Zurich Expats Newsletter December 2012

Welcome to the first newsletter from zurichexpats.com!

This month we have some tips on what to do with guests at this time of year as well as a tantalising offer of the Expat Card for FREE!

As Christmas is rapidly approaching and snow is fresh on the ground, it's a typical time of year for family and friends to visit to experience something more akin to the Christmas card version of Christmas.

Luckily there are loads of things to do in Zurich and further afield to keep your guests busy whilst also making sure they will be gazing wistfully out of the window on their journey home planning their trip back next year - as long as that is what you want!

From six years of Christmas in Zurich, here are our favourites:

• Ice skating at the Dolder. A journey that takes you up the charming Dolderbahn to the woods above Zurich. Next to the luxurious Dolder Grand you will find the Eisbahn, which also has a snack bar from where you can watch the skaters once you have finished your own exertions.

• Zurich HB Christmas Market. Revel in the opportunity to pay eye-wateringly high prices for soap and bits of wood! Seriously, it is a nice way to spend half an hour or so and the food from kiosks is great. This year including strudel (although cold), great wursts and crepes. Crowned as ever
  
  by the glory of the Swarovski tree which is truly spectacular.

• Train travel to the mountains. Take a morning train to Luzern and spend an hour walking through its lovely streets. Grab a coffee and then head back to the station for a train to Engelberg where you can catch the cable car up Mount Titlis. Stunning, breathtaking and essentially Swiss.

Got some tips of your own? Share them with us on Twitter! Currently on the site we have two timely articles on the site that we would like to point out. The first, from Cecily Weeks will be of great interest given the time of year . Read Cecily's guide to the main players in a Swiss Christmas. Also worth a read is Christian Langenegger's  analysis of the recent vote regarding the disclosure of previous rental costs. Finally we are extremely excited to be able to offer the excellent Expat Card for Free to Zurich Expats. Whether your a new arrival, or an Expat who has lived in Zurich for a while, we have all admired the glitz and glamour lining Bahnhofstrasse. But living in a city consistently named one of the "most expensive in the world" certainly can have its drawbacks at times.  Prices might seem a bit steep to newcomers and confusion on where to turn for friendly businesses mightbe overwhelming. That’s where The Expat Card comes in.  It’s a card designed to offer discounts at over 70 Expat-friendly businesses and solve your franc savvy worries. Definitely your introduction to the best (and often only) bargains in town! The great news is that The Expat Card is now FREE for all members of Zurich Expats!  All you need to do is fill out the form below, and they will send you your card within 20 days - Get The Expat Card For FREE.  More info available from their website - www.theexpatcard.ch. 

That's all from us for this month. As always we are looking for good articles that are relevant to people living and working in Zurich so if you would like to contribute, please contact us.  We would also like to feature your story in the monthly newsletter. It involves answering just a handful of questions about what took you to Zurich and your life here. if you would like to be featured, please contact us via the site. Finally, please let us know what you would like to read about on zurichexpats.com. if there is a particular aspect of life as a Zurich Expat you would like us to cover, we will be more than happy to do it. Thanks again for reading, enjoy a wonderful Zurich Christmas! Andrew Buonocore zurichexpats.com