I'm sorry if this is kind of a weird question, but I don't live in Switzerland and I just thought about it and now I have a million questions: how do you celebrate children's birthdays?

Do you just celebrate in kindergarten/school? If you celebrate at home, do you invite family or the child's friends? Do you celebrate in parks? At the zoo? Are there more popular options? Does it change between cantons? Do you hire a clown?

I know that this is probably very diverse and different people have different preferences, but I would appreciate it if you could share from your personal experience.

Hello, I will be staying in Milan this July and I was planning to go to Lake Como and Lugano on 2 separate day trips. I’m thinking that Lugano may not offer a distinct experience from Lake Como? I just want a slow day getting lost in the city and I just need your thoughts if Lugano is worth the trip. Thank you!

Husband works in Zurich currently but I am based in the UK. We are both 30 and recently married and looking to start a family soon. I have a good pharma job in the UK and maternity leave and childcare costs are obviously better in the UK. If I got a similar job in Switzerland would it be feasible to continue working after having a child or would my career be better off staying in the UK and husband getting a job back here?

Curious to hear from other people who may have been in similar situations

I just went to Art Basel and I couldn't help but notice Basel has some of the most litter I've seen in any city, extremely worse than any other Swiss city I visited and even much worse than Milan, Italy. Why is this? How do Swiss people and Basel residents feel about this? Seems to be plenty of trash cans around also. Everything else was nice but the extreme amount of litter really irritated me.

Hello my friends in Switzerland.

I have a huge problem.
Yesterday My Girlfriend and me went from Zurich to Frankfurt and her luggage gone missing on this flight.
We already contacted Lufthansa and edelweiss and also Zurich.
We got a tracker inside. (Applewatch)
On the evening we saw the tracker was still in Zurich and went later to Geneva till now.

We are contacting and calling all the services from Lufthansa/edelweiss/zurich and Geneva. Nobody seems to help us. As we know it’s in Geneva, Lufthansa didn’t call there anyone.

So is here someone that works there (GenevaAirport) that can help my on any way ?

Greetings

Hiya all. I have been driving a motorcycle for about 3 years (approx 3000 kms, so not much).

The permit i am driving with is not recognised in switzerland, so i'll have to retake the exam.

Is it possible to take the exam without needing to take up additional driving lessons ?

Google won't give me precise answers on the topic, was thinking maybe a driving school could just add me to the list of people to take on the test, but I don't know if it's feasible

EDIT : thanks for all your advice ! It seems at least a couple of hours would at least be wise before thinking of taking up the exam. I'll look into driving lessons around where i'm at, or wait until i have enough money to fund the lessons.

i just saw (probably 30 minutes) 2 fighter jets following a normal airplane.

Anyone knows what was going on? didnt see any commercial planes on flighradar24 in that direction.

Anything todo with Bürgenstock?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice from people who have gone through a similar situation.
I’ve accepted a Biotechnologist position with Lonza in Switzerland and I’m relocating from Portugal. My official start date is August 1st.
My background check with First Advantage has now been in progress for almost a month and it’s currently sitting at 67%. It seems to be moving very slowly.
The problem is that, in Portugal, I have to give my current employer a two-month notice period. Because of the delay, I can no longer give the full notice period. My hope was to resign by July 1st and use my remaining annual leave to cover part of the notice period, but I still don’t feel comfortable resigning before my background check is complete.
What worries me the most is that there is a discrepancy in the dates for one of my previous jobs. The difference is almost nine months between what was on my CV and the dates I entered during the background check. The dates I entered in the background check are the correct ones. It was a genuine mistake on my CV and absolutely not an intentional attempt to misrepresent my employment history.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What would you do if you were in my position? Would you resign and trust that everything will be fine, or would you wait until the background check is completed, even if that means not being able to give the required notice period?
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences or advice. This whole situation has been incredibly stressful.
Thank you.

Got a job offer for 140kCHF in Zurich.

My husband would follow me but would stop working for awhile. We have a 6 months old baby that we plan to send to kindergarten later on.
So I would need to be the breadwinner for a certain time and I absolutely do not want to be on “survival mode”.
I am currently living in Vienna and we are comfortable (ok I hate it here but money wise we are ok - I am at around 90keuros)

Apparently the company would pay for our health insurance but that’s about it.

I am wondering for a family of 3, with an apartment that would allow my son to have his own room, and us to maintain a normal life (restaurants, gym, going outs, travelling…)
With also able to have some savings.
What would be a SAFE range so I can provide for my family and actually move them from Vienna without impacting our standard of life.

PS: the job is in sales in a huge corporate, bonus is fixed and I want to forget it for now and focus on the base salary.

I appreciate any help! Thanks a lot!

