Where to live?

[Deester]

For the last few years I have been moving around.. a lot. All for work reasons. I am now in a position where I can keep things running from just about anywhere. I have a place in the UK which is my only permanent residence.

I am looking to move somewhere within Europe (outside UK) that has a nice easy going atmosphere, good roads , not too expensive and plenty of pubs / resturants.

I have tried the following - Germany, Spain and Italy. All three are good and I have good / bad things about them all.

Can anyone share any experience?

Deester

[dazren]

Nurburg for obvious reasons, followed by your place in scotland (with quad bike) for the shooting season.

Sounds pretty idylic to me.

DAZ

[Bodo]

Let's cut it down a bit:

Good weather = everything Mediterran

Good food = everything within your parameters

Good roads = AFAIK everywhere, but mountains have a special flavour

What about
language, people, culture, politics, infrastructure?

[burriana500]

Nerja on the costa del sol, 40 minutes East of Malaga, great little working town, though it is becoming busier since the wallies on the TV holiday programmes went there. A much more laid back way of life than the big ex-pat areas Marbella side of Malaga and dirt cheap flights for hopping backwards and forwards to Blightly

[Cooperman]

Southern Ireland - it's great!

[dougal]

As long as you don't go into 'the wrong pub'.

[DustyC]

burriana500 said:

Nerja on the costa del sol, 40 minutes East of Malaga, great little working town, though it is becoming busier since the wallies on the TV holiday programmes went there. A much more laid back way of life than the big ex-pat areas Marbella side of Malaga and dirt cheap flights for hopping backwards and forwards to Blightly

We too thought Nerja was a welcome relief to the hussle bussle tourist traps west of Malaga.
Nicer, genuine people there too (and Spanish people!).

[DustyC]

I have worked around Europe a lot and spent 9 weeks in Latina, 1 hour south of Rome. Have been back a couple of times since.
Outside of the main town its a nice area. Complete lack of tourists. Fantastic food, good driving and beautiful weather, especially in the winter.
Oh, a good long and quiet beach too.

[Deester]

Bodo said:

Let's cut it down a bit: Good weather = everything Mediterran Good food = everything within your parameters Good roads = AFAIK everywhere, but mountains have a special flavour What about language, people, culture, politics, infrastructure?

Language - I speak English, German and French but I wouldn't mind if I had to learn another language so its unimportant.

People - Loads of fit women Like to be just out the city where its not too quiet and not too busy but I could catch a cab to where the action is.

Politics - No thanks.

Infrastructure - Fairly Modern preferred.

I thought about Prague as I really like it there but its only one of the options and its gets a wee bit nippy in the winter.

[DustyC]

Deester said:

I thought about Prague as I really like it there but its only one of the options and its gets a wee bit nippy in the winter.

A wee bit nippy? wee bit?
When I was working there it didnt go above -13C!!!

So I had to warm myself with Urquell Pils and that dodgy strong spirit they keep in the freezer. That seemed to do the trick!

[Deester]

DustyC said:

Deester said: I thought about Prague as I really like it there but its only one of the options and its gets a wee bit nippy in the winter. A wee bit nippy? wee bit? When I was working there it didnt go above -13C!!! So I had to warm myself with Urquell Pils and that dodgy strong spirit they keep in the freezer. That seemed to do the trick!

Thats what I'm talking about! Bloody freezing.

[polar_ben]

I'm hoping to buy a place in Granada (southern Spain) in the next two years. No ex-pats in sight, 30 mins to the mountains (excellent skiing, climbing, etc) and an hour or so to the beach.

Malaga airport is <90 mins by car. Lovely food, gorgeous women (it's my g/f's home town) and relatively cheap property.



(I'll stay based in London, though )

[hwassall]

Deester said:

I thought about Prague as I really like it there but its only one of the options and its gets a wee bit nippy in the winter.

Oh ... and I was about to suggest Stockholm.

[toppstuff]

polar_ben said:

I'm hoping to buy a place in Granada (southern Spain) in the next two years. No ex-pats in sight, 30 mins to the mountains (excellent skiing, climbing, etc) and an hour or so to the beach. Malaga airport is <90 mins by car. Lovely food, gorgeous women (it's my g/f's home town) and relatively cheap property. (I'll stay based in London, though )

Granada is gorgeous. And 90 mins away on the motorway means that you pass the hordes of bright red lashed up brits who don't that far up the coast..let alone inland.

Would'nt mind a place there myself..

[Apache]

Yup, that's the choice for us too, north of Malaga and inland possibly

[silverback mike]

My brother has recently moved to Sweden, and cannot stress how fantastic it is.
Given half a chance I will be following him.
Just weighing up the pros and cons...

[agent006]

burriana500 said:

Nerja on the costa del sol, 40 minutes East of Malaga, great little working town, though it is becoming busier since the wallies on the TV holiday programmes went there. A much more laid back way of life than the big ex-pat areas Marbella side of Malaga and dirt cheap flights for hopping backwards and forwards to Blightly

Nice if you like black volcanic sand and sewage pumped straight into the sea.

[littlegearl]

always wanted to live in Germany, but as you've tried that how about Switzerland/Austria or something...

nice countries close to Italy/Germany and in central Europe...

i don't like people who go to Spain - usually because they go there every year and i think its stupid if you're going abroad *every* year you should try a few other countries...

you've done France, so the pretty much leaves Holland or Belgium (other than me above suggestions) which seem a little boring...

[cptsideways]

Czech republic has fantastic roads , cheap beer & £12 speeding tickets & the women are fantastic too !