Hi Isabelle,

I live in Nyon and work at the ILO, just next to WHO.

If I take public transport, I walk for 12 minutes to the railway station, spend 12 - 18 minutes on the train then 10-15 minutes on the bus.Typically it takes 40-50 minutes depending on waiting time. The trains are very frequent. If I lived nearer to the station, took the bus or rode my bike to the station in Nyon, I could pobably reduce the total travel time by about 5 minutes.

Driving the car it typically takes 20 - 40 minutes depending on the time of day and the traffic.  Occasionally it takes longer if something exceptional is going on.

Hope this helps

David

Hi Isabelle - we live in Chene Bourg but don't go to WHO but trams run driectly into city - max 15 mins I would say. After that not sure what you would use but I dare say there would be regular buses from there. Chene Bourg is also a nice area - close to French border and countryside etc etc.

Thanks for the info.

Does anybody know about the transfer from the train to the bus from Chêne Bourg to WHO?

Also, what about Founex?

You can check approximate timings on www.sbb.ch

Nyon - but somewhere near the late (on the "lake" side of the train station, vielle ville etc). Or one of the two surrounding beautiful villages having lake view & water sport installations: Crans-pres-Celigny or Prangins.

It's a dream living around there. Come pass by and visit on a Saturday or Sunday.

Chêne-Bourg is overpriced and mostly not very beautiful. Founex is maybe nice but dull and far away from both Geneva and Nyon.

From Chêne-Bourg you can take a tram to Rive and then take the No 8 Bus to WHO (OMS).  For details of timing see www.tpg.ch

From Founex you would have to walk, drive or cycle to Coppet (unless there's a bus) to take a train or else drive all the way to WHO and take your chance with the traffic.  Either driving or on the train, it would probably take longer than travelling from Nyon.

Hi Jeffery, can you tell me more about Chêne Bourg. Some replies suggest that it is not a nice area and that Nyon is much better... We are interested in Chêne Bourg because of the Montessori school La Marelle. We have 2 young childrena and are an active family that enjoy running paths, beaches, parks, pools, etc. 

Any information on the area would be GREATLY appreciated!

:)

Hi Isabelle - not sure where the person thought that Chene Bourg was unsafe - we have been here for coming up 2 years and I have yet to see evidence of it. I also not sure of the statement abut it being overpriced - you can apply that to almost everywhere in Switzerland as far as I can see.!!.

We like Chene Bourg because of the reasons I stated earlier - closeness to the city/France border/countryside etc.. Nyon would undoubtedly be possibly better but then you need to weigh that up in regard to comuting etc  - personally I wouldn't be able to stand it every day but that us my own dislike. CB also has great infrastructure - thing like swimming pools, supermarkets etc which we find a plus (and some nice restaurants to boot.). I am sure places like Champel and the like closer to town will be more expensive but not necessarliy better. Hope this helps.

Cheers

It may be my feeling but I firmly believe Chene-Bourg is pretty much overpriced.

Have a walk in Nyon and surrounding villages, and then in Chene-Bourg, and compare what you see. Landscape? Views? Lake?

Then, compare real estate prices for appartments, Chene-Bourg is 30% more expensive:

Chene-Bourg @ 14'400 CHF / m2  vs Nyon @ 11'100 CHF / m2

http://www.home.ch/en/rent/residential/myhome/Ch%C3%AAne-Bourg

http://www.home.ch/en/rent/residential/myhome/Nyon

To calculate time and route to work you should look at cff.ch and tpg.ch.  personally i find the following are important considerations when choosing where to live:

Time taken to travel to work?

Comfort while travelling (i.e. do i get a seat?, is it a crush?)

How frequent is the transport service?

How reliable is the service?

How many times do i need to change, and is it complicated?

How far do i live from the public transport?  Can i walk there?

Do I often need to go somewhere else (e.g. Airport)?  If so is that also convenient?

Do i have alternative means of transport (e.g. Car, bike, several choices of bus route?)

if you want to live near the cff, remeber the fast trains go Nyon-Coppet-Geneva, and all other stops inbetween are slow trains which stop at every station.