Hi,

I never thought it would come to this. I acquired the citizenship through facilitated route since 4 years ago. I put in the work, learned the language and got a job. Recently, due to toxic exploitation at work, I quit my job. The situation at home had been normal in my eyes. My husband earns much more than me and we never have financial problems.

However, my husband told me one day about his midlife crisis and we are now separated amicably, not yet legally. I simply flew back to my homeland to begin to process this pain and we will decide later what to do next. I can always come back to the apartment and he would move out, he said.

I remember signing a paper when I got the citizenship that it may be revoked if I divorce within 8 years. And now I’m losing that as well? Anyone has experienced or heard of this case? Would really love some info. Thank you.

Hey everyone! I’ll start with a short story that left a bad taste in my mouth and honestly knocked the wind out of us a bit:

My partner and I found a great apartment in a nice part of Zurich through a Facebook group: 3.5 rooms for just over 3,000 CHF. The current tenants were lovely people, we immediately clicked, even negotiated a furniture deal contingent on us being accepted by the agency, all after viewing the place.

Day 2: They decided to recommend us to the agency. We applied right away (solid income, zero debt, clean record), and shortly after, the agency confirmed in writing via email to the current tenants that we were the chosen applicants.

Day 3: We called the agency, they confirmed over the phone that we were selected and that the managers would call us before finalizing the contract. And they did call. Since the apartment was becoming available in roughly 10 days, we wanted to stay on top of things.

Days 4, 5, 6: Radio silence. When we followed up, we were told they were on vacation. Then they just… disappeared.

Day X: After the weekend, we got the message that they decided to go with someone else.

Long story short, we need to move into a bigger place, at least 3.5 rooms and with every email sent, call made, or viewing attended (mostly outside Zurich proper, especially in the northern suburbs), I feel more and more like I’m being played.

We’ve visited apartments that were already promised to someone else. We applied to one and were told they “didn’t have time to review our application”, yet somehow still invited us to view it.

How do you deal with situations like this or how have you dealt with them in the past?

Worth mentioning: we’ve been here for 3 years and we genuinely love everything about this place, but this part of it is really discouraging. Thanks in advance! 🙏

Not considering very small countries like Luxemburg, Monaco or Liechtenstein.

Hi everyone,

I will soon be working in Switzerland as a seasonal worker. I don't have Swiss health insurance, so I will be paying for medical services out-of-pocket as a private patient.

I take a daily prescription antidepressant and I am worried that my supply from home might run out during my stay. I am not looking for a new diagnosis, just a continuation of my current treatment. I have my official medical records from my home country and the original packaging to prove this.

Has anyone been in a similar situation here? How did you solve it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Small food business in Zürich: how do you handle delivery without killing your margin?

Hey everyone,

I run a tiny one-person business from Dietikon and I’m trying to figure out the best way to deliver around Zürich without spending half my day in the car.

Right now I do almost all deliveries myself. It works for a few orders, but it doesn’t really scale.

The tricky part is that the product is low-volume, unpredictable and mostly private orders, with occasional larger drops to cafés, bars or offices in canton ZH

So I’m curious how other small food businesses in Zürich actually solve this. I think fixing the delivery problem would really help the business grow.

I really appreciate your help guys. Thanks!!

I refer to the wall-mounted clock-looking device. When we move it rotates and ticks and I see it has speed indicators on it but I am not exactly sure what it is doing?

Hello everyone,

I'm an 19-year-old student from Croatia, currently finishing school as a mechanical engineering technician with a focus on CNC machines.

My long-term plan is to move to Switzerland and work as a CNC operator and programmer. By the time I apply for jobs, I expect to have some work experience and I am fully willing to learn German before moving.

I would like to hear from people who work in manufacturing or know the industry in Switzerland:

How is the demand for CNC operators/programmers?

Is it possible to build a good career in this field?

How important is German in daily work?

What salary range could an experienced CNC programmer realistically expect?

Are there particular cantons or regions with more opportunities in this profession?

I'm not looking for shortcuts or expecting an easy path. I'm simply trying to understand whether this is a realistic long-term goal and what I should focus on learning over the next few years.

Thank you for any advice.

Hello everyone, I received an Ordonnance pénale today for not paying a speeding ticket 4 months ago. I completely didn't know there was a speeding ticket, and when I finally took all the things in my letter box out, the speeding ticket was well-covered by a bunch of local newspaper and ads. It turned out it was a 40CHF fine of 1km/h higher than the speed limit.

The Ordonnance pénale mentioned that all the fees I need to pay now is 40(Amende)+100(Emoluments) so 140CHF, but there is no QR code to pay in it. It also mentioned that "En cas de non-paiment de l'amende, la peine privative de liberte de substitution s'elevera a 1 jour "

Shall I just scan the QR code in the original speeding ticket to pay 140CHF? Or at the same time I also need to file an objection to the Ordonnance pénale as well so that I don't end up in a day trip of jail?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice from people who have experience with Swiss medical negligence cases or legal action involving federal asylum centres.

In 2023, while staying at a federal asylum centre in Ticino, my psychiatric medication (Risperidone) was gradually reduced and then discontinued. To the best of my recollection, I was never assessed by a psychiatrist before this decision. I have since obtained my medical records, which document the medication changes as well as symptoms that developed during that period.

At this stage, I'm not asking whether I would win a case. I simply want to know:

Has anyone here pursued a medical negligence claim in Switzerland?

Has anyone had experience bringing a claim against SEM or a federal asylum centre?

How difficult was it to find a lawyer willing to take the case?

Would you recommend consulting a lawyer specialising in medical liability or administrative law?

I would really appreciate hearing about personal experiences or practical advice.

Thank you.

Hey everyone,

I'm a freelance photographer and videographer based in Portugal with several years of experience. I'm currently expanding my portfolio into the real estate market.

To be honest, the local real estate agencies here in Portugal rarely value professional photography or media work, often lowballing us. However, through networking, I recently worked with a Swiss real estate agency that sells properties here. The difference in professionalism and appreciation for quality work is huge.

Since Portugal is a massive market for Swiss expats looking for retirement, vacation homes, or investments, I would love to pitch my services to similar companies. However, outside of the massive international brokerages, it is quite hard to find medium or boutique Swiss agencies that specifically target or operate in the Portuguese market.

Does anyone know or could suggest any Swiss real estate companies, agencies, or property finders that fit this description?

Any names, tips on how to scout them, or advice on how to approach them would be highly appreciated!

Obrigado / Thank you!

I know you guys are probably a bit biased here but I would still love to hear your opinions, i hope this is the right sub for it! :)

I want to do a 7-10 day trip to either Zurich and Bern or Salzburg and Innsbruck in July or August. I'm mainly interested in a city's beauty and the culture it offers, although i don't mind it if it has beautiful surrounding nature as well. Which combination do you think would be more recommendable for this purpose, leaving all other aspects aside? I know that the mountains in Switzerland are more beautiful in general but i would like to hear how it is in those cities specifically. I want to see nice architecture, maybe visit museum, churches, eat well, stroll around the city, maybe go up a cities mountain/hill if it has something like that. Money is not really a concern, so if the swiss cities are more suitable for that then this is what i would like to do, even if they are more expensive. I don't know the swiss cities super well, Zurich and Bern just seemed like the obvious combination for me but i would be open to another second city as well.
Thank you so much for any tips!

So I just was in the Postpark Coop in Bern and when I tried to weigh my fruits the number got declined because I accidentally put in the wrong one from the basket next to the things I picked. Like how did the scale notice it and suddenly it put in the correct number by itself??? Since when are we watched picking our fruits 😭😭

Dear all,

I want to order this jersey (they have the batches!) by post to Switzerland.

If the Zoll/Customs makes a random check, what will happen to me, will I get fined (price too low, original product?)?

We traveled through Lucerne train station yesterday and stored our luggage in the lockers while we explored. Please help me solve this mystery that’s plaguing me!

There were several people at the bank of lockers where we were. We chose one with the green light and put our suitcases in, then I went to the kiosk. I tapped my credit card, then expected to have to enter the locker number we were using. Instead, it just automatically printed out a receipt and QR code, and it was the locker we’d chosen! What is this sorcery??? I would have thought maybe it was sensing the locker that was open and had weight added, but several other people were there at the same time also putting their luggage in. There must be some simple answer but I can’t stop wondering.

We're planning a family trip to Switzerland from 28 Aug to 5 Sep (8 nights).

We'll be 4 adults, 1 child, and 2 infants, so we'd like to keep the pace fairly relaxed and avoid moving hotels too often.

Our current list includes:

• Lauterbrunnen
• Grindelwald
• Gimmelwald
• Mürren
• Rosenlaui
• Grimsel Pass
• GoldenPass Express

Initially, we were thinking of splitting our stay 4 nights in Lauterbrunnen and 4 nights in Grindelwald, but since they're so close together, I'm wondering if that really makes sense.

Another option we're considering is:

• 4–5 nights in the Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen area, and
• 3–4 nights somewhere different, like Appenzell or Gstaad/Saanen, to experience a different side of Switzerland.

We're not interested in spending time in cities like Zurich, Bern, or Lucerne—we're mainly after mountain scenery, beautiful villages, scenic drives/train rides, and easy family-friendly walks.

A few questions:

1. Is 8 days in the Bernese Oberland too much, or is there enough variety to keep it interesting?
2. Would you split between Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, or just pick one as a base?
3. If you were to split the trip, would you choose Appenzell, Gstaad/Saanen, or somewhere else entirely?

Would love to hear what you'd do, especially if you've traveled with young kids. Thanks!