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The things I wish I knew before moving to Switzerland

There are 2.1 million foreigners living in Switzerland and for many moving here from their home country was exciting but also daunting. Here's what you wish you had known before making the move.

Published: 9 April 2019 12:02 CEST
Updated: 22 January 2022 15:26 CET
The Swiss city of Geneva seen on a warm, summer's day.
What do you wish you could have told yourself before moving to Switzerland? Photo by Terence Burke on Unsplash

Prior to moving to Switzerland, many envisage the Swiss life as being filled with skiing adventures, cheese tasting and possible sightings of Roger Federer. However, daily life can be difficult to navigate.

The Local asked six international residents of Switzerland to share what they wish they knew before moving to here.

1.    “I wish I knew to make Switzerland my home from the get-go” 

Bev Smith, from England, moved to Switzerland with her husband when he secured a job for a company based in Basel. Initially, Bev saw the move as a temporary one, but after living in Switzerland for almost four years she wishes she made it feel like home earlier on. 

MAPS: The best commuter towns when working in Geneva

“I wish I realised I should make Switzerland my home instead of a place of transition. I think the secret to enjoying Switzerland is to see it as your new home.

“I am a now planting flowers in my garden, hanging pictures on the wall, investing in deep friendships and making it feel like my ‘forever home’. I am not waiting for the next thing and I am no longer surviving, I am thriving,” said Smith. 

2.    “I wish I knew everything is closed on a Sunday”

Aideen McCarthy, from Ireland, is a seasoned traveller whose family had lived as expats more than once, so upon arriving in Switzerland, they were ready to adjust to a new life – but she admits they were initially surprised to learn that most retailers in Switzerland are closed on a Sunday.

“I wish I knew everything is closed on a Sunday, but now I am used to it and I quite like it. Our family uses Sunday as a time to unwind, reenergise and explore new places.

“We get everything done during the week knowing that Sunday is a time to rest before life gets busy again,” she said.

FIND A JOB IN SWITZERLAND: Browse thousands of English-language vacancies

A Swiss Air flight arriving from Zurich, whose passengers will be put in quarantine, prepares to land at the airport in Valencia on May 21, 2020. - Spain has restricted arrivals from Europe's Schengen zone and imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine period on all travellers to avoid importing new coronavirus cases. (Photo by JOSE JORDAN / STR / AFP)

What would you have told yourself on arrival in Switzerland? (Photo by JOSE JORDAN / STR / AFP)

3.    “I wish I knew how to speak German” 

Gary Colen, originally from the United States moved to Switzerland five years ago and if there is one thing he wishes he knew it is the local language. 

MAPS: The best commuter towns when working in Zurich

“Language learning as an adult is difficult, when I was young I learnt Hebrew in six months in Israel, but living in Basel where 34 percent of the population are expats, there is no immersion because English seems to be the common language. The second I start speaking German people respond in English, because they also want to practice speaking English,” said Colen. 

Colen’s decision to keep trying his best to learn German stems from his own upbringing and observations of communities in New York. 

“Growing up in New York I was sensitive to populations of people who would come and not integrate and stay within their own community without making an effort to learn English, so moving here I wanted to integrate as fast as possible and make an effort”. 

Gary is currently studying German and attained a B1 level in the language, he says that he sees the benefits it has on his daily life. 

‘It’s competitive’: Essential advice for how to find a job in Zurich

4.    “I wish I knew how to find second-hand furniture”

Carrie Aikman from the United States wishes she knew more about sustainable retailers when she relocated.

“I wish I knew how to find second-hand furniture and get it delivered so I didn’t rely on IKEA. I found ecochair.ch which would have been helpful to know about. They have nice furniture and they deliver.” 

Carrie is passionate about environmental sustainability and has used the relocation to share her tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. She has spoken at her son’s school and received a positive response to her eco-friendly message.

READ MORE: 16 ways to make your life in Switzerland easier without really trying

5.    “I wish I knew about the differences between places to live”

Mother of two, Kathryn Padain moved to Switzerland nine month ago from England and is loving the relocation. She is learning German and has already made Swiss friends within her neighbourhood – but she just wishes she had more access to information about the different districts in her Canton before the relocation. 

“I wish I knew more about the different places of residence in and around Basel, it would’ve been good to know the difference between living in Basel land and Basel Stadt and how that affects taxes and the benefits these locations have on daily life.

