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Best City/Country in Europe for Online Entrepreneur

Fox

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So this post might come as a surprise to those who know me but I am looking at moving back to Europe within the next 2-3 months. I currently have been in Mexico for nearly a year and loved the place but have been finding it hard being so far away from my family.

As such I am looking for a livable city in Europe for online hustle and seeing what people would recommend. I am Irish but I don't want to move back home - just be able to visit a few times a year and on short notice if needed.

So far my top picks are Kiev / Budapest / Tbilisi / Gdansk.

Would love to hear peoples thoughts and any recommendations.
 
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Fox

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Can I ask why Kiev is on the list? It's impoverished, and in the middle of a war.

P.S. my family is from there.

I did two months in Kiev before. Really nice people, great food and city, and excellent vibe.

Also it’s got a solid online business scene and cost of living is very cheap.
 

MTF

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How important is climate in your decision-making process? All of these places will be pleasant until about September (or October in case of Tbilisi). After that, you might regret moving there unless bad weather doesn't bother you that much.

If you mostly care about low prices, Ukraine and Poland will be the cheapest (not sure about Georgia, probably too as well).

If you care about a good mix between affordability, quality of life, infrastructure, and easy flight connections, Poland or Hungary.

Take a look at the suggestions in this thread, too:
OFF-TOPIC - Best Entrepreneur-Friendly Places in the World for an Outdoorsy Lifestyle

And perhaps also here:
OFF-TOPIC - What Countries and Places Offer the Best Life Quality?
 
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StrikingViper69

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I've visited Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Brussels and Amsterdam a couples of times:
Prague and Budapest: Cheap to live in, great combinations of partying and culture depending on what you want.
Vienna: Beautiful city, but very expensive
Brussels: The only place I've ever seen someone take a shit on the street in broad daylight. Twice. Plus someone tried to steal my friends suitcase. Nice place for a beer... but I would not go back.
Amsterdam: Prices are "western average", nice places to go. It's not just hookers and weed... but there are a lot of hookers and weed.

Plus as you probably already know... the rail network on mainland Europe is great, you can get inbetween pretty much any country quite cheap, so if you're wanting to travel around, that's a plus factor.
 

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After that, you might regret moving there unless bad weather doesn't bother you that much.

No such thing as bad weather, just wrong clothes. ;)

Besides Fox is Irish which means he's waterproof.

I can second a look at those two threads MFT suggested. Boy is he hard to please. :rofl:
 

Longinus

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Brussels: The only place I've ever seen someone take a shit on the street in broad daylight. Twice. Plus someone tried to steal my friends suitcase. Nice place for a beer... but I would not go back.

Not surprised to read this lol. BXL is probably one of the worst spots of my country. Better go to Antwerp, Ghent or Bruges if you want to see Belgium. But there are far better choices to stay in the long term.
 
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AfterWind

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Romania. Preferably not the highly populated areas like Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest since rent is high there. The north-west area is preferred here: Sibiu, Timisoara and Oradea are nice places.

You can easily get by with rent of around 100 euros if you find a buddy or about 150-200 euros if not. Internet, you get full gigabit download (and half that upload) for about 10 euros a month. Food and the rest is fairly cheap.

I live near Cluj-Napoca and pay about 500-600 euros for my living expenses with a rent of 250.

Personally have lived in Oradea and Cluj-Napoca, great towns. Cluj Napoca a bit crowded but public transport is, I'd say, in the top 5 in Europe (ELECTRIC BUSES! ON BATTERIES!). I'm sure you'll like it overall. Also heard great things about Sibiu, especially about its bike lane coverage.

EDIT: Also taxes are low. 1-3% per profit, VAT is 19% and about 35% insurance tax (or how it's called).
 
Last edited:

Everyman

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So this post might come as a surprise to those who know me but I am looking at moving back to Europe within the next 2-3 months. I currently have been in Mexico for nearly a year and loved the place but have been finding it hard being so far away from my family.

As such I am looking for a livable city in Europe for online hustle and seeing what people would recommend. I am Irish but I don't want to move back home - just be able to visit a few times a year and on short notice if needed.

So far my top picks are Kiev / Budapest / Tbilisi / Gdansk.

Would love to hear peoples thoughts and any recommendations.

Top of the morning to ya' Man

knowing your situation or guessing a lot too.... What are you looking for in 'this' place? Is it the weather? People? Chicks maybe:)? Or a combo?

Have you visited all these cities? What are your thoughts about them?

Cheers
 

Burton

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As I know in Ukraine they have 5% tax for B2B businesses instead of 18%, it might be interesting for you. I personally live in Cracow, Poland and I really enjoy it, the only one disadvantage for me is the air pollution especially in winter but I guess you will not experience it in Gdansk. Poland are getting bigger in IT related things each year in my opinion. There are more and more companies, meetups, events and possibilities. In addition costs of living here are quite low, so if you have clients from richer countries you will be doing well in Poland. As for the weather, Gdansk might be rainy/cloudy sometimes in the summer, but in Cracow it's hot most of time. Last year it was very sunny from May to October and if you like mountains there are so many beautiful places near Cracow.
 
