St Albans v Berkhamsted

[MummyPlaydoh123]

Hi There Mumsnet,
I have never posted on here before but I have been desperately searching for old threads to try and answer my questions but have had no luck. We are looking to relocate from North London and have fallen in love with both St Albans and Berkhamsted, could anyone please give me an insight into what it is like to live in either, what the schools are like, crime rates, areas to avoid and anything else they may help me come to a decision? Thanks so much!

St Albans is much bigger than Berko.

The schooling situation is about the same

Houses is Berko are v expensive. There is no "cheaper housing", whereas although St Albans is not cheap there are more affordable areas

St Albans is much bigger than Berko.

The schooling situation is about the same

Houses is Berko are v expensive. There is no "cheaper housing", whereas although St Albans is not cheap there are more affordable areas

If you like countryside, Berko has a lot more
On its doorstep (ashridge)

I did that move north London to berkhamsted then moved back to north London. It’s very white, feels very safe, very pretty, cosy, quiet and lovely with young children, conservative. St Albans in contrast is much bigger, a little more diverse and towny.

We missed diversity, buzz & Berkhamsted is know as the Berko bubble. It was lovely for a while but got boring and life limiting for us. If you don’t already drive make sure you do.

What about Tring? Think there was a Beeb property programe recently and both Berko and Tring were featured

Both are very nice but St Albans is huge. It has a few horrible areas, but is mostly nice. The town centre is great for pubs and restaurants.

Both have gorgeous cinemas.

I grew up in St. Albans near fleetvile/ marshalswick and enjoyed living there. Though it is expensive I always felt my school was pretty comprehensive with a range of people. Not as much as London but I still had friends from a range of backgrounds, especially in primary school.

Lots of nice places to eat and good pubs, lots of shows tour to the alban arena etc. Easy to get to London (20 mins) but st a has its own identity too. Though I didn't have loads to do with the Abbey (Cathedral) I feel it's still very central and the history of the city is strong - adds to the place.

My friend from school now lives in Berko and also really likes it there. Sounds like both are nice but I will always have a soft spot for St Albans (though will never afford to live there as an adult I don't expect!)

Thank you all for your responses, they’re all really helpful xx

Berkhamsted is very white, middle class and conservative ( with big and small c) most of the restaurants and pubs are on the main high street, expensive housing, a bit on the quiet side if your coming from London, perfectly pleasant if your 75 or over

St Albans, bigger, a wider choice of restaurant's and over 40 pubs! younger families have a great choice of schooling be it independent or state, good transport links A1 M1 and M25 all within 3 miles and also Thameslink trains

My parents bought a new build in St Albans in 1938, 2 bed semi for £650, hate to think what the price is now.

St Albans has lots of pubs, but Berko has The Rising Sun, which is so good I have friends who come over from Texas twice a year because they miss it so much.

Hello - picking up on this thread as we’re currently interested in a move to the same areas (moving from Ealing) - where did you decide to go to in the end?

Hi @EalingMamaRelocating sorry for such a slow reply, we decided on Berkhamsted. I’ll let you know how we get on as our moving date is next month. Feeling quite nervous but hopeful that it’s as friendly as everyone says. we have secured 2 in year school admissions places which was a huge relief.
Let me know how you get on :-)

Thanks for letting me know! We’re viewing houses in Berkhamstead this weekend actually ! I think it’s our preference. Best of luck with the move and congratulations on the school places. !

Hi @EalingMamaRelocating and @MummyPlaydoh123 just following this thread as we’re in the same position. Have decided to move out of London and have been looking at St Albans, Harpenden and Berkhamsted. How did your move go and how are you enjoying your locations? Can I ask you why did you choose Berkhamsted in the end? My initial preference was St Albans because I did prefer the idea of a bigger town coming from London, however, I had the impression that St Albans is more expensive than the other two. From this thread seems the other way around? What was your experience like? Thank you so much!

We’ve actually settled on Amersham! It’s about 20 mins drive from Berkhamstead. We were really struggling to find a house we like in Berkhamstead (budget of £800K ish) and the housing stock seems to be better in Amersham with the advantage of the grammar school system (or disadvantage of course if your child doesn’t get in!) I’m sure we’ll still spent time in Berkhamstead but we’re happy we have finally made our choice!
It’s taken us a long time!
In case it helps - we liked Berkhamstead over St Albans because we felt you couldn’t really go wrong with the areas whereas St Albans has obviously nice & not so nice parts. We also liked how compact Berkhamstead felt. Good luck!

@Stefi84 see above :-)

Thank you so much for the quick reply @EalingMamaRelocating and congratulations on the recent move!

Hoping this post might still be open. I'm in a grotty area of NW London (had to move from Queens park with divorce). The secondary schools are not good so need to move (10 and 8 yo dds). I am looking at Berkhamsted as the high street feels more like a London suburb and can get a bit better place than London. But... I will still need to commute into London 2 x a week. I worry that I will feel cut off being there. The high street is lovely but it doesnt feel like there is a central hub for people with kids. For example in London I love being able to take the girls to the park and sit in the park cafe and you can connect with people. In Berkamsted it feels like you'd be either walking on the high street or at home. Even though I'm in Harlesden now which doesn't have a nice high street it's so well connected and I worry that I'll miss the ease of getting every where and the buzz of London. I can basically afford a very small flat in a nice area of London with decent schools like Queens park or Ealing Broadway/Walpole park or a home with garden in walking distance of Berkhamsted high street or station. I am not really a home person and like having stuff on my door step. Also the train to London is super expensive for work, and I rely on having an au pair to help me with the girls and whilst my current one would come for a year but after that I doubt I would be able to attract one outside of London so not sure what I would do for childcare outside of school hours. Thank you!