Where to move to on the outskirts of London! Confused!

[Littleyellowflower]

Hello,

I am sorry if this is repitition of other threads but I would be grateful of opinions from people who have been there, done that and got the t-shirt or just someone in the know who is prepared to share the secret of their lovely home location! The situation is that my husband and I are finally looking to take the jump and move out of London as soon as possible to a more family oriented environment, good schools, friendly area etc. But...so far I just can't find somewhere that I love!

I've been looking everywhere from Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey etc. I must be looking in the wrong places or be super picky, but I didn't think we were! The only places that I thought ooh that looks more like it is Market Harborough in Leicestershire (too far to commute sadly!) and Edenbridge in Kent (we ideally want to be north though as our family are situated north) and we love Canterbury (but it's probably a little big but I'd forgive that but it is also the wrong side of London for us!). We have a fairly healthy property budget and ideally want a small house in a large village/small town with just enough around that we don't have to get the car out and we can wander out to a cafe/butcher/restaurant/pub (I say pub, doesnt have to be more than 1!). The thing is, it has to have a train station as my husband commutes to London and probably around 45 mins max (ish) journey to London but he doesn't really want to drive to the station every morning. Anyone know of anywhere suitable? Does somewhere like this exist?! We looked at places like St Albans but I am not sure if it is too big for us...

Thank you if you take time to respond, really appreciate it!

[lulabellamozerella]

Places that sort of fit the bill:
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire (40 min ish commmute)
Bishops Storford, Hertfordshire (40 min ish commute)
Hertford, Hertfordshire (45 min ish commute)
Windsor, Berkshire (I know its not north but its lovely!!) (30 - 40 min ish commute)
Harpenden, Hertfordshire (30 min ish commute)
Tring, Hertfordshire (40 min ish commute)

Hope that helps!

[Littleyellowflower]

Thank you so so much! I'll have a look at them now! :-) I have just google mapped one of them at random - Hertford and it looks lovely! :-)