Best place to live in Wales?

[Giraffey1]

Where are the best places to live in Wales? I need to decide where my next home should be and I’m at a bit of a loss.

I’d like somewhere semi rural, with space, views and a small garden. Good places for dog walking, but within reach of civilisation. No need to be near an office, I work from home. No children or partner to factor in.

Budget up to £300k.

Where would you tell me to look, and where would you tell me to avoid?

[housemdwaswrong]

West. Pembroke, Ceredigion, West of Swansea. Have alook around there. (depending on if you have any health needs... if you do avoid North Wales).

Swansea valleys are nice, Cardiff/rct vslleys I like less, but many have atremendous sense of community.

I wouldn't want to live in Swansea... to many questionable areas,
and I wouldn't live around Aberdare/Treorchy way.

Newcastle Emlyn and around there is lovely, Tenby had gone down hill a bit kat time i was there, but some lovely places around Carmarthen.

I'm south and don't know much about mid or North Wales.

[OnceUponAMidnightBeery]

Mid Wales is lovely, perhaps near the Herefordshire border if you don’t want to be too rural - the small villages can take a bit of getting used to, although they are generally very welcoming.

Or somewhere around Abergavenny could be a possibility? Depends if you’d rather be near a town or city tbh!

[Ratsindahouse]

When you say in reach of civilisation, what are you thinking? Near a city or a smaller town? How important are restaurants/cafes/museums/theatre etc and how far would you want to travel to get to them? Views of sea or countryside? What size property would you want for £300k?

[MinnieMountain]

North Pembrokeshire. Goodwick is a nice village if you don't mind hills. You can get good sea views and Fishguard is a mile away up the next hill for more facilities.

[YellowNotRed]

Mid Wales is gorgeous. Brecon, Llandrindod Wells, Builth, can get a lot for 300k there!

[TroysMammy]

housemdwaswrong there wouldn't be houses costing £300k in those questionable areas of Swansea. Are you from or live in Swansea?

[housemdwaswrong]

@troysmammy true. That's what comes of paying in a thread at silly o'clock clock brain only partially engaged.
And no, Swansea valleys. I don't particularly like Swansea regardless, but it is a game of two halves ime. Asyou say, the properties wouldn't cost £300,000 in the dodgy areas anyway.

[Blondefancy]

West wales! We live 9 miles from Haverfordwest in the sticks next to the coast, it’s beautiful! Does get very touristy though

[Giraffey1]

Ooh, some good suggestions, thank you.
Ideally I’d be looking at 3 bed place. Somewhere with a sense of community.
When I say civilisation, I mean access to healthcare, shops, theatre, amateur choir etc. The place where live now is about 6,000 people which feels a good size. Bigger places to shop etc are about 45 mins away. I don’t mind travelling.

[tywysoges]

Vale of Glamorgan - close to the coast, to the countryside, to Cardiff and Swansea for city stuff, dog friendly beaches... can’t say it’s the best place in Wales as I haven’t been everywhere yet, but I think it’s a nice balance between being rural and close to civilisation.

[Mirrorxx]

I have family living in Pembrokeshire near saundersfoot and it always seems lovely. Very busy in the summer but otherwise nice and on a train line.

[GADDay]

@housemdwaswrong

West. Pembroke, Ceredigion, West of Swansea. Have alook around there. (depending on if you have any health needs... if you do avoid North Wales).

Swansea valleys are nice, Cardiff/rct vslleys I like less, but many have atremendous sense of community.

I wouldn't want to live in Swansea... to many questionable areas,
and I wouldn't live around Aberdare/Treorchy way.

Newcastle Emlyn and around there is lovely, Tenby had gone down hill a bit kat time i was there, but some lovely places around Carmarthen.

I'm south and don't know much about mid or North Wales.

Very interested about healthcare in N. Wales. My elderly parents moved there a few years ago and my mother is going through hell from a medical perspective.

[snowspider]

I think you would like Narberth, has independent shops, nice town with community feel and an art centre with music, comedy etc. Torch Theatre at Milford Haven is nice. Bigger shopping centres at Haverfordwest and Carmarthen. (Pembrokeshire) Cardigan is lovely (Ceredigion). I also like Fishguard, Goodwick a lot also has folk scene, look at activities by Span Arts, hopefully all these things that are curtailed through cover will come back. St Davids also lovely town rather pricey and touristy in season but strong community. Solva is pretty and a bit artsy, but quite small. Manorbier is lovely with some nice houses and beautiful location, very good village shop and cafe, 300k may not be quite enough for there so somewhere nearby a possibility.

