To think I’ve missed out on an exciting life by never living in London?

I always have an issue eating out in central london. It's still the chain places.
But I love the west end theatre land. And it's hard to not go there sometimes.
But it's really hard work as days/ evenings out these days or I'm just getting old. Too much travel back and forth and so expensive.

I moved to London after uni with a grad job for a "few years". That was over 30 years ago and I'm still in London. 😂 I've also lived in Paris and Hong Kong and spend a lot of time working in New York and Singapore but I always come back to London.

Quite frankly by not living in London, yes you have missed out. There are amazing experiences to be had here and we tend to take them for granted and only realise how lucky we are when we go elsewhere and things there are much more pedestrian.

It's never too late. But we also make the choices that suit us best at the time. You might hate living here. It's not for everyone. I got sick of it at one stage hence moving overseas for a few years. But when I came back I fell in love with London all over again, and it's never worn off.

I used to think that in my 20s early 30s.
But more to be able meet you people. But then I'm not sure that would have happened. When you have no friends in the 1st place it's really hard to make any.

It's a great place to bring up kids tbf, my teens are never bored and the free public transport means I don't have to taxi them around!

OP, I live in London and I love it.

And dispute many of the usual London-hating comments on this thread.

Yes, there is a buzz, huge fantastic cultural opportunities, free, mad stuff, funny stuff, wonderful people and plenty to be appalled and wince about (otherwise it would be a tedious drone rather than a buzz, perhaps) .

And you probably would love it if you love other big cities.

So come when the kids have left and you are old enough for an O 60s free travel card and don’t need to worry about school catchments, and can manage in a smaller, more affordable place!

And have a great time wherever you live now because… millions do, and presumably more people have never lived in London than have and have had great lives!

It's a good experience to have when you're young and carefree, but I wouldn't say you've missed out. Unless you've got millions you can't really experience it properly, as in living central. You still have to get the train/tube in to do the exciting stuff. And after a while it's just the same as everywhere else. I still work there but don't even think of it as London anymore, it's just office or home. Made great friends though and broadened my horizons from my northern town!

I moved to London in my early 20’s.

it wasn’t the great buzz you’d think. Yes there is all the stuff, and I did like being able to access all that.

what I struggled with was the social circle. Previously living in small cities you’d meet someone at work or uni, and live close enough to meet up after work, go to the gym, pop in for coffee, out etc. in London many of the people I worked with lived either outside London and commuted, or they were north while I was south, so it was an hour to get to theirs. Similar with some hobbies- I tried to join a couple but needed an hour on the tube.

So pretty lonely for me. Unless you already have a network there it can be difficult. I prefer smaller cities where someone suggests a pub, everyone knows where it is, it’s easy to get there, there’s no fretting about the last tube home.

London is the world

New York, Paris, Berlin, Moscow etc. pfft. (I love these cities - esp. Paris - but nowhere is like London.)

The only other really special place is Rome, for other reasons.

But no other city offers what London does.

Lived in central London when I was a student years ago. I enjoyed being able to pop into the big museums- my college was near British Museum and I went to others, Portrait Gallery being my favourite, and enjoyed wandering through the City at the weekend, and walking by the Thames at night. But I was there while the IRA were bombing- one was defused in the building next door to my Hall of Residence and I heard at least 3 more group. I worked in Tottenham at the time of the first riots. Husband got stranded there on 7/7.
I always know who is walking down the street behind me. Don't miss it, and am always on edge when I am there.

Grew up in London. Think its overrated!

Really happy in Yorkshire. Lived in various places around the world before settling down.

I don't dislike London. I lived there for years and spent two or three days a week there after I left it, but I much preferred living in New York.

Considering how many people are despising London-leavers for pricing them out of the property market in their hometowns… No. If that would be that amazing, people wouldn’t be leaving in droves.
Lived there for 5 years, left for the coast.

It's a bit of a toilet OP. Probably better just visiting.