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Napoolion

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Estonia might be an option. I am at Pärnu, it is like a summer resort, so lot of places to eat, otherwise it is quiet in winters. I work in a little coworking space and renting a place near a beach (you can only go swimming in summers though unless you are into cold). You can be roomie if you want, I got 2 spare rooms :)
 

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I am originally from Odessa, Ukraine and I love the fact that you enjoyed living in Kiev! It's a beautiful city! I'm surprised you consider it being one of the cheapest - rent is relatively big there as far as I know.
 

BaraQueenbee

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Prague: *my hometown* Cheap. Amazing nature. Expats community and international community growing.
Cheap. As. F*ck. City has amazing public transport and is overall breath takingly beautiful

Barcelona and surroundings: beautiful weather. More western prices. Very international.

Depending on how social you want to be and how much to spend:

Berlin: unnecessary to elaborate on why. Amazing atmosphere. Western prices. Very international.

Stay away from Amsterdam, it's overrated.

Antwerp: cultural and beautiful city, great when not registering your company there, western prices, international. Shitty weather
 
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Smuggo

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I am originally from Odessa, Ukraine and I love the fact that you enjoyed living in Kiev! It's a beautiful city! I'm surprised you consider it being one of the cheapest - rent is relatively big there as far as I know.

Well if he's getting $$$ it's cheap. Same with Poland.

But having ability to live whenever you want and choosing Gdansk is really wierd. I mean, maybe where there a nice season, like May - September and you get nice weather I would live there but off-season I am getting headaches in Poland due to weather changes... Sun, rain, sun, rain, rain, rain, sun, sun. Och it's 17 degree! And the next day 3 degree..

On the other hand Gdansk is a nice city. I would rank it like that Cracow > Warsaw > Gdansk. That's most common answer from my friends (I like more modern cities so I would place Warsaw first). From there you can easly get to Sopot which is one of most popular places during summer. Same goes with Hel Peninsula (Love that place). There is also a really nice Old Town. If you like nowadays music there is a festival called "Opener" in July. It's placed in Gdynia but it's really close tho. You can check it out.
 

RazorCut

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Prague: *my hometown* Cheap. Amazing nature. Expats community and international community growing.
Cheap. As. F*ck. City has amazing public transport and is overall breath takingly beautiful

Love Prague. Steeped in history and yes very beautiful. Not great if you like warmer winters however but you can always go Nomad for a few months.
 

lejus

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I am originally from Poland. Gdansk is ok I guess but if I ever relocate back there, which I most likely won't for a number of reasons I would pick Wroclaw>Warsaw>Poznan in that order. Warsaw not being number 1 because of prices and being too westernized but it is still strong second to me. Overall I think prices in Poland are not amazing anymore, economy and immigration, as well as westernization, are good but within this price range I would pick the Czech Republic or Slovenia (I've heard about amazing weather there.)

Georgia - I've heard amazing things about ppl and food and mountains which are my main concerns :) I can't comment on business opportunities etc.

Bulgaria - I've heard good things about Varna, I've been to Sofia and it is definitely not for me but, weather was amazing, prices dead cheap, broadband super fast, the workforce in IT apparently is very qualified and very cheap there. Rumors say that running the business there you need a lot of high-level legal advice and someone to deal with all bureaucracy aside from that it should be good. Reasons why I found it not for me, is the number of smokers (one of the highest in the world, everyone with a cigarette in their hand, people smoking inside restaurants etc), and overall being Central/Eastern European myself I find it difficult to operate in that culture, for you it might be opposite, exotic and interesting. I loved their food and mountains.

Germany - I've heard great things about Berlin but I've been to Cologne it was awesome, from my UK perspective it was reasonably priced, developed, business-friendly and Germany is currently biggest economic power in Europe. Definitely place to check if your budget allows it since it will be higher than places you mention.

UK - some places like Leeds or Scotland (I've heard Glasgow is amazing now) are very underestimated, due to Brexit prices are now dropping but it still immigration and business-friendly place. South and London are of course overpriced and overrated imo but north and central England, as well as Scotland, are good to go. I've settled here well, but the weather is ... good thing to discuss with strangers, it does change rapidly so there is always something to talk about.

Ukraine - I've never been there but my wife is 1/4 Ukrainian and from my understanding, it is a bit rough there at the moment. In Poland, we have this joke: Who are Russia neighbors countries? - Whoever Russia wants them to be. I love Russian people, but their government seems often up to no good, being that close to Russia would make me scared and in the last few years I am even more paranoid about that and being in Ukraine would just make me more paranoid. It goes hundreds of years of unprovoked attacks of Russians on Poles and other surrounding countries, I don't hold the grudge, what's past is past, I love Russian people, but recent Russian government actions on Ukraine territory makes me scared and paranoid. Maybe for no reason but still this is my view on it. Huge number of Ukrainian people moved to Poland in recent years, I've never seen such a bit influx before, they are all welcome and I love them but I can't pretend that such high numbers are not being caused by problems in their country.
 
