Best place to live

[crepeicecream]

Not too far from city with great shops etc, plenty to do, good access to main transport lines, good schools, community and local area, preferably not too far from coast but not essential. Downsizing to house min 2 beds value approx £250k.

Oh and would be nice to be close to leafy green area/countryside!

Are you looking north, south west, south east !!!

Good point! We are open to moving anywhere that fits criteria :)

Manchester! Or Cheshire somewhere?

Shrewsbury!

The Wirral is a lovely area. We’re planning a move there soon.

Good transport links into Liverpool and Chester, which are both gorgeous cities. In nice places like Oxton or Heswall you could get a lot for your money.

Countryside and coastline both on your doorstep.

Around Bath I would say.

West Wilts could go close to Bath or Salisbury (ok shopping but not great) in the opposite direction. We love it though it's a way to the coast (Dorset), about 1.5 hours as the roads south aren't great. 2 bed properties are within your budget.

Bath if the budget suits, lovely surrounding countryside and an hour from the coast too

Maybe Frome?

Scotland I live in Midlothian, 30 minutes from Edinburgh city centre on the bus. Walking distance to countryside/countryparks. 30 minutes on the bus to Musselburgh beach or a short drive to Portobello.

Shaftesbury/Gillingham/Sherborne area.

Shopping: Salisbury, Bath, Southampton, Basingstoke and Exeter at a push.

Countryside: Yup, lots of it.

Transport: Mainline Exeter to Waterloo train. Buses not good but close to the A30 and the A303.

Coast: about an hour away at the minimum but what a coastline! The Jurassic Coast with the Southwest Coast Path is phenomenal.

Schools: good local little primaries and some well acclaimed secondaries, both private, grammar and comprehensive.

I moved down here from Reading when I was 19 and I love it. Would never ever move back or away.

We're moving to a place called Newton-le-Willows. Villagey feel, lots of cafes and restaurants and lovely old church and big leafy park, another small town next door with a big Tesco, Wilko, B&M, McDonalds and all that stuff. 20 minutes to Manchester or Liverpool either way on the train, or about a 30 minute drive (not in rush hour). Close to M6, only an hour from the lakes, not far from the Pennines, can be at the beautiful beach at Formby or Southport in 45 minutes, 2.5 hours to see family in Hertfordshire, 45 mins from Chester. Lovely place. We've just bought a 3 bed detached for £195k there.

Or with £250k to spend, you could choose Chester itself. Absolutely beautiful place, millions of shops and bars and loads of history and stuff to do. Amazing cinema and arts centre, big park, be in north Wales in 20 minutes but still close to Manchester and Liverpool on the train.

Thank you all, great suggestions plenty for us to start looking at. We are currently living in an area that has lovely countryside but very limited access to shops, culture and generally things to do. Very insular and not for us.

Any large northern city will fit that bill and you could get a 2 bed for way less than £250k.

Leeds, Sheffield or Manchester best for access to countryside and main rail lines. Liverpool, Newcastle or Hull for coast. Edinburgh, Glasgow also good too. All will have great shopping, restaurants, theatre etc and there are a good few major museums accross northern England and lots of smaller museums too.

Sheffield
Northumberland

Brilliant, thank you I'll add these to the list.

West side of sheffield for lovely lovely peak district