Noone mentioned this yet: Unless you have a parking spot in the area I wouldn't recommend traveling to WHO by car every day. 

Out of the 3 options you mention I would prefer to live in Nyon. Public transportation will be roughly the same time. If you're someone who prefers to live in a city you may like Chene-Bourg because you'll go through the Geneva city center every day. Nyon is probably the nicest town between Geneva and Lausanne, and is very lively especially in summer. I only know Founex from the road along the lake and was not impressed. However it will probably be quicker to travel by public transportation from Founex to WHO than from Nyon. 

> However it will probably be quicker to travel by public transportation from Founex to WHO than from Nyon.

No - it takes changing 2 times from Founex to Place Nations, and ~45 mins; it's around half an hour and a single change from Nyon to Place Nations. (The train from Nyon is just great).

Also, you are faster in Geneva city centre from Nyon than from Chene-Bourg - the train takes a mere 12min from Nyon to Cornavin, while the tram takes 30 min from Chene-Bourg!

Thank you everyone for replying to this post. We just found out that the Montessori school in Nyon has closed/moved. So back to square one. Based on your comments, we have chosen to register our daughters in the Montessori Nations school. But that location seems to lack of the charm of Switzerland I was dreaming of ... any advice?

Hi Isabelle,

I'd suggest picking up a copy of the know-it-all Passport Guidebook and the Education Guide Switzerland which will give you local information, the latter specifically about English schools in the region (the fact there is a whole book tells you there is a lot of choice!).  

Also, you'll want to connect in with parent networks.  I set up one when I arrived 4 years ago that I now administer voluntarily.   It's called Moms-in-Vaud.  It's a bit like glocals but not forum-based and is solely for parents.  We have over 1000 families who follow our different free platforms.  On the links page of our website I also list similar resources in Geneva and Lausanne.

Montessori Nations is just down the street from a large park called Parc Tremblay.  If you find a place to live around there, it's more city-living than suburb, but you can walk to the school or take the bus, rather than drive.  

The question really though is what type of living do you like?  Individual House?  Side-by-Side (villa-jumelle), Duplex, one-floor flat/apartment?   Will you have a car or do you prefer to use public transport as your MAIN way to get places?

Good luck with your move.   At the end of the day though, in Geneva choosing WHERE you want to live isn't always easy, there is a housing shortage, so start researching on homegate.ch now and find places to visit AND use the relocation services offered by your work.

Hi, I have just see this thread....for my naiive 2 cents worth, having just relocated from basel on a temporary basis to live in Founex and work in Eysins. Just being the operative word, I have been here a week.

what I can tell you is that the transport options are far better than I thought....buses from Founex to Coppet orNyon train stations are pretty frequent, a bus meets every train at Coppet, and overall it is all much more simple and less costly than I was anticipating coming from the spoiled transport system of Basel.

founex itself is quaint, has a "general" store in a charming village kind of way (I.e. does lovely fresh bread, cheese and wine along with the necessities), a restaurant that opens for mealtimes that I probably can't enjoy, and a post office and a lovely kids clothing and kids play area cum cafe with divine cakes, and a farmers market for fresh veg and fruit....all in all, charming...Coppet for the lake of course, but also better specialist bread, meat and chocolate options is walkable (bus options are fine too)...it took us 35 mins from Founex centre, and the bread shops are open on a Sunday morning, bliss.

Commuting from here to WHO obviously I can't comment on, but if Founex is the place you come home to each day, and if you have a young family, it would be perfect in my humble opinion.

I definitely second the comments from others...it took me ages to find accommodation at an affordable rate for my temporary situation.

Good luck!

The other issue with Founex compared to Nyon, is that from Founex you would be restricted to one or two trains an hour, From Nyon they run very frequently, especially during the peak times.  If you lived in Founex I expect you would end up driving most of the time.

Can't you take the (slow) train from Coppet and get off at Secheron, without changes?