Would you ever consider moving to continental Europe? And if so where?

SharpshooterTom

Usually when Irish people think about moving abroad, they immediately think of English speaking countries (USA, Canada, Australia, NZ even the UK) but I'm wondering if you would consider moving to continental Europe, and if so, where would you choose?

I've always liked Scandinavia and definitely would be open to moving there (any of the countries), low crime, low unemployment, good wages, good education system, although taxes are through the roof. Germany likewise. Being fluent in German means gives you access to countries totaling 100 million people (Swiss German is quite different though). I've not been as keen on southern Europe largely because most of the countries seem to be forever dogged with high unemployment (France was close to 10% even before the pandemic), wages are a bit lower.

I've put a poll up (multiple choice) and grouped them into regions since I can't obviously list every country.

Zebra3

SharpshooterTom wrote: »

I've always liked Scandinavia and definitely would be open to moving there (any of the countries), low crime, low employment, good wages, good education system, although taxes are through the roof.

:pac:

SharpshooterTom

Zebra3 wrote: »

:pac:

Haha typo. Now edited, thanks for spotting.

Alaninwondeand

If I was single id live in Lithuania.

Simi

Iceland, the Nordic countries, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium would all appeal to me. Only problem is my complete inability to learn another language

Yurt2

Slovenia always appealed to me.

Alpine living, high quality of life, lowish (for now) cost of living, Very nicely located in Europe bang in the middle of things and strong Austo-Hungarian Empire vibes. One of Europe's lesser spoken of gems.

No idea what I'd do there as my current career is not one that will ever go fully remote and I'm not going to be learning Slovenian any time soon.

Feisar

Not Belgium

Jizique

Simi wrote: »

Iceland, the Nordic countries, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium would all appeal to me. Only problem is my complete inability to learn another language

You only need English in all of them; local helps in some places, esp out in sticks, but not necessary

Day Lewin

Italy.

For the sunshine, the warm sea, the culture, and the food.

Also, I speak Italian.

Wish I was there this minute!

Gregor Samsa

Not continental Europe, but if I was going to move anywhere, it would be Iceland

Yurt2

Jizique wrote: »

You only need English in all of them; local helps in some places, esp out in sticks, but not necessary

I wouldn't recommend settling in Germany for an extended period of time and embarking on a serious career there without learning German. You'll get by on the ausländer pass for a year or two, but you will be judged negatively beyond that. And honestly, who can blame them?

Lived in the Balkans for 18 months, really enjoyed it, travelled a lot.
Very cheap, hot summers and cold winters.
I would live there again.

Ex was Finnish so spent a lot of time in Finland, first visited when it wasn't quite thawed out and wasn't mad about the place, but it grew on me! Loved it, would actually really love to live there, but only for 5 months of the year, a visit during winter is enough. The weather didn't bother me it is just too dark all the time.

Think I would like to live in Slovenia for a while.
Maybe Georgia or the Ukraine

Oh and fyi, Finland is not Scandinavian

Back to France, toying with the idea of retiring their.

blueskys

Portugal all day long..

murpho999

Jizique wrote: »

You only need English in all of them; local helps in some places, esp out in sticks, but not necessary

This is a really bad attitude.

If you want to have a more pleasant experience and maybe make local friends then you should try to learn the language.

It will enrich the stay, earn respect from people and if you manage it then it makes everything more enjoyable.

triggermortis

Lived in Holland and worked in Belgium for a while - best time ever.
Lived in Switzerland - good if you like rules.
Don't speak any German, French, Flemish, Dutch. Didn't starve but didn't assimilate. Glad to be home!!

ancapailldorcha

I could see myself relocating to the continent in a year or so when my contract here in the UK expires. Most jobs I see demand fluency in the local language so it probably won't happen. Think I'd enjoy the Netherlands, France, Germany or Sweden.

murpho999

If I didn't have to work then I'd try Spain or Italy . Think I'd prefer Italy.

Lived in Netherlands for 7 years. Enjoyed it, Dutch are friendly but pretty dull, mostly entertaining each other in houses.

