Our relocation company had a get-together just after we arrived for people new to the area and that was very helpful - nice to meet people in the same boat! They also found some families with similar family situation (we have a disabled child) for us and that has been very good.

Language lessons are good - we got a list from the agent when we arrived with some tips about each school. We went for a big class - was good to meet people but was slow. Now we have a private teacher. (Continue)

Let your agent advise you on areas - but try to find something not too far away from the school your child will go to - helps the child as well as increasing the chances for car pools!!! (Continue)

The Zug Campus (Primary and Middle School  Pre-School to Grade 8)

The Zug Campus is located on the outskirts of Baar in the Canton of Zug. The main building, the Wettinger House, was constructed in the late 17th century and is surrounded by modern spacious classroom buildings. The facilities include two gymnasiums, a computer centre, science laboratories, two libraries, music rooms, a cafeteria and dining hall. Additionally, the school has two fully equipped outdoor playgrounds and an all-weather playing field.

The Luzern Campus (Primary School  Pre-School to Grade 5)

The Luzern Campus is located in Kastanienbaum on the outskirts of the town of Horw, ten minutes from the city of Luzern. The main school building, Villa Krämerstein, is set in its own grounds on the edge of Lake Luzern. With modern classrooms, fully-equipped playground and library, the Luzern Campus provides an excellent international primary school education for students living in Luzern and its surrounding areas.

The Riverside Campus (High School  Grades 9 to 12)

The Riverside Campus is located in the heart of Zug in a beautiful 18th century lakeside villa. The facilities include three science laboratories, a computer centre, two art studios, music room, dance/drama studio as well as a vaulted library. Additionally the school has an all-weather hard court and its own fully equipped boat house with direct access to the lake of Zug.

Outdoor Education Centre

In the summer of 2008 ISZL bought Chalet Bergheim, a beautiful purpose-built wood chalet located in the famous mountain village of Wengen, in the heart of the Berner Oberland. Chalet Bergheim has numerous generously sized en-suite rooms, a lounge, a multi-purpose classroom, lecture theatre and dining area. With spectacular mountain ranges, 213 kilometers of prepared ski slopes, hiking trails, waterfalls, glaciers and the Lauterbrunnen gorge all in close proximity, Chalet Bergheim offers our students endless opportunities for class trips, winter sports, exploration and outdoor learning.

The school offers a wide variety of extra curricular activities for all ages. (Continue)

Also, ask as many questions as you can while you are on the area tour. We asked about everything from local politics to buying special food for our wheat-alergic baby and I am so glad we did while we were in the car with Peter or Nicki. It was amazing what they could just tell us from their own knowledge and it helped us so much.

Take a notepad with you and write everything down as it's not possible to remember so much information when everything is new.

Look at areas outside Zug as well as in it. The tax differences can be off-set by the housing prices. Our HR department didn't tell us this and at first we panicked when we saw the Zug prices! (Continue)

There is choice in the field and we think it is really important that you feel comfortable with your agent as they are going to get to know A LOT about you and your family!!

Find an agent that doesn't work on commission - ours didn't and so we were shown flats ranging from SFr 2000 - SFr 5000 a month and weren't pressured into choosing either way.

Ask around in your company for advice and tips - and don't think you have to take the relocation agent that your HR department works with.

Ask as many questions as you want - we must have mailed Peter almost daily at one point and he answered every single one of our questions thoroughly and quickly - really a great guy!

Try to remember that people have been living in Switzerland for hundreds of years and no exapt has yet starved (as far as we know!) - so don't stress if you can't find your fav cereal - take a step and try a Swiss one. Some of them are surprisingly good!

And a really useful thing that Peter's wife said was - "Milk drink" in the supermarket is actually semi-skimmed milk! Such a small thing but it really helped us!

Hope this helps someone! (Continue)

After school activities include pottery club, sewing and crafts, art, Brownies, soccer, cooking and more (but I only remember the ones my young daughter is interested in).

Private music instruction is available through the music department and is quite impressive. (Continue)

• Contact the International Women's Club (Zug or Zurich) or the PTA/PTO of the various international schools for advice.
• There is little choice only, be prepared for this and not too depressed.
• Make sure you choose a house you will be happy to live in, you will spend a lot of time there!
• The Swiss are friendly but very distanced, however they love to practise their English at all times!
• Outdoors facilities are abundant, make sure you have a car to use them.