Hi, I recently got a job offer from a company based in Warsaw. I am at present working in Lyon, France. I need to know is Warsaw really developed as compared to other Europe Capitals? If not then which is the most developed city of Poland?
i spend time in both Warsaw and Lyon
lyon is better for food, drink, shopping and museums. Warsaw is better for work, nightlife and if you sre single. transport is pretty good and cheap. warsaw has great opportunities at the moment in my view.
@Jeremy: Hi! first of all, is it going to be an "expat" or a local job? If local job, what and how much money? If local job, obviously better in Lyon (I don't know Lyon but I know France).
Warsaw is in fact like a (big) provincial city of France and of Westen Europe.
As to transportation, contrary to CMS who does not live in Warsaw (but I do), it is not so convenient and so cheap in Warsaw. I use public transportation several times a day (sometimes up to 10 times) inside and outside Warsaw and my comments: crowded (most often I cannot sit), not well organized when leaving Centrum with symbolic schedule, and not so cheap and proportionally more expenseive than in France considering the difference in salaries (in France 1.80 euros with a much more developed transport system and around 1.10 euro in Warsaw .
If LOCAL salary and conditions not worthwhile financially and do come only if you want something different, to have a sort of vacation. In my opinion, unless you have the net equivalent of let's say 2,000 euros (in Poland you don't have all the benefits you have in France), it is not worth it. Proportionally life is more expensive than in France and more generally in Western Europe so unless 2,000 euros not worth coming.
Also a huge advantage in Lyon over Warsaw is the geographic situation. When in Lyon, you can spend weekends (I know it costs money but it's possible and people do it on regular basis) skiing in the (French, Swiss and Italian) Alps in winter and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea (France and Italy) in the summer. The climate in Lyon is needless to say better. In Warsaw, you don't have more than let's say 2 weeks of nice weather per year (today it looks like it's going to rain), winters are long and worst (for me) is the lack of light for several months (in November night comes around 3.30 and it is ... depressing).
And of course, food and restaurants are the best in Lyon ;)
PS: a lof of foreigners (including myself) say that "Warsaw is a big village", although now spread out (a lot of areas would be considered "sububs" in France), it's very limited (compared to Western Europe) and we seem to always meet the same people... Well, this is provincial life (to which I am not used).
PPS: If I had the choice, I'd go to Lyon:)
PS: do remember that 25 years ago, Poland and the area were the pits and inspite of tremendous progress (foreign investments and EU money), Poland is obviously still behind Western Europe (logical). Warsaw is by far the most developed city in Poland and without the exception of 3 or 4 more cities (Wroclaw, Krakow, Gdansk, Poznan), the rest of Poland (B as it is called) is a bit like Westen Europe in the 1950's.
