners speaking their own language in our country. Pfft.

Is it all finance and IT in Zürich?

I speak French, is that going to cut the mustard in Zurich?

Not really. Zueridootsch is where it’s at- failing that, regular Deutsch is fine. I’d say English and French are as useful as one another in Zuerich, obviously depending on your circumstances with work etc. In the street though French is fairly useless (probably as many Schweizerdeutsch-speaking people learn English as French, though many use both without problems).

French won’t be much use in German speaking Zurich. If you have the chance to go to Zurich then go!! A no-brainer surely?

By the way Zuri-deutsch is as close to german as you’ll find. Try learning the dialect spoken around Bern, Thats what i speak and when chatting to a guy from Zurich he told me that people from Bern were considered slow?! The swiss version of a west country local!

I should point out that i am Swiss!! So don’t really see this uptightness people talk about.

Good biking around Zurich? There’s loads although the summer season is short as lifts don’t stay open during the autunm. Snow is a problem also.

Try learning the dialect spoken around Bern, Thats what i speak and when chatting to a guy from Zurich he told me that people from Bern were considered slow?! The swiss version of a west country local!

I always thought that accolade was reserved for Bundnerdeutsch or Valser. Although funnily enough I found Graubuenden dialect and accent the easiest to get to grips with, despite living in Zueri and it being closer to “real” German. Maybe we just shared a mutual backwardness.

oops, doppel post.

If you have the chance to go to Zurich then go!! A no-brainer surely?

Yes, of course. But not really a no brainer – baby due in a few weeks, house can’t be sold etc etc. So it won’t be particularly easy to plan.

Oh and I don’t speak any German (to speak of, I can ask how to get to the town hall, order tea with lemon and a piece of cake etc), does English get you by at first?

does English get you by at first?

Yes you could get by without too much of a problem (I assume, there certainly are plenty of English speakers and the city is fairly cosmopolitan), but I wouldn’t really want to for the reasons that Darrell alludes to above (though I wouldn’t like living anywhere where you can’t get on with locals on their own terms). However, if you were to go and were able to immerse yourself in the language (may or may not be easy) then you’d develop all the skills you need fairly quickly.

molgrips, I’ve been down here in Geneva for a few years now and my french I’m sorry to say is still fairly basic ( english is the work language )

I’m sure you’d do fine in english up in Zurich, as already stated there is a large english speaking population up there.

Ahhhh Valser, thats something else! My family business have several offices/warehouses in the Valais. Brig, Sion etc. My uncle has great difficulty talking with some employees there!

I’m not too familiar with Graubunden, one area i’ve not seen much of.

Sorry Molgrips, shouldn’t have assumed it would be a no-brainer. It would be for me as we have no kids, rent a house and i have my entire family in Switzerland!! You would be surprised how easily you’d pick up the language. Zurich is very international, a friend has just returned from a 6 month placement with Unilever, and loved it. She had no problems with the limited german she knew.

Could you rent the house out? A growing demand i would imagine at the moment. Depends where you live i suppose.

Crouch_Potato – Are you Swiss also or just well travelled?

I’m happy to learn languages, just can’t do it so well in the 3-4 weeks I might have 🙂

I live out here (South of Zurich nearer the Alps) and speak very little German of any variety and, when I do try, people just answer me back in English.
Biking out here is great, although MTBing is takes a big second place to road and leisure biking but so many people use their bikes car drivers seem to give you a little more respect.
It’s a fundamentally different world from the UK – they are more serious here but you could walk the streets with your wallet on your head and you’d be fine and the trains are out of this world.

Are you Swiss also or just well travelled?

Ha, neither 😉 … I was lucky enough to get a scholarship in Zuerich a few years ago and had a great time, wouldn’t mind going back of course. Graubuenden is a great area though in summer and winter- some great riding (although where hasn’t).

