Wallingford, Wantage, Faringdon or somewhere else?

[IggityZiggityZoom]

We are looking to move to south ox and like the look of some of the properties in these three towns. Any opinions on which would be nicer to live in?

Wallingford lovely, expensive, can fill up with tourists as it’s on the river. Wantage bigger, has lively market place and some high street shops. Expanding rapidly. High school recently had a massive fall from Grace from Ofsted. Faringdon, small, bit quirky, very limited shopping. Schools all good/outstanding, expanding rapidly like Wantage. Arguably both suffering for it. What in particular is important to you?

I grew up in Wallingford, and my parents are still there. Its lovely, with a lot going on for it's size, but it does suffer from things like no proper leisure centre and no indoor pool. The Corn Exchange has some films but its limited on places for teens to go.

Depends what you like though! I have very happy memories of rowing, and there is a vibrant cycle club locally

We need a good primary school but not so fussed about secondary as DD is only 2 and so much can change. We would like a town with a few nice restaurants/cafes/butcher etc. I think all 3 have a Waitrose. Somewhere we could still have access to good walking trails without getting in the car. Faringdon is by the far the cheapest but I imagine that's because it's not very close to the train. DH does usually go into London 1x per week and to Heathrow 1x a week as well.

Have you considered heading further into Wiltshire? Swindon is well connected for trains and has some lovely small towns/villages around it. It’s also cheaper. Have a look at Highworth.

I think Faringdon is as far west as we will go. Is Witney one to add to the list?

Wallingford is lovely they are about to build a huge number of new houses just off the Wantage road (behind the rugby club) so house prices might drop a little. Farringdon is cheaper because it has a SN post code.

Witney is a lot nicer than it was now that it has a Waitrose and all that (not that that’s super new or anything). Nearest station would be Hanborough I think, but Oxford Parkway a lot faster. It’s West not South though.

I love Witney, but it is in west Oxon. not sure about train options but ameneties for raising a family are excellent.

I've heard the traffic to get to ox parkway from Witney is horrendous? We really liked Goring/Streatley even though it's further south and a village(s). But I think it's a bit too far south. Anything else like Goring/Streatley that I'm missing?

Getting the train into London twice a week would probably become annoying from Wantage or Faringdon, you'd have to travel to Swindon or Didcot (or Oxford).

I really like Witney, would that work? It has a Lakeland

Faringdon is quite nice, it has Tesco, Aldi and (tiny) Waitrose as well as some nice little shops and places to eat in town and there’s a leisure centre, and it’s close enough to Swindon and surrounding villages. I’d guess it’s about half an hour drive to Swindon station. We thought about moving there at one point.

About 40 mins from Witney to Didcot Parkway I think.

Traffic from Witney to Ox parkway is truly horrendous. To get to Didcot Parkway is a 45 min drive, possibly longer at rush hour. If trains to London are important, my vote would be Wallingford.

Witney to Hanborough would be much easier from a driving point of view but longer on the train