[MikeUniformMike]

Where are you based now?
Do you have any contacts in Wales?

[MikeUniformMike]

Wales is about a sixth of the size of England and the different areas vary a lot.

[Giraffey1]

I am in Gloucestershire now. Have lived in several different counties previously. And yes, I do have contacts in Wales but that isn’t really relevant as I am well able to start from solo scratch. And yes, of course I know How big Wales is is in comparison to England, not sure why that is relevant? And yes, of course there are all sorts of areas and pluses and minuses, that’s why I’m seeking views from those who have more local knowledge than I’d do.

[FreezerBird]

Somewhere with a sense of community.
When I say civilisation, I mean access to healthcare, shops, theatre, amateur choir etc.

I would say Aberystwyth has what you want, with the possible exception of healthcare. Our experience of the local hospital is great, but we do travel further afield for specialist care for DD. (We go to Birmingham, Cardiff and Swansea but she is complicated!)

There are occasion rumblings about the local hospital closing which would lead to us seriously considering moving South again.

[BumholeJ]

Monmouth is lovely 😊

I’d love to move to Pembrokeshire it’s absolutely gorgeous- the mountains & coastline are out of the world. I don’t know it that well but have stayed near Newport and it’s so beautiful and friendly. It just feels that little bit too far from family personally for me to live full time.

Snowdonia region is also stunning of course.

Hay on Wye or in that region towards Brecon is also fab (I’d probably go closer to Hay than Brecon though) - still of course right in the Brecons there.

Llandrindod Wells In Powys is full of big Victorian buildings from when it was a spa town - ridiculously cheap last time I looked. Very far from other places though (& do NOT “take the waters” whilst there - absolutely foul!!! Apparently full of sulphur and I can sadly attest it also tastes of shit).

Good luck OP sounds exciting!!!

[Sadik]

I was going to suggest Narberth SnowSpider. Cardigan also a good shout, not just Theatr Mwldan but Small World, lots of hipster/indie stuff going on if that's your scene and you'd get something very nice for your £300k. St Dogmaels is also worth a look, lovely community and within spitting distance of Cardigan. Aberystwyth is also great if you want somewhere bigger & more of a 'proper' town, don't know what prices are like there though, maybe higher?
Realistically though if you're going to live in west Wales, you need to embrace online shopping for clothes & the like - I realised soon after moving here that you can travel an hour to Carmarthen.... and you get to shop in Carmarthen. Even Cardiff isn't worth travelling for shops IME (lots of other good reasons to go there!!). Food shopping is the massive exception to the rule, lots of fantastic options.

[slewts]

We have a house in North Wales and love the mixture of towns, villages, beaches and mountains. Conwy is lovely for a small town. Llanfairfechan and other villages along the North Wales coast have lovely communities. Where we live in Colwyn Bay we can be in Chester in 45 mins, Llandudno or Bangor for decent shops, the beach within 2 minutes and Snowdonia in half an hour. In between all these places there is some amazing scenery. Manchester airport is just over an hour away and there are direct trains to London in less than 3 hours.

[IsabellaMozzarella]

Llandeilo is really nice. Striking distance of beaches,. Lovely cafes and restaurants around. Not too far from Swansea.

[normalmumandwife]

@Giraffey1

When I say civilisation, I mean access to healthcare,

On that basis I wouldn't consider moving to Wales at all. My friemd moved away recently and said healthcare is awful...anyone near the boarder travels to England. I experienced it when staying there and the A&E was like a war zone even during the day and a nurse wearily told me this was normal

I don't understand why it isn't a bigger political issue for Welsh residents but be warned

[MinnieMountain]

My dad says that Narberth is full of posh hippies

If healthcare is a big concern, maybe somewhere near Cardiff. DM says the hospital is good there.

[Giraffey1]

The healthcare question is interesting. I’m not Ill and don’t plan to be, but it’s sensible to think about facilities for later life, as well as standard GP surgeries etc.. Members of my family who live / lived in Wales have had excellent care in recent years. I imagine that it may be a patchy picture, much like it is in the rest of the UK!

[KatherineJaneway]

Glangwili in Carmarthen is a good hospital in my experience. So is Morristons in Swansea.