Salzburg vs. Munich

I've been living in Salzburg for over a year now. Considering I was used to Dublin and London, I didn't expect that I would want to live in Salzburg permanently. I love it here though. Life's great, work's good.

However, sometimes I get the nagging feeling that Munich would be a great place to live and work. I've been there several times and maybe sometime in the future I'd think about living there. I know that it's so close to Salzburg I could commute for the great shops and do some freelance work. I've got good work in Salzburg teaching and working as a editor/ writer/ translator. The problem with Salzburg though, as beautiful as it is, you don't have so many work choices.

So I was wondering what people's thoughts were about living in Salzburg or Munich. Do you prefer to live in the big city and travel to places like Salzburg, or is it all work, work, work in Munich like it is in London or Dublin? By all means I want to stay in Austria, but if things dry up I would think about living in Vienna or Munich.

I bet it's cool being even nearer the slopes. Heck you can probably ski lunchtimes from there!

Personally, I prefer living in Munich, but for me, no place beats Munich anyway. However, Salzburg and Vienna certainly would not be far behind. Both are great cities in their own way. Salzburg is gorgeous, fairly close to the mountains. In some ways, it feels small, but it's still a pretty big city with a lot of charme. Same goes for Vienna. I guess Vienna is sort of a love-or-hate city. Either love it or hate it. I am among those who really like Vienna and could definitely picture living there if anything ever pulled me away from Munich.

spend a day on Toytown and you will have your answer.

The former Herr Indoors comes from Bad Reichenhall so I know Salzburg well. It is lovely but it is wee (especially if you can't/won't ski). Think one of the main things you'd miss would be the lower Austrian taxation?
Guess that Munich looks big from a Salzburg perspective but London it is not. Guess the working enviroment really depends on your field and your employer.
Guess you could do what kza does - live in Rosenheim!

Not in my experience. Just read Toytown to find out!
I've not worked in Salzburg but I have in both Vienna and Linz and I'd say that Munich differs significantly from neither in the attitude to work (as a freelancer).

Hi All,

Just wondered if anyone can enlighten me further about any general differences between working in Munich and Austria. I've been looking at a few jobs where I would be based in Austria (Vienna/Graz/Salzburg). Is the tax significantly lower? Does this then mean that salaries may be a little lower? If I was to live in Germany but work in Austria where would I pay for Health Insurance/Pension contributions etc..?

Thanks

AL

Ian, I would imagine that rent in Munich is considerably higher than Salzburg. Something to consider before packing it all up.

I know you asked about taxes but anyway:

If I were you I'd go for Graz. Rent is incredibly cheap, especially compared to Munich.
The city itself is great in terms of night-life, culture and best of all, weather!!