Looking to move somewhere in Europe - CheckList?

[jonneymendoza]

Difficult to put forward valid suggestions without a real idea of what kind of lifestyle and culture you are wanting. However, if you'd consider Scandinavia I would heartily recommend Stockholm. I've been around a fair bit and, of the various locations, Stockholm was one that really jumped out at me in a 'yeah I could live here' way.

Beautiful city, clean, efficient, and if you don't have a second language, Sweden removes that barrier and makes it much easier to integrate. Fitness lifestyle of many of the residents was also very noticeable; plenty of cycle routes, running routes etc. I can say nothing about the job market in the field you are in though.

As a region, Bavaria also appealed to me; you'd have a few options there / Austria.

A chilled lifestyle where i work usualy 9 to 5 with option to wfh and somewhere where i can start a family as well.

I have been to Stockholm before for holiday but that was when it was like -10c... i was freezing!!!!

Lovely place but too damm cold in the winter!!

 

[Maccy]

There's more to Sweden than Stockholm - I did 6 months in Helsingborg but lived in Malmo. Yeh it's cold in the winter but lovely in the summer, definitely worth checking out. Ikea will always be looking to hire too.

 

[iKettles]

Amsterdam is a great city to live (especially for expats) and is thriving for IT work. A lot of companies, especially tech, have a very international culture and most operate with English as the main working language. Ignore what has been mentioned earlier in this thread - it's very expensive to live but does have generous tax breaks for skilled workers moving from overseas for a job. There is a considerable international population here so learning the language is not necessary although very much appreciated it by the Dutch. PM me if you want some more info

 

[Lopéz]

If I was going to relocate to the Netherlands it would probably be in one of those soulless commuter towns around Amsterdam itself, like Hoofddorp.
Amsterdam is very expensive, and things like having a car aren't a given as you may face a wait of years for a parking permit.

 

[dowie]

Amsterdam has some tax advantages IIRC - you can potentially get a substantial tax discount if you're hired to work there from abroad (see 30% ruling)... better than some of the stupid **** you'd can be faced with in Germany like paying an extra tax for the Church etc.. if you're silly enough to declare a religion (or indeed if you come from a religious country and they attempt to shake you down for a bit before you can officially separate yourself from the church)

 

[Resistance]

If I had that option I would move to Gibraltar or Cyprus

 

[Rannoch]

If you can afford it move to Grindelwald

 

[Em3bbs]

Amsterdam has some tax advantages IIRC - you can potentially get a substantial tax discount if you're hired to work there from abroad (see 30% ruling)... better than some of the stupid **** you'd can be faced with in Germany like paying an extra tax for the Church etc.. if you're silly enough to declare a religion (or indeed if you come from a religious country and they attempt to shake you down for a bit before you can officially separate yourself from the church)

It didn't take me a lot to remove Church tax in Germany. I mean, the person I spoke to made me feel like a complete scumbag for doing it but it was generally quick and easy.

 

[Mr Jack]

It didn't take me a lot to remove Church tax in Germany. I mean, the person I spoke to made me feel like a complete scumbag for doing it but it was generally quick and easy.

I just ticked a box saying 'no' and that was that. Church tax, btw, is a thing in a few European countries.

 

[arknor]

Might want to check out places in Switzerland such as Zurich and Geneva.

switzerland is great, german side more so than the french side.
wouldnt live in zurich city but zurich kanton has some other nice cities that are a lot cheaper to rent in and only 15 to 20mins away by train which is cheap.

biggeet problem with switzerland is rent is around 1500chf for a 2 bed apartment where I am but standards are higher than the UK
2bed apartment im in has more floor space than most uk houses though, living room is pretty huge, considered a cheap part of the city.
food doesnt have to be mega expensive there is still lidl and aldi.
public transport including trains are pretty cheap with a yearly swiss pass that costs 150chf and gives 50% on most train journeys

you can stiĺl get cheap clothes but some basic household items seem crazy high prices compared to the UK.

 

[mccarf]

• Sell my car(Or can i trade it in the country i will move to, for example germany?)
• Arrange for moving my stuff abroad

I recently moved to Helsinki and as far as the physical move goes I found renting a van in the UK and having a friend drive it back for me was far cheaper than any removal service. This does depend on you having a very nice friend though

Also with regards to the car it may be cheaper (depending on the country) to just take yours and use it there. My civic was purchased for £1450 and the equivalent model and mileage here is over €4000. Even after I pay an import tax and get the headlights swapped over it's worthwhile for me.

 

[malachi]

switzerland is great, german side more so than the french side.
wouldnt live in zurich city but zurich kanton has some other nice cities that are a lot cheaper to rent in and only 15 to 20mins away by train which is cheap.

biggeet problem with switzerland is rent is around 1500chf for a 2 bed apartment where I am but standards are higher than the UK
2bed apartment im in has more floor space than most uk houses though, living room is pretty huge, considered a cheap part of the city.
food doesnt have to be mega expensive there is still lidl and aldi.
public transport including trains are pretty cheap with a yearly swiss pass that costs 150chf and gives 50% on most train journeys

you can stiĺl get cheap clothes but some basic household items seem crazy high prices compared to the UK.

