Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with europe and Switzerland

Another Question about moving to London. Likely more to follow.

ElmerFishpaw — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:53:24 -0800

I'm moving to the UK. I love snowboarding. What are my options? Switzerland is right there! Or is it? Relatively cheap airfare and stellar mountains will be calling me. Can I take off from London and shred the Alps in a weekend? If so, where exactly? If not, could I make it in a 3-day weekend? Have you done this?

Living in Oakland, I am accustomed to leaving for Tahoe at 5pm friday and boarding all day sat and sun and returning late sunday night. Can I recrate this weekend in the UK? (Im not interested in indoor mountains of any kind) Thank you!

Screw Chevy Chase

Christ, what an asshole — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:03:51 -0800

I'm looking for underrated, obscure European vacation stops. A couple friends and I are going to Europe for a month (Nov/Dec), and we plan on doing the whole Eurorail/hostel thing across several countries. 1/3rd of the destination stops are for my choosing, and while I know they'll be making the saturated, obvious choices like Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, etc., I'd like to spice things up with places that don't automatically spring to mind but offer the same level (if not more) of awe. Ideally, cities that aren't automatic tourist stops where most everyone speaks English and there's a McDonald's on every corner (but also not so far out of the way from mid-Europe like some hole-in-the-wall, Eastern-European Caspian city).

What sort of places have you visited that you would recommend?

Help me plan a European relocation?

dance — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:29:23 -0800

European relocation: I've been asked to help plan a friend's relocation from Switzerland to Norway. She wanted to do this herself by taking the seats out of a VW Caravelle and packing it up with her bicycle and personal effects (no large pieces of furniture are involved). I can't help but thinking that it would be cheaper and easier to have a company move her effects for her. It would save her driving nearly 3000km (that figure is for both ways) and is a safer option than having all the goods in the back of a car ready to fly forward in the event of an accident.

But has anybody made such a move? Was it easy? Was it a long time before the goods arrived? Was it expensive? Does it become more or less cost effective if you have loads of stuff vs. a lesser amount of personal effects?

And perhaps most importantly - can anyone recommend a firm we can use??

THANKS!

Where should we go and what should we see in Germany and Switzerland?

odayoday — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:40:31 -0800

My boyfriend and I will be meeting my dad in Berlin in mid-September. I've never been to Germany and my boyfriend has never been to Switzerland, and we'll be there a total of 10 days. How should we split up our time, and what should we see? My dad will be renting a car, so we're planning on driving between cities. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Help me find a post-grad program in applied statistics

lord_yo — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:54:15 -0800

Can you recommend me post-grad / continuing studies in Applied Statistics? Either at Swiss universities, or via good e-unversities. I love statistics; my MS in psychology gave me a solid statistics base, and I'm applying a lot of it during my work (business analyses in HR). However, it's not enough; I want to get a formal education and degree in applied statistics.

I live in Switzerland, and would be open for studies at a local university (I've found one program at Uni Bern, and one at ETH Zurich). Alternatively, there might be good e-university programs out there.

Any recommendations?

Where to go from Lyon?

flibbertigibbet — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:25:31 -0800

I'm thinking of taking a day/weekend trip from Lyon (Rhône-Alpes) to... somewhere. I'd like the destination city to be pretty close. Any suggestions? (I've managed to scrounge up some additional cash since my last question. Yay!).

I'm trying to figure out what to do with a long weekend during a trip to Lyon. I'd love to go to Paris, seeing as this will be my first trip to Europe, period. Problem: the tickets are so expensive (80 Euros, 130CAD/USD) that I'm thinking of trying to find something closer, and, err, cheaper. (Just as a quick comparison: the cheapest trip to Milan costs about the same as the average trip to Paris, both via train.)

I'm really open to suggestions. I'm into art, architecture, religious studies, and history, so anything along those lines would be awesome. Tiny town known for its beautiful churches? Sure!

Thanks in advance.

How to order a book for a friend in Switzerland

ManInSuit — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:23:55 -0800

How to order a book for a friend in Switzerland I want to order a book online to send to a friend in Switzerland as a gift. It's not a particularly hard-to-find book or anything. She's in Geneva, I'm in Toronto.

Rather than buy the book here and ship it, it seems to make sense to order it do somewhere that ships from Switzerland (or nearby). Is that right? Can anyone recommend a good site?

