We would like to meet other young families, especially international english-speaking families since my wife doesn't speak German or French yet, although she'll be taking a language course once we get there. I've seen a couple threads from 6 years ago and would be interested to know what the current situation is.
The person who interviewed me recommended Thun, which looks beautiful but would obviously add a commute. My recruiter recommended living in Bern itself when I told her that we like to meet new people. But if you and your wife are willing to throw yourselves into the local community then both places will be as inviting. Check out Belp Biking along the river Aare to Bern, super connections by train to Bern less than every 10mins a train Am on the road now not driving myself will post more later from home.
However, I am doing this helping expats job over 20 years. Out of personal experience, I can say, the biggest danger is to feel too comfy in this expat bubble, surrounded just with other trailing spouses. It is important to start putting out the feelers quite quickly in parallel too, to guarantee a successful relocation and integration.
Ok, onwards about Bern. The public transport is 1A in and around the town, as well as the bike lanes, which are well planned throughout the town! You get everything within a relatively small space, from shopping for anything your heart desires by wandering through the famous arcades over to the shopping centres if you prefer that kind of thing in close vicinity of the town and also reachable easily by public transport.
However, the rent as well as the taxes are higher in town, so it'd pay to look into moving to the surrounding suburbs. Hence my suggestion yesterday to look into Belp, for example. Lower taxes, cheaper rent, away from the fray, less noise and traffic, yet within a 15min train ride your smack bang in the middle of the city.