“I am also adjusting to the prices of after-school care and co-curricular activities, but overall I have enjoyed the move,” said Padain. 

MAPS: The best commuter towns when working in Basel

6. “I wish I knew about ticks” 

Just like many other expats in Switzerland, James Mcmanaman was unsure about ticks when he arrived in Switzerland from the UK. But a few months after living in the city, he found a tick creeping up his leg when he was in his kitchen. 

“I wish I’d known about ticks, then I wouldn’t have panicked, well I probably still would have,” he jokes “I managed to stop half the tick from entering my leg and then I bought good tweezers and got the rest of it out.”

According to experts, finding a tick should not be alarming. However, medical attention is required for the monitoring of rashes and symptoms after contact with a tick.  

What do you wish you knew before arriving in Switzerland? Let us know in the comments, or get in touch at [email protected].

Member comments

  1. These kind of “self-help for expat” articles are becoming increasingly tedious. My personal preference is for serious news coverage from an expat perspective. This kind of stuff can stay in the Forums.

  2. That CH is far away from a tax haven. OMG how everything is TAXED. And on top the health insurance is crazily expensive. We (my hubby) wage stayed the same as in Singapore and OMG we are tapping into our savings as never before. If you want to save – move to Singapore!

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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

REVEALED: How Switzerland’s native-English speakers are growing in number

Some Swiss cities have higher concentrations of foreign residents than others. A new study reveals where most of them live and interestingly how more and more of them are native English-speakers.

Published: 23 April 2024 15:21 CEST
REVEALED: How Switzerland's native-English speakers are growing in number

Foreigners who move to Switzerland like to settle in the cities.

This is what emerges from a new study published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday.

Surprisingly, the municipality with the highest number of foreign residents is not Zurich or Geneva, but Kreuzlingen in canton Thurgau, where 56.3 percent of the population are foreigners.

Next is Rorschach in St. Gallen, where just over half (50.6 percent) of residents are foreign.

In terms of regions, however, more towns in the French-speaking part of the country have a high proportion of non-Swiss.

In the first place is the Lausanne suburb of Renens, where 49.3 percent of inhabitants are foreign.

It is followed by Geneva (49.2 percent) and its districts Meyrin (45.4 percent) and Vernier (44.8 percent). Next are Vaud municipalities of Montreux (44.2 percent) and Yverdon (37.7 percent).

The study doesn’t indicate why exactly so many immigrants move to these particular towns, but generally new arrivals tend to settle in or near places where they work.

Another interesting finding: English language is gaining ground

“If we consider non-national languages, it is striking to see that English has developed significantly,” FSO reports.

“It is today the main language of 8.1 percent of the resident population.”

This has also been shown in another FSO study in March, which indicated that  English is not only the most prevalent foreign language in Switzerland, but in some regions even ‘outperforms’ national languages.

In French-speaking Geneva, for instance, 11.8 percent of the population speak English — more than 5.7 percent who speak Italian. And in the neighbouring Vaud, 9.1 percent of residents speak English, versus 4.9 percent for both German and Italian.

In Basel-City, where the main language is German, 12.5 percent speak English, 6.1 percent Italian, and 5 percent French.

And in Zurich,10.8 percent speak English, versus only 5.8 percent for Italian and 3.2 percent French.

The ‘ winner’ however, is the German-speaking Zug, where 14.1 percent of the population over the age of 15 has English as their primary language. 

READ ALSO : Where in Switzerland is English most widely used? 

What else does the study reveal?

It shows to what extent Switzerland’s population ‘migrated’ from rural areas to cities over the past century.

While only a third of the country’s residents lived in urban regions 100 years ago, the 170 Swiss cities and their agglomerations are now home to three-quarters of the population.

As a result of this evolution, “new cities sprang up, many political and spatial boundaries were moved, and the country became increasingly urban.”

With a population of 427,000, Zurich is still the most populated city, followed by Geneva (204,000) and Basel (174,000).

And there is more: Fewer people practice religion

The proportion of people who feel they belong to a traditional religion is generally falling, FSO found.

This downward trend concerns all religions, but it is strongest among people of the Reformed Evangelical faith.

In six towns in particular — Bussigny, Crissier, and Ecublens (VD), Kloten, and Opfikon (ZH), as well as Oftringen (AR) — the drop was of more than 70 percent.
 
 READ ALSO: Why so many Swiss are quitting the church and taking their money with them

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