London is a wonderful place. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to live here and raise 3 kids here too. However, that doesn't mean you personally have missed out.

Like many cities it has its good things and bad things but of course this is Mumsnet, so you'll get people who know very little about it, pouring scorn because, you know what some people are like 🤷‍♀️

Possibly, but you appreciate it more as a visitor, making the effort to see as much as you can.

I live up north and travel to London regularly as the buzz is definitely there and I always enjoy it. I love what London has to offer but I think property is ridiculously over-priced. I love wandering around, going to the parks and venturing out into places like Windsor, Richmond and Kingston. I'm going next weekend so already looking forward to it.

I definitely couldn't live in central London though. I'd probably live close by in a quaint little village in Surrey. It does get a bit much (in terms of the numbers of people).

The way I see it is... I live in a northern town surrounded by 3 beautiful national parks where houses a lot cheaper than in London. I can catch a train and be in London in 2.5 hours (or 40 minutes if I flew down). I like to put my feet in London every now and again but that's all. So, I have the best of both worlds and don't have a crippling mortgage.

I adore London and have lived here for over 20 years. Centrally and now much further out. It’s a wonderful city. I loved that I could see something new every day. Loved the opportunities - going to Wimbledon to see the tennis after work, the Olympics was amazing, the museums, the parks. So many different restaurants and bars. The markets. It has its downsides obviously but it has always made me excited and feel free.

But I never have and probably never will live by the sea or in the countryside and I feel I’ve missed out on that too iyswim….we can’t live everywhere. Make the most of what you have.

London is the greatest city in the world (I have lived in Paris, Boston and New York, but I fully admit I'm biased).
But it's not the only city, and there are plenty that offer similar (if not the same in character) amount of culture, excitement and buzz, within the country.
You can always move at a later date, but to be honest my day to day life here is very similar to when I lived in a large town: school run, supermarket, park for dog walks, cafe for meet ups. Sure I'm closer to the West End for a museum visit or theatre, and my local shopping area is buzzier, but I don't go to central London except on the odd occasion.
Still prefer living here, but it's not exciting 24/7!

I love London but I'm glad I live in Greater London, where we have amazing green spaces right on our doorstep and the sights of London just a few tube stops away.
I'm always taking the kids either to an exciting museum, gallery, park or just a walk around places like Trafalgar Square and we also get to do bike rides in the woods, blackberry picking and see swallows, rabbits and cute goslings growing up.

I have spent decades living in London & I agree that it’s an amazing city. I particularly felt that in my late teens when I first moved here. There was a feeling that anything was possible (partly an age thing I think). I do however sometimes regret never having lived abroad. I think there’s always something!

I love the diversity of London and the fact that they is an open shop within a few minutes of anywhere. But it’s busy, the tube is claustrophobic and smelly, central London is soooooo busy and everything is extortionate. Yes, I occasionally go to great concerts or shows but I also live in an area with high crime rates, the schools close to me are awful and it’s never quiet or peaceful. I’d love to live in a nice quaint village by the coast, that would be my dream.

London is awesome, but if you've lived in a large city I wouldn't worry that you've missed out. It isn't as if you always lived in the back end of nowhere, and you can always visit.

It probably isn't about London at all - just the fact that you are settled and have a child and are not as free to make changes as you used to be.

I love London but there are plenty of other places you've also missed out on; Mongolia, Ethiopia, Greenland. There will always be unique and special places, and there isn't time to see them all.

You've lived in a big city, you've had a lot of what London offers.

I love London - have lived here 30 years now - but if for some reason I had to leave, as long as I had a happy family and some nice friends, I’d be fine. You can always move here when you’re older. My husband and I have a plan to move further into Central London when the kids have left home. (Currently we are in a quite far out suburb)

I've lived in London for almost 18 years now.
Public transport is frequent and reasonably priced.....but that's the only really good thing about it.
Crowded, noisy, dirty..... it's nothing amazingly special.