My first Dutch birthday "party" was a big cultural shock.

I wouldn't want to go back but can be a very different experience if you go there as ex pat and live that life.

angel eyes 2012

Portugal, for the sun and the health system.

murpho999

SharpshooterTom wrote: »

I've always liked Scandinavia and definitely would be open to moving there (any of the countries), low crime, low unemployment, good wages, good education system, although taxes are through the roof. Germany likewise.

.

Same as Ireland.

First choice for city life would either be London or Madrid. For everything else I’d have to pick Spain.

Hamachi

Yurt! wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend settling in Germany for an extended period of time and embarking on a serious career there without learning German. You'll get by on the ausländer pass for a year or two, but you will be judged negatively beyond that?

Very true. Two years is really pushing the bounds of credibility. Work colleagues will expect you to be reasonably functional after a year.

Can’t speak for other countries, but Germans are generally quite distant initially, but are really terrific friends when you pierce the outer shell. You’re never going to be accepted, unless you show commitment to the country by learning the language.

completedit

Hard without the language tbh. But I am looking for jobs at the moment in Central Europe(Czechia) and Brussels. Its tough though. Would consider the Balkans, I should have done a year down there when I was in my 20s and career didn't matter.

Have already lived around Europe

completedit

Hard without the language tbh. But I am looking for jobs at the moment in Central Europe(Czechia) and Brussels. Its tough though. Would consider the Balkans, I should have done a year down there when I was in my 20s and career didn't matter.

Have already lived around Europe

Fozzie Bear

Day Lewin wrote: »

Italy.

For the sunshine, the warm sea, the culture, and the food.

Also, I speak Italian.

Wish I was there this minute!

Ya Italy for me too. Got married in Italy, been there countless times on holidays.
All of the above reasons and I have always found the Italian people to be very warm and welcoming. Absolutely love it there

RobertKK

The Romance language countries would be nice: Spain, Portugal, Italy, France or Romania.
All have good summers, beaches, mountains, EU members and I have found people from these countries very friendly and welcoming.

SharpshooterTom

Interesting poll results so far, the Iberian peninsula the most popular.

No love for Switzerland though?

Lived in Spain for a few years as an adult. Germany as a teenager.

Will probably retire to Spain considering the missus is from there and would like to go back however I always fancied south africa or the caribbean myself

mrasgar

Istanbul, Turkey could be a good option as well to live for a while.

Turkish is easy to pick up, people are very friendly, cost of living really low. The downside is wages are low as well in most jobs, so not such a good place to make money but more for the quality of life.

Thelonious Monk

mrasgar wrote: »

Istanbul, Turkey could be a good option as well to live for a while.

Turkish is easy to pick up, people are very friendly, cost of living really low. The downside is wages are low as well in most jobs, so not such a good place to make money but more for the quality of life.

There are millions of cats everywhere too, that would be a big draw for me lol.
There's a good film about the cats of Istanbul called Kedi, lovely film.

Spain or Portugal for me, one day, I just love warm weather and sunshine so much.

poisonated

I would like to live in Paris for a year.

RobertKK

SharpshooterTom wrote: »

Interesting poll results so far, the Iberian peninsula the most popular.

No love for Switzerland though?

Love Switzerland but need to own a bank to live there.

Jizique

Yurt! wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend settling in Germany for an extended period of time and embarking on a serious career there without learning German. You'll get by on the ausländer pass for a year or two, but you will be judged negatively beyond that. And honestly, who can blame them?

Depends where you are and what the job is - ECB in Frankfurt would be fine, some small engineering place in a village in Saxony not so much

josip

SharpshooterTom wrote: »

Interesting poll results so far, the Iberian peninsula the most popular.

No love for Switzerland though?

Friends of mine in Switzerland were at a party in someone's apartment when the police arrived, cleared everyone out and issued a fine to the apartment owner for the party still going on 30 minutes after the time when parties are supposed to finish.
Someone else who was at the party, but left at the correct time, later openly told them, that it was they who had called the police.
It wasn't right Ja? that the party continued past the end time.

