Where would you live in Europe if you could choose?

[JohnK]

Also JohnK I think that Greece is now seen as being as or more expensive as Italy for example

That may well be the case if you stay around the tourist areas. I found most tourist areas in Central Europe much more expensive than Greece.

Anyway being able to speak the language fluently I can just about live anywhere in Greece.

 

[simongr]

Wow what a decision to make. I personally think that you are going to be best served by being close to transport hubs - for that I would pick FRA or the UK. If however you have more flexibility and available time between trips that you can burn more time getting to/from a transport hub then one other option as an EU citizen might be to try a number of places over a few years. Why limit yourself to one place - why not be a real citizen of the EU rather than a resident of one of teh sovereign nations?

 

[Tortuga]

You guys are right about the language barrier, it will be a massive change for me to go from Melbourne to a place with their own language. London is looking more and more like the choice, not just for tax reasons either. I have some family friends there, my brother is close as well. Also an easy transport hub since I will be doing a lot of flying in and out of where ever I decide to base myself.

 

[simongr]

Also an easy transport hub since I will be doing a lot of flying in and out of where ever I decide to base myself.

Have you flown through Heathrow? Easy would not be a word a lot of people would associate with LHR ...

 

[Tortuga]

Have you flown through Heathrow? Easy would not be a word a lot of people would associate with LHR ...

Haha I have seen the airport show and you are right; it looks like it can be hectic. It's more about the connections and cheap airfares to the rest of Europe. I'll make sure I get there early and cross my fingers things work out each time

 

[Keith009]

Or somewhere that's a cheap starting point for RTW fares perhaps?

 

[QF WP]

I think simongr was alluding to the (recent) opening and issues about Heathrow Terminal 5. Of course, there are plenty of other airports that service regional and European destinations - Gatwick (LGW), Stansted (STN), London City (LCY) just to name a few.

 

[simongr]

Partially correct Lindsay. I was referring to LHR but not just the T5 issues (they managed to lose my bags even though they hadnt even finished building T5 ) - as a premium Pax I havent had any major trouble at LHR since I went checked bags free - I fear though that a discount flyer without status would find LHR less than pleasant.

 

[dajop]

Interesting reading all the posts. I think it really depends on what you want to get out of it.

If you want it to be easy life and have a roaring good time (probably with a bunch of ex-pat Aussies), London sounds look the option to go for.

On the flipside this could present an opportunity to experience a new culture and perhaps learn a new language. For me (just as an example) I'd like to learn Spanish, so if I had the opportunity I'd be very tempted by Barcelona (one of my fave cities, and has a reasonable climate as well). There are probably many other similar options along this lines.

 

[winetraveller]

Having lived in a few different places here are my thoughts:

London-not in a million years, lived there off and on for nearly six years. The people are unhappy, their mainly English, the weather is awful, it's stunningly expensive, leading to a poor quality of life unless you earn a very large salary.

Prague-A truly wonderful place and can still be affordable. Transport links not as good as a major centre, but Ruznye is an efficient easily accessed airport with good if not great connections to big cities.

Lyon-Great location, close to mountains, not far from the sea, close to Burgundy and renowned to have the best food in France. The French are fine once they know you aren't English.

Bilbao-The best food in Spain, even the Castillians, and Catalans admit this, great beaches, and hills, reasonable connections to major cities.

There are many other smaller cities I would choose over London, Paris etc. Mainly because big European cities can be very expensive, and the charm of these places can wear off. I think the best of Europe can be found in provincial cities.

I plan on living in Europe after my stint in the US, my first choice is Lyon, although somewhere on the coast is also high on the list. Other countries of preferance include Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Portugal.

 

[Flashback]

On Sky News (IIRC) it was said that a 'survey' was conducted, and Zurich was the #1 place in the world to live in, best quality of life, etc.

I don't know where they come up with these ridiculous claims.. Sydney was in the top 10, with Melbourne behind and then Perth 3rd..

 

[NM]

On Sky News (IIRC) it was said that a 'survey' was conducted, and Zurich was the #1 place in the world to live in, best quality of life, etc.

I don't know where they come up with these ridiculous claims.. Sydney was in the top 10, with Melbourne behind and then Perth 3rd..

I thinking many of the voters have not actually lived in the cities for which they vote.

 

[winetraveller]

I thinking many of the voters have not actually lived in the cities for which they vote.

The Economist does one of expats who live or have lived in the respective cities. From memory Australian cities do well, but I think that may decline as they are becoming less affordable in comparison.

 

[Keith009]

On Sky News (IIRC) it was said that a 'survey' was conducted, and Zurich was the #1 place in the world to live in, best quality of life, etc.

I don't know where they come up with these ridiculous claims.. Sydney was in the top 10, with Melbourne behind and then Perth 3rd..

Have seen a fair few of these surveys, and I've always seen Australian cities in the top 10. Never paid attention to the methodology though.

 

[medhead]

I'd suggest near FRA its central, easy to get to the airport on a train and easy airport to use.
Only concern would be the german tax system. My brother is in munich and I understand there might be issues with offshore income.

From my recent experience language is not much of an issue, they all speak english and even in france the people were happy to speak english (except the waiter in the Cafe de flore - but that's what you get for going to a touristy place. he probably got worse after i asked him to be arrogant again so I could film it)

real estate seems cheap in berlin and eastern german, but langauge might be an issue.

But anyway, what about the dutchies? Now that is a great country and they have no problems speaking english.

 

[munitalP]

Without a doubt, GRAZ (Austria)

I have no real reason other than to say that this is the BEST BEST BEST BEST BEST BEST BEST city I have ever been to!!!!

Ahhhhhh


Mr!

 

[egoode]

I would suggest considering The Netherlands. Most people there speak English as a lot of the companies there operate in English and there is a reasonably big expat community. Also I think it would have reasonable transport links to the places you are likely to go to as Shell has their head office there and are constantly travelling to the oil countries.

Otherwise my second suggestion would be the UK near Heathrow as that is likely to be where most of your flights will leave from. If you don't want to be in London there are a lot of nice villages not far from London that may be a good place to look. I would suggest somewhere around windsor.

 

[bravoecho1]

My vote would go for the lakes district in Italy. Good connections with Milan close by, you also have Switzerland, France, Austria and Germany on your doorstep, not to mention some of the best skiing in the world.