I've been looking round that area at rent prices incase any jobs I'm applying for comes up.

Got my savings ready to start me off incase I make the move there

 

[Kreeeee]

.

 

[Russinating]

Madrid impressed me. UK tourists tend to go to Barca but Madrid had a really decent vibe, beautiful architecture, quite compact/great transport, etc. As for Scandi, Copenhagen > Stockholm > Oslo.

If you want to do work beyond borders then why not consider somewhere cheaper to live (and therefore live more like a king), so Budapest, Riga, Prague, Warsaw, etc. The latter of those has loads of European companies setting up in for IT talent. Wages aren't much cheaper than the UK either despite the cost of living being dramatically so.

 

[jonneymendoza]

I recently moved to Helsinki and as far as the physical move goes I found renting a van in the UK and having a friend drive it back for me was far cheaper than any removal service. This does depend on you having a very nice friend though

Also with regards to the car it may be cheaper (depending on the country) to just take yours and use it there. My civic was purchased for £1450 and the equivalent model and mileage here is over €4000. Even after I pay an import tax and get the headlights swapped over it's worthwhile for me.

If the country i was moving too drove at the same side of as us i would! i have a nice car!!

 

[Mr Jack]

If the country i was moving too drove at the same side of as us i would! i have a nice car!!

So... Republic of Ireland then?

 

[mid_gen]

Choose a country that has a **** easy driving test [ your UK licence will have a limited lifespan ], I'm thinking certainly not Germany where a
psychiatric assessment and a stiff medical is mandatory.

Nonsense.

You can just swap your UK license for a German one. Costs 35 EUR and takes a couple of weeks. Although most people just drive on their UK license long term. You *should* change it after six months, but the legalities seem to be a bit vague.

Difficult to put forward valid suggestions without a real idea of what kind of lifestyle and culture you are wanting. However, if you'd consider Scandinavia I would heartily recommend Stockholm. I've been around a fair bit and, of the various locations, Stockholm was one that really jumped out at me in a 'yeah I could live here' way.

Beautiful city, clean, efficient, and if you don't have a second language, Sweden removes that barrier and makes it much easier to integrate. Fitness lifestyle of many of the residents was also very noticeable; plenty of cycle routes, running routes etc. I can say nothing about the job market in the field you are in though.

As a region, Bavaria also appealed to me; you'd have a few options there / Austria.

Absolute friggin nightmare to sort accomodation in Stockholm.Same in Malmo, and I imagine Gothenburg is the same.

But agreed on the language, in Sweden everybody speak excellent English, and never begrudges having to speak it.

 

[Rifte]

Good point and I'd agree - I was thinking from my own perspective, where I have those three covered already.

From my own personal experience the language part is crucial.

Your employment/business may be fine but outside of the office it can be a nightmare if you cant converse with the locals.

Over here I have had to resort to a PA/translator, and she travels with me to the office and outside 6 days a week from 10am to 8pm. I have ZERO competency with Hindi.

I had never had an affinity with languages and I tried to take Hindi lessons over here but from a time investment perspective it was not practical. I opted for the easy way out.

I would like to be in a situation where I did not need help.

 

[mid_gen]

*snip*

I have outlined these places so far:

• Amsterdam
• Berlin
• Frankfurt
• Barcelona
• Lisbon?

Thanks in advance

Even the Germans think Frankfurt is boring. I'd strike it off personally. I'd put Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Berlin, Munich above it.

I can't stand Berlin personally, it's a very unique place, not like the rest of Germany at all. You've got to really like hanging around with hipsters....I mean I'm a bit of a hipster myself, but I just found Berlin so tragically tryhard, and overrun by tourists.

Probably biased, but I love life in Dusseldorf. It's more European than the other big cities in Germany, being right on the Dutch and Belgian border. Great location, Amsterdam is a 2 hour train, Paris a 5 hour drive, Holland and Belgium are 30 minutes drive. Oh and Fortuna got promoted this season so we have Bundesliga football for 15 EUR.

Healthcare is 15.5% of your income on the public system. If you're earning over 50k you can go private, but it's very difficult to back to public if you do that. Taxes are high, but living is cheap. Food, drink, public transport and accommodation are mega cheap compared to the UK. It's wonderful living in an affluent country with constant improvements to services and facilities going on, instead of watching the UK crumble into austerity around you.

 

[neviditelny]

Absolute friggin nightmare to sort accomodation in Stockholm.Same in Malmo, and I imagine Gothenburg is the same.

But agreed on the language, in Sweden everybody speak excellent English, and never begrudges having to speak it.

Accomodation in Stockholm is definately a pain in the backside if you have to rent. But I definitely wouldn't agree that everybody in Sweden speaks excellent English. They can make themselves understood but it varies a lot on the level they can use though.

Even the Germans think Frankfurt is boring. I'd strike it off personally. I'd put Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Berlin, Munich above it.

I really liked what I did see of Hamburg when I was there in August, but only got to spend about 1 day exploring Hamburg before my festival started. Never been to Berlin but it is on my to do list, thinking about possibly heading there for my birthday next year. Otherwise I did quite like Bremen when I was there a few years ago.