(I looked at amazon.de, which seems possibly a good choice, but apparently the Germans have their own language, which made the site hard to understand...)

Anyone have suggestions?

The IRS ain't gonna get my money! My wife's, however...

slater — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:22:06 -0800

Tax~~dodge~~Filter: My wife is a US citizen, I'm a british citizen, and we both live in Switzerland. I pay my taxes here in Switzerland (and nothing to the UK), but what will she have to pay to the IRS? Some background info: My wife and I got married end of May 2007. She entered Switzerland on a tourist visa mid-May 2007, and got a semi-permanent residency visa (valid for one year, but that just gets rubber-stamped as long as she's not nabbed for criminal activity or somesuch). The visa can be changed into a permanent residency visa after 5 years & no criminal activity.

From what we've been researching online, there's a flurry of different forms & regulations, under which she has to declare ALL her income for 2007 (both money earned while she was still in the US, as well as money earned here in Switzerland), or just the US income, or BOTH of our incomes (under which *I* will get taxed by the IRS as well... wtf!?), etc. etc.

Can anyone help us out of this beaurocratic maze?

Paris, London, Switzerland in a week - recommendations?

Malad — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:16:20 -0800

I want to do Paris/daytrips (1-2 days), Switzerland (4-5 days), and London/daytrips (1-2 days), all late this January. I'll be traveling alone. I'd love some advice. I've done a lot of the main Paris/London touristy stuff, and also seen Nice, but I've never visited Switzerland.

Recommendations in my itinerary for great:
-hostels/B&Bs/budget hotels?
-must-see scenery?
-must-see attractions?
-must-taste restaurants/pubs/wineries/etc.?
-amazing classical music/other concerts/film festivals/etc.?
-other must-sees on your personal list, in whatever category?

Oh, and -- a great travel guide or two I should buy before I leave? Any other tips welcome too.

Thanks!

Yodelay-hee-hooo - going to Switzerland.

tkchrist — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:55:43 -0800

TravelFilter: Last minute. Wife an I going to Switzerland from the US in late January. Leave on the 19th. I have to be in Geneva on the 21st. Flying standby - don't know where I'll come in. Maybe Milan? Maybe Paris? Maybe Munich? Maybe Zurich? Need a good route by Rail to Geneva. More inside. Being last minute it's on a standby buddy pass. So we don't know for sure where we'll come in. Any ideas on a good route or if I can get a preference of landings - which route maybe more interesing for an outdoor fan (wife not-so-much an outdoorsperson). Zurrich? Milan (my preference)? Paris? Munich? I will NOT be driving. Are there any considerations in travel by rail in winter over the Alps? Reservations? Clothing? Will the Olympics in February impact travel? Also after Geneva - where would you go? I have two to three weeks. What would you do? Go see David Bowie? Ski? 'm saying in Geneva for free and flying for free. So we'd like to make the most of it. Not rich. But not poor either.

Cheap Flights in Europe

fionab — Sun, 29 May 2005 13:05:58 -0800

I usually find great prices for flights. But I'm coming up empty on this route: Amsterdam to Zurich. I've checked a few of the usual suspects (RyanAir, EasyJet, Expedia, BMI Baby, Fly Globespan, CheapFlights, Swiss Air, KLM, Travel Jungle, Travel Cuts, Student Universe, STA Travel, probably a few more) and the route either isn't offered, or it's at least $200 US. I need the flight on July 15th, and $200 US seems extraordinarily high for such a short flight.

Any ideas? I can't do train/overland or an auction site, as I have something in Amsterdam the day before and a dinner in Zurich on the evening of the 15th, so I need to arrive earlier in the day. What are other no-frills airlines that might fly that route that I haven't yet found? Is it just because the Euro is strong? I only need one way, but it seems that the return fares are actually much cheaper. Other factors: I'm a full-time student, if that will help, but I'm 26 so many of the European 'youth' fares that end at 25 won't work.

I'm guessing that I'll have to suck it up, but it just seems odd that it would cost that much, when I've taken so many European flights for ridiculously cheap fares. Perhaps I'm paying my dues now, and subsidizing my previous deals. What are your secrets for cheaper European airlines or European student travel deals?

Zurich Beaches

bob bisquick — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:01:51 -0800

I am going to a wedding in Zurich in May, and I would like to go to the beach to relax for a week before the wedding. Where are some good beach vacation locations where I can vacation cheaply, and still travel to Zurich for the wedding.