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U

User62861

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I watched some YT video on Estonia or Latvia (can't remember) to be one of the best spots right now. You should check that out.
 

Fox

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No such thing as bad weather, just wrong clothes. ;)

Besides Fox is Irish which means he's waterproof.

I can second a look at those two threads MFT suggested. Boy is he hard to please. :rofl:

ha I am hard to please and I am indeed waterproof.

I actually really like colder winters where you can hit the mountains and snowboard or just laze in the hot tub. Mexico has been 30-35 celsius every day and it's driving me crazy.
 

Fox

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Estonia might be an option. I am at Pärnu, it is like a summer resort, so lot of places to eat, otherwise it is quiet in winters. I work in a little coworking space and renting a place near a beach (you can only go swimming in summers though unless you are into cold). You can be roomie if you want, I got 2 spare rooms :)

And where are you from originally? I got some people in my group from Estonia and they are always inviting me ha.
 
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Fox

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Top of the morning to ya' Man

knowing your situation or guessing a lot too.... What are you looking for in 'this' place? Is it the weather? People? Chicks maybe:)? Or a combo?

Have you visited all these cities? What are your thoughts about them?

Cheers

Ya I have been to Tbilisi twice - really liked it but hard to know how it would go long term (I was there 2 months). It is amazing but maybe not the most liveable place.

Kiev I really liked but its getting a little overrun with foreigners. And the rep most have isn't great. So im 50/50 about that.

Budapest I haven't been to but I always see it ranked very high amongst online entrepreneurs. Poland/Gdansk I have never been to either - just heard good things.
 

MTF

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I actually really like colder winters where you can hit the mountains and snowboard or just laze in the hot tub. Mexico has been 30-35 celsius every day and it's driving me crazy.

Maybe Andorra then? Great weather in the summer and snowy but sunny winters great for winter sports. Low taxes are another advantage. From Andorra you're close to Barcelona if you want to hang out in a big city or catch a cheap last-minute flight to Ireland.
 

GlobalWealth

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So this post might come as a surprise to those who know me but I am looking at moving back to Europe within the next 2-3 months. I currently have been in Mexico for nearly a year and loved the place but have been finding it hard being so far away from my family.

As such I am looking for a livable city in Europe for online hustle and seeing what people would recommend. I am Irish but I don't want to move back home - just be able to visit a few times a year and on short notice if needed.

So far my top picks are Kiev / Budapest / Tbilisi / Gdansk.

Would love to hear peoples thoughts and any recommendations.
I think you need to provide a bit more detail.

From your list my choice would be Budapest. Cool small and walkable city and fairly cheap.

Tbilisi is not in Europe, technically it's central Asia. I personally like Tbilisi. Great food, amazing park in the center of the city, nearby mountains for outdoor stuff, and very cheap. If you are a single man though this is not a great place. Dating locals is practically impossible.

There are other lots of great places, but I think you need to determine more specifically what you want. Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Malaga, Lisbon are a few others that come to mind.

Sent from my VTR-L29 using Tapatalk
 
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Napoolion

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And where are you from originally? I got some people in my group from Estonia and they are always inviting me ha.
From Estonia. Haha, obviously I am biased. Might be not your thing at all. I am up for talking in Skype though, if you wish.
 

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What are your criteria to meet if we can know a little bit more?

Prague is amazing, everything about that city is just top notch!
 

Versari-ESI

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So this post might come as a surprise to those who know me but I am looking at moving back to Europe within the next 2-3 months. I currently have been in Mexico for nearly a year and loved the place but have been finding it hard being so far away from my family.

As such I am looking for a livable city in Europe for online hustle and seeing what people would recommend. I am Irish but I don't want to move back home - just be able to visit a few times a year and on short notice if needed.

So far my top picks are Kiev / Budapest / Tbilisi / Gdansk.

Would love to hear peoples thoughts and any recommendations.
I know it is not as exotic as the other suggestions haha but Bristol has been named one of the top 10 cities for start up tech companies :)
 
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What do you need from the country?
-Are you living off savings and therefore looking for cheap living cost? e.g Romania
-Are you looking for a hot tech start up scene with a lot of investments going around? e.g Berlin/ London
-Are you looking to open up a business easily with little restriction e.g UK //def not Germany
-Do you want low Taxes? e.g Ireland/ You wont get a visa for Switzerland
-Do you want to be able to fly to anywhere from there? Big city hubs?
-Some specific type of activity, on the water, beach, skiing etc.
 

renaissance man

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I moved from Hungary to Germany. I now live in Berlin for 8 years (going for double citizenship soon, if time allows). Progressive taxation is crazy in Germany, when you earn a lot of money. I calculate keeping 50% of my issued invoices, without VAT. Being in IT makes it worse as I don't have much business related expenses. EU taxation rules define that you'll have to have pay your taxes here if you have a residence here.

Berlin can be nice, but the 'diversity' also can be overwhelming at times.

Just adding my 2 cents.
 

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