To live near the sea but close to good town, city?

[cherrypieandcustard]

Can anyone suggest somewhere in uk where we can live near to the sea but still have close access to good shops, schools, restaurants, facilities, life?

I agree with Brighton (live there myself) and we're close to the Downs as well.

Another vote for Tynemouth/Whitley Bay!

Lots of great ideas so far. I'm going to through Folkestone into the mix. On the coast. Just over an hour into London. Easy hop, skip and jump to France. Beautiful countryside but cheaper housing than Herne Bