At the beginning, I worked crazy hours. When you\u2019re working for a startup, you get very much immersed in wanting it to succeed \u2013 it\u2019s almost like a cult.<\/p>\n
![\"Flo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_293925797-e1776686076150.jpg\")
\u2018It was in the thick of Covid when an old colleague contacted me out of the blue with a job offer\u2019, says Flo (Photo: Flo Hayden) <\/p>\n
When I first moved, I stayed in an Airbnb, then I found a long-term sublet, which turned out to be a disaster as major building work began six months in.<\/p>\n
Finding a place to live in Zurich is notoriously difficult. The agencies want someone who will be in the property forever, so they always prioritise Swiss-born locals. You\u2019ll go to a viewing and there will be over 30 other people there. After work, I would race home on my bike, send applications with cover letters gushing that I was a perfect tenant, but it took me a year to find a place. It wasn\u2019t until a friend of a friend caught wind of someone moving out of a place and pleaded with the outgoing tenants. I\u2019ve now been in that place for three years.<\/p>\n
My flat is on the outskirts of Zurich in Kilchberg, a beautiful neighbourhood overlooking the lake with lots of sprawling green spaces to go for runs along and also where the Lindt chocolate factory is based. On a clear day, I can see the mountains from my kitchen. I pay 2300 CHF a month (\u00a32,168) for a one-bed with a small patio and garden, and I feel lucky to live here as it\u2019s also one of the areas outside Zurich that has slightly lower taxes. It\u2019s a weird thing to wrap your head around but income taxes can vary drastically between Switzerland\u2019s different municipalities. People will actually strategise where they move to based on what the tax rate is in that area. I spend under a third of my salary on rent and that includes gas and water. It definitely feels better than the proportion my friends in London are paying towards their rent compared to their salaries.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re way more protected here as a renter than you would be in the UK<\/a>. They can\u2019t just randomly raise the prices. A lot of the buildings are actually owned by pension funds so it\u2019s not a private market where the landlords can just do whatever they want. It\u2019s not unusual for people, once they\u2019ve gotten a place, to be there for 20 years, still paying the same rent that they did at the start.<\/p>\n Moving to Switzerland has turned me into a sporty person. You really get sucked into the outdoorsy way of life. Before I left the UK, I was going out a lot to pubs and drinking with the occasional trip to the gym. Now I run, hike and cycle all the time, even in the rain \u2013 I barely use public transport. The city\u2019s infrastructure is perfectly set up for it \u2013 there are cycle lanes everywhere you look. I go to pilates three times a week and the exercise classes here are truly some of the best ones I\u2019ve ever been to. Anything that Switzerland does, they do it premium.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not even about the weather; it\u2019s completely cultural. Rain or shine, the whole population of Zurich will still be outside. In the summer, everyone goes to the lake to swim and have picnics. People really do float to work on the river. Sometimes everyone brings a float; you tie them all together, bring a load of beers, snacks, and a speaker and just float down.<\/p>\n![\"Flo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_293925834.jpg\")
Flo (pictured right) can jump on a train to go skiing for the weekend in winter and swim in lakes and rivers during summer <\/p>\n