I'm weighing up a job offer in Geneva. Anyone familiar with the area?
Ideally, I'd like to live within 25mins by public transport of Geneva railway station (my office would be next door). I don't really want to live in Geneva city centre, but somewhere a little more suburban/rural, with good access to local mountain bike trails. In the winter, I will be skiing most weekends, so good proximity to the Alps by car would be essential (preferably, no further than 1hr away).
I've seen Nyon and Gland mentioned. They seem to hit the right notes: close to the Jura for local rides (how it the riding there btw?) and within tolerable distance from Verbier, Chamonix, Morzine etc.
For reference, I currently live in Zug and I have great trails on my doorstep. I also have a choice of several very good ski resorts within an hour from me (Engleberg, Andermatt etc.), so I don't want to downgrade.
A friend has lived in Ain in France for ten years and rates it. He cycles into Geneva. He’s returning back to the IK now the kids have gone to uni.
Thanks TiRed. I would prefer to live on the Swiss side of the border, as already have a work permit etc.
Hi, Nyon is a lot nicer than Gland I would say. The town has a proper lakefront where Gland is set back from the lake. There is a British supermarket in Gland if that's your bag. I think the cycling from either is going to be fairly gentle cycling through the vineyards (more gravel biking than MTB) until you get into the Jura itself which are still quite far away. I have a mate who works in Gland and we have sometimes met up in Nyon after work and taken the local train up to St. Cergue or beyond where there are some decent trails on the top, with a good descent through the woods back down to the vineyards, and then a plummet back to Nyon.
I live near Lausanne so happy to answer any other questions you have about the region... How's your French?
I have friends who work Geneva and live in Mt Sur Rolle, which is 20 mins or so from Geneva along the coast. Seems nice whenever we’ve visited and easy access up the hill to France for shopping and a bit of cheaper skiing. The Tour de Swiss passes through every year also.
Not much use on places to live locally, but for skiing you have a lot of options on the proverbial doorstep. Within roughly one hours drive you could reach Avoriaz/Morzine; La Clusaz; Flaine; Les Contamines; Chamonix. Having the options means you won't get bored with one resort and can be more picky based weather/snow forecast. If it's quiet you can be in Les Arcs/Tignes/Val in 2hr30 or as a sneaky option for the Trois Vallees, stay on the motorway to Orelles and head up to Val Thorens that way.
It seems to be a total ballache getting across Geneva in a car. So if you fancy heading towards Chatel, Chamonix, Morzine etc at the weekends, I’d say living on that side of town would be much better. But in that case, you’d need to check your public transport links to ensure you can get a clean run into the town centre on a train/bus.
Thank you all for your suggestions! A lot to digest. Think I'll have to pencil in a weekend trip to Geneva to explore in person.
as an aside, if you wanted to go skiing/mtbing, the 4 valleys is only a couple of hours down the motorway towards Sion. and there is a train if you prefer.
Thanks for the suggestions mrmo!
I have a friend who works in Geneva, but lives in Annecy. Which must be one of the most beautiful places in the world to live.
In fact, now that I think of it, there are several colleagues in that office who live in Annecy. I think it’s about a 35-45 minute commute.
But you would need a residence permit for France to live there. Which a job in Switzerland might not provide
Thank you johnhe and wbo!
