Life in Augsburg - advice for newcomers

Hi all, this is my first post in this forum.

I will be relocating to Augsburg in August to take up a new job. I am currently living in Brisbane, Australia.

I wonder whether you could give me some idea on the daily life expenses such as housing, daily shopping, transport, etc. I would like to stay close to the University of Augsburg since I will be working there. Any info on good kindergarten will also be appreciated.

Thanks for the info..

btw, I'm married and have a three-year old daughter

Hi. The weather is better in Brisbane.

Augsburg is the 2nd biggest city in Bavaria (population 300,000) compared to Munich with around 1.2M so largely speaking prices will be the same as Munich - so just read around the forum and you will get all the information you need. The one thing that should be cheaper is accommodation, but that really depends if you want/need to be in central Augsburg.

For example I live 20 minutes South of Augsburg, so it is easy by car or train, and it is VERY cheap to rent. Like a 140sq m house with 3 beds, 2 baths etc will be maybe €800. Close to central Augsburg I think would be 50% more than that - but others may have more information on Augsburg apartments.

Johny, thanks for your info. are the places around Augsburg easily accessed by trains (or maybe by some other means of public transportation)?

it all depends on where you live. if it's a really tiny, minuscule village, then you might be lucky if a bus passes through once an hour, but that is rare. most places on the outskirts of a large city have good public transportation connection.

I think Elfenstar is making it sound much worse than it is. There are plenty of trains running into Augsburg from most of the villages - so not an issue. I was in Augsburg yesterday, and I think the shopping is excellent.

But compared to Brisbane the weather will be a shocker!!!

And it's a very pretty town!

Augsburg is historically more significant than Munich. I have heard it has a nice city center -- and Mozart's father, Leopold, was born there in 1719.

To be honest, there are cow-fields that have more historical significance than Munich. Augsburg was founded by the Romans and so is over a thousand years older than Munich. See Wikipedia: History of Augsburg.

Nuremburg won't be happy to hear you say that

you know you love pedantry really

Thanks guys. seems like I'm heading to the right place. How about language? Can I survive without knowing German at all?

Yes you can survive - but if anything Augsburg is less International than Munich - so you will find more people I think DONT speak English than do. This is different to Munich.

As a rough guide you will find the Germans under about 35 usually speak pretty useable English, and those over 35 often don't unless they have cause in their normal business to do so.

But makes me realise that I pretty much never use English in and day-to-day transactions so I guess my German is not as shite as I sometimes think. As I am sure you can guess, the sooner you get some German under your belt, the better.

why bother coming here then. or maybe i am jumping to conclusions, but i know how frustrated i would be if i went to a foreign country and didn't even try to learn how to buy bread or order cold cuts at the deli.

EDIT: if you plan to spend many years here, then try to learn some german. if you're only here for a few months then the effort would be much greater than the benefit.

i should have been more clear in my initial question. what i meant was can i survive without knowing german at all within a month or two after my arrival... . i will definitely learn german if i decide to stay many years there.

does anybody know how cost of living in Augsburg compared to the cost of living in Lyon, France?

Best beer..easy..Reigele..try their "export" Privat..the weissbier is very good as well..different to the traditional darkish weissbier but great banana!