5 Reasons To Move To Switzerland

Of all the European cities I've been to, there are two close to my heart, Paris and Luzern. While the French capital is cosmopolitan and sexy, I consider Luzern a home away from home. 

Here are 5 reasons why I would move to Switzerland:

1) Safety-Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I feel safe as soon as the plane touches down in Switzerland. The country is practically beggar and dodgy people free.

2) A blend of European cultures-the combination of French, German and Italian cultures in one small country. Catch a train from Geneva to Basel and listen to the languages change from French to Swiss. German.

3) Healthier lifestyle-I'm not even counting the delicious Swiss chocolate as a reason (because that's healthy, right?) The food here is fresh and there are no mass manufacturing shortcuts-just good honest food. The quality of the produce at the supermarkets is better than what can be found in the UK. Often it's produced organically. The tap water is the best in the world, so clean I will drink loads of it and make point of washing my hair before I leave. No wonder the Swiss have amazing skin and hair. The finally the air quality is excellent. It must be that fresh alpine air and lack of overcrowding.

4) Natural beauty-the country is clean and natural. All the lakes are crystal blue, the mountains are breathtaking and the wildlife live harmoniously there. The cities seems to clean themselves. It's as if everything was designed with efficiency and cleanliness in mind.

5) Infallibility-at least seemingly so. Everything works marvellously, meticulously and reliably in this country. I've never had a cancelled or delayed train and everything runs ON TIME to the minute. There is a natural order in the way that everything is predictable. Everything works like clockwork.

While a fling with Paris has its appeal, I call Luzern home for the above reasons and for my good friends there. Fabs, my friends for whom I'm so thankful for her kindness and hospitality. And Marianne who holds fondue night in her home everytime I'm in Luzern. I  have to take my "anti-cheese pills" (as Fabienne calls them), but it's a small thing compared to the joy of sitting around pot of molton cheese with friends, eating bread and potato until that wonderful "grandmother" crust forms. 

The town of Luzern is a beauty in itself, so picturesque with its fairy tale architecture. The lake is vast and crystal clear. Watch this if you're not convinced.

There are however five downsides to this utopia. 

1) Everyone looks behaves and dresses similar. There is not much diversity and even authentic ethnic food is hard to come by.

2) The cost of living is high. A train ticket costs CHF 28 one way from Zurich airport to Luzern and that's a 50 minute journey. Mind you the train system is the best in Europe, if not the world. I wouldn't like to think how much a weeks worth of groceries would cost! I spent CHF 30 on just a small bag of things to take back to the UK.

3) Cultures are segregated by language. The only German words I know are hello, goodbye, please, thank you and sorry. If I moved to Switzerland, realistically my new friends would be English speaking expats.

4) There not as many indoor things to do compared to London. Even if you went to Zurich.

5) As a non EU citizen, it would be difficult to get a visa to work in this country. And that's past the stage where an company would want to go through the rigmarole of employing a non EU citizen. They need to prove they tried to find the right candidate but no Swiss or EU citizen could fit the bill. Which generally leaves it to the highly skilled niche jobs or the type which the Europeans wouldn't want to do long term like working in a ski resort. 

But overall I would still try to move to Switzerland, even for a short while :)