contracting in zurich!!

[Sysman]

worked in zurich last year

nice city but as everyone here says very expensive
try and look at accomodation outside the centre of zurich if possible as it gets quite a bit cheeper
for example schlieren i know its not a great area but its not dangerous and it can be quite a bit cheeper with good train links to central zurich

one of the guys i was working with paid 2k chf for a studio near langstrasse (basically the red light district ) and thought he got a good deal ! because it is central zurich, albeit the seedy side

When I first started in Zurich I got a very nice 2 bedroom apartment for just less than CHF 2K, but further out than Schlieren. I would have had to pay more like 2.5 to 3K for a similar place in Zurich. If you are living outside Zurich your best bet is to look for places where the express trains stop. 15 minutes by express to Zurich from where I live versus 30 minutes on the stop-everywhere trains. If I lived one stop in either direction I'd be stuck with the slow trains.

It might be hard to find a spot for only 6 months though.

[NotAllThere]

...You arent allowed to do remote working into Switzerland either so you'd have to stay there if you were on call or working overtime

This is not the case.

[geoffreywhereveryoumaybe]

Worked in Zurich

a few years ago and I didn't think it was that expensive (comparable to London). However, £550 a day looks low. You need to identify all the expenses you are going to incur and plan out for a number of weeks in the future ie it will get more expensive as we get to Summer. Granted expenses incurred will lower your corporation tax but also your bottom line.

I found the following regular weekly costs, in sterling, and I was prudent.
flight 160
hotel 160 (that is staying at the cheaper end of the market)
airport parking 40
subsistence 50
Zurich travel 25

If they want your skills you should try and get them to allow a bit of flexibility in working arrangements. I negotiated working four days on site every alternate week, the rest working from home. Also bear in mind currency fluctuation as you will probably be paid in local currency which will deteriorate as the pound plummets. Go to one of the flights & hotels site and get quotes for many weeks in advance to see what the cost could be. Sign up to the loyalty scheme with Swissair.

[The Spartan]

Also bear in mind the rules today have changed from what they once were I found out the hard way

[NotAllThere]

£550 a day five years ago was about 1200 CHF. Now it's 825CHF. The cost of living in CH hasn't gone down. I could live ok on 825CHF a day (though it's considerably less than my current rate), but I live here, so don't have the same kind of costs.

[The Spartan]

You're lucky I have costs here and back home