So the riding’s good from the city then? As in, XC not uplifted Alpine DH stuff…

Riding is good, I’m not sure I’d say better than riding from (for example a city like) Sheffield or Edinburgh though, just different. As you probably know the city is between 2 chains of hills with a lake on one of the other side. The hills go up to about 800m if I remember correctly, with plenty of wooded xc tracks and a few purpose built dh ones. You can cross the city in about 30 minutes and although there are some paths that have no biking signs on them, they are probably in the minority. So wherever you live, you can ride from your door to some decent stuff. The thing is though that with trains (and then buses) you can get out of town so easily to all over Switzerland and further afield. There is plenty of great riding all over the country too, a lot of stunning alpine xc stuff within day trip distance- too much to mention really.

Having said all that, I probably wouldn’t move solely for the riding on the doorstep. It’s a great location though for getting to the mountains in summer or winter, and the local urban environment is fantastic when the weather gets hot and everyone spends all their time on the rivers/lake.

Well I’d move for the job, the riding is a bonus 🙂 What are access laws like?

Are people into XC skiing in winter btw?

I’m sure someone will correct me, but access seems to be roughly ride it if it’s in the mountains and there are no signs saying that you’re not allowed to. When I lived there I used to just head out into the mountains with a map, never had any problems at all (other than the odd time that the trail turned into via ferrata type stuff- occasionally got strange looks from odd farmers wondering what the hell I was up to probably). Strangely, in the hills there are a lot of signposts or painted rocks that are easy to follow.

XC skiing happens, but not on anything like the scale that it does in Scandinavia. Zuerich isn’t especially cold or snowy, just a bit grey and chilly during the winter. Typically it’s dh, tele and snowboarding that people are into. That’s one reason to move there- if you are out and about at 4-5 on saturday morning you start to see all these people emerging with skis/boards/climbing gear heading for the station. A couple of hours sleep later and you can be on the mountain in Engelberg, Andermatt, Davos, Arosa, Lenzerheide… This thread is seriously making me consider going back… 🙂

This thread is seriously making me consider going back…

Me too! Going to Zermatt for a 2 week honeymoon in early May. I’m praying enough snow has melted to make it worthwhile bringing bikes. It’s our plan to move there in the next few years.

Switzerland is a fantastic place and anyone with the chance to go should do, not that i’m at all biased!

I can highly recommend Engelberg for biking, some amazing trails there. The only real downside is that many trails get very busy with hikers during the summer. That depends on where you go though.

I accepted a job in Geneva yesterday – on my birthday no less.

Any pointers for some local riding ?

Spoon, keep in touch, I’ll look you up if I get to Zurich.

Btw I’d prefer Geneva tbh 🙂

Regarding good riding near Geneva. Portes du Soleil is only an hour or so away by train. Champery and Les Croset are the places to head to. Verbier is pretty close too.

You lucky Bastid!!!!!

I’ve ridden in Morzine / les gets Portes de Sol..- I’m not sure how easy it is to get to these places without a car though ?

There is a cable car out of Geneva onto the Saleve as well. tbh prolly be too busy working to get any riding done !

No need for a car when using swiss trains!

From Geneve it would be pretty easy to get out to the Jura.
Great scenery but not as steep/ big as the alps. Heaven for XC skiing in winter.

I live between yon and Geneve but much closer to Lyon.

spoon, what area of Geneva will you be in? and have you found a place to live as yet ? ( not really being nosey)

…yes there is a cable car up the saleve, but also some nice riding around Satigny, thru the vineyards.. ok, it’s generally flat but really nice views. )

also some nice riding in Versoix woods… an easy connection out of town on the train.

and as mugsy said pretty easy to get up the Jura…some really nice riding up above st.cergue

good luck.

Hi Grynch,

I’ll be working at the hospital, I’ve started the joys of flat hunting -More people than flats appears to be a problem -Glocals.com will hopefully provide a solution – a 10m2 box by the looks of it !

I’ve ridden up to St Cergue, and also taken the little train up – Good riding. Versoix, not bad either – short and sweet.

(Knew someone who used to live in Ferney)

YHM

I have just moved to Rolle and work in Lausanne. Lookng for riding and riding partners.

Drop me a line at robert(dot)hamiltonsmith(@)gmail.com