Where to move to in Scotland?

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We are likely to move to Scotland in the next year. Primarily my dad is unwell so we want to be closer to my dps, but we also want more space than we can get in London. I partially grew up in Scotland so have a reasonable knowledge of good places, but it’s also based on things from 15 years ago!

Things we need to think about:

• Needs to be within an hour of Stirling so we can get to my parents easily.

-DH is likely to continue to need to go to London for work semi-regularly so we also need to be closish to an airport or major train station. -Somewhere which is fairly open to outsiders and we are not likely to get any anti-English sentiment. I experienced it growing up, it’s not nice and I really can’t be bothered with having to deal with it. -Family friendly -I think I want small town or rural but still close enough to a bigger city to go to for the day.

We’ve got a fairly healthy budget (thanks to the ridiculous London property market) so we can afford to look in areas that are more expensive, but at the same time I’m fine with areas that get you a lot for your money.

Linlithgow would fit the bill.

15/20 mins from Edinburgh airport
Main railway line to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Trains to Stirling
Access to the M9 to get to Stirling
Lots going on for families
Good schools

Linlithgow was actually the first place my dm suggested! I’ve never actually been to it (other than passing through on the train), so I definitely want to go and have a look round when we’re next up seeing my dps.

Dundee, or preferably the towns around it, like Arbroath, Blairgowrie, or Carnoustie. I lived in Edzell (I'm welsh) for many years and never has any sort of issues with people seeing me as an outsider. Montrose is gorgeous, it's a little over an hour from sterling though.

Lovely beautiful areas, friendly people, close enough to sterling, airports I guess you age Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Plus you would get a lot for your money in the villages. Dundee is a big enough city for shopping etc ... some people don't like it but I always thought it was great, lots of shops, parking was good etc.

Fife is great too. It's one of the cheapest countries in the country so you will well have a huge picking.
Perth is nice, st Andrews but quite studenty.

Linlithgow!

Perth is nice as are a lot of the places round about. We moved to Perthshire from England and love it, it’s rural enough but easy to get to Glasgow/Edinburgh/Dundee. Haven’t noticed any anti-English sentiment but do hear a lot of English accents (DH is English, I’m Scottish).

I have to say, Perth is a friendly place to ‘outsiders’.

TheHauntedFishtank -are there any particular towns or villages you’d recommend in Perthshire? I know it reasonably well but I’m interested in your ideas.

I know a couple of people who do the London commute from NE Fife, one via Dundee airport, one via Edinburgh. The flights can be a bit unreliable from Dundee but they are a 10 min drive to the airport so you take the occasional pain for that!

I’d say Linlithgow and thereabouts is a good call. Ratho is nice too and v close to the airport. I’d probably go Perthshire though - Crieff and Auchterarder are both lovely and you can get a London train at Gleneagles or Perth. Kinross and roundabout it is really nice too, v handy for the motorway but you have to go over the bridge to the airport and the new bridge has not solved the congestion problems, if anything it’s worse now!

Auchterarder / Bridge of Allan?

Some great ideas everyone, thanks.

I’ve seen quite a few nice houses in the area between milngavie/Bearsden and Balfron. Anyone know what it’s like in that area?

Kings Park area of Stirling? Bridge of Allan, Dunblane, Doune?

Good schools and popular area for lots of senior uni staff.

I was going to suggest Balfron as an option too. Public transport is s big more limited but it’s possible to commute to Glasgow.

Definitely a bigger change from London than even Linlithgow would be.

Cambusbarron is a nice village at the edge of Stirling, as is Gargunnock. Lots of nice villages between Stirling and Loch Lomond.

Clackmannanshire 20 minutes drive from stirling less than an hour to Glasgow/Edinburgh airports. If you chose Alloa you can get the train. Schools are fairly decent. Nice place to grow up as have the fun of living in the countryside but fairly frequent buses into stirling for shopping etc as a teen. Also really cheap housing costs especially compared to Perth and Linlithgow

Dunfermline, less than an hour from Stirling, easy commute to Edinburgh Airport, lots of house-building going on but also some lovely older houses nearer the town centre. All the usual amenities, lovely parks and 15 minute drive to great beaches and countryside

Milngavie and Bearsden are nice, safe areas, excellent schools, easy commute into Glasgow, quite a lot of English people, lots of professional families. Housing quite expensive by Glasgow standards, though if you're coming from London that wouldn't be an issue.

If you need to be near Stirling anyway, is there anything against living in Stirling itself? Pretty much slap bang in the middle between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and trains into Glasgow in as little as 27 minutes.

Stirling and surrounds are definitely on our list of possible areas, and it’s where I know best. However I just want to explore other options to see if there is anywhere else that might be just as good/better for us.

North of glasgow not great for Glasgow airport really. Also it seems to me that Edinburgh airport is better for London flights.

If your budget stretches you should look at the West End of Edinburgh.

I wouldn't move to Dunfermline/West Fife if you have school aged DC's - there's a a lot of upset at the moment with the high school catchments/schools reaching capacity because of the housebuilding, and similar issues with GP surgeries/the overnight OOH at the hospital in Dunfermline being closed.

I'd be concentrating on Perthshire, Dollar, Kinross type areas.

Waves at Brash. You must be local to me. Fun times eh?

I think the bridge/traffic issues and no parking at the stations rule out West Fife for anyone heading for Edinburgh but even if you are not, I’d steer clear for the school reasons if you have kids and are not planning on going private (but if you are there are buses to Dollar and some of the Edinburgh schools). The current proposal is just a sticking plaster and until there is a new High School then i can’t see how they won’t have to keep revisiting the catchments and shuffling them as the building continues.

(Sorry OP, hijacked your thread for a local rant there!)

I live in clackmannanshire, 20 to 30 mins into Stirling depending on traffic and it is much cheaper to buy than in Stirling. Ive lived in Falkirk but Clacks is much less busy and if you live Clackmannan or Kincardine the motorway to Edinburgh is right next to you, i can make it to Edinburgh or Livingston in 30 mins.

Regarding the outsiders thing, i totally understand this but dont let it put you off, i dont think it is as bad as it used to be. Ive lived in this house for 14ish years and last time i was in the GP surgery i felt like i needed to introduce myself as the old women were saying how there were so many new faces now in the village and you dont know anyone anymore lol

Pitlochry is lovely! Possibly a little far out tho?

waves at Piff howdy! Yep, new high school needed in addition to the ones that are already there (possibly in Rosyth to take the pressure off Inverkeithing and the villages if I was in charge ), and another primary.

Crieff is lovely, some massive Victorian houses and Morrison’s Academy if you want private school, but the high street is a bit run down and it’s a bit further out from transport links. MacRosty Park is brilliant though so definitely worth a visit. Dunblane and Auchterarder are lovely and have the advantage of secondary schools in town so no need for school bus. Bridge of Allan and Stirling are nice too but I don’t know them so we’ll these days. If you’re open to going north from Perth then Dunkeld & Birnam are lovely too. You’ll need winter tyres/snow chains tho, and be aware we’ve had the heating on today