Another time, someone I know was awoken by the police at 3am and brought down to the police station.
His crime?He hadn't been sorting his rubbish properly and the police had his rubbish out on tables in a room and made him sort it properly.
Didn't get fined though. And how did the police know about the unsorted rubbish?
Yes, some neighbour told them.

RobertKK

RobertKK wrote: »

Love Switzerland but need to own a bank to live there.

Last week I was looking at an apartment for sale in one of the ski resort valleys near Mont Blanc and had to doublecheck myself because I felt it was inexpensive compared to property in Dublin...and I'm still not saying Switzerland is cheap.

shtpEdthePlum

Beers and buds, Belgium and Netherlands.

ToxicPaddy

Its something I've seriously considered, even applied for jobs in Stockholm, Geneva and Zurich over the years. The money being offered was crazy, but as most have said here, cost of living in both is also crazy.

Slovenia would probably be top of my list. Love Ljubljana, fantastic city. Austria is another but the right wing politics there can be a bit off putting.

I love France too, but could see myself having a holiday home there rather than living there permanently.

Ubbquittious

I only spent a few days in Switzerland. Great scenery, posh cars and sh1t kebabs that cost 10 CHF

Wouldn't move to mainland anything. Id have to be on an island of some sort

Nigel Fairservice

A few places spring to mind. For somewhere small, I'd love to live in Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald in Switzerland for a while. For a small sized city, I'd go with Ljubljana. It's a wonderful city in a wonderful country. It's a shame there are no direct flights from Ireland. For somewhere larger I'd go with Oslo or Gothenburg. Loved the vibes there. Anywhere on the Mediterranean is out, way too hot for me!

PsychoPete

I wouldn't move outside my parish

Yurt2

Nigel Fairservice wrote: »

A few places spring to mind. For somewhere small, I'd love to live in Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald in Switzerland for a while. For a small sized city, I'd go with Ljubljana. It's a wonderful city in a wonderful country. For somewhere larger I'd go with Oslo or Gothenburg. Loved the vibes there.

I've found Oslo to be a seriously boring place for a capital city. Most meh capital in Europe for my money. And the price of things is bonkers.

4Ad

Lisbon
Seville
Berlin (not for Winters though)
Eastern Portugal, cheap, warm and plenty of hills to run around.
Slovenia would be nice, bit boring though...

Looking at Spain right now. Need to get settled in my current position then figure out practicalities of tax and residency etc. but if things in my personal life go well til the end of the year I hope to be out of here in 12 months.

Nekarsulm

Been thinking of trying a year in France when (if!) I retire.
Somewhere south of the Loire, less than an hour from the sea.
Rural, and less than 10 Km from a reasonable size town.

Nqp15hhu

No. The language barrier is an issue for me. I would possibly buy a house in southern Iberia though.

completedit

Nqp15hhu wrote: »

No. The language barrier is an issue for me. I would possibly buy a house in southern Iberia though.

Yeah free movement of workers is there for East to west and south to North.

I speak French and Spanish but my level just isn't high enough to be any type of asset. Its much more accepted that people will adapt to someone's English level than French or Spanish which doesn't really make sense since you'd imagine with the amount of people speaking English that the threshold would be much higher.

Plumbthedepths

Italy, particularly the north near Lucca. Have a passable ability in the language. 20 years to retirement. Plan is to rent somewhere in the Lucca region from Jan to April each year and spend the other 8 months in Ireland.

KungPao

España, somewhere muy cultural, like Benidorm.

NeuralNetwork

Just to the person mentioning Iceland, it’s lovely for a visit but it’s quite trying in a dark, long winter and the west-coast weather’s often like a colder version of the worst winter Ireland or northern Scotland could throw at you.

If you’re into that though, it’s not bad. I just wouldn’t base a move there on not having spent a winter. It’s an extremely different atmosphere to summer due to the latitude.

KungPao

Serious Q. As a gentleman of circa 2 score, what’s the deal with pensions and contributions and that lark if I just decide to feck off to another EU country or even outside?

BOHtox

Portugal for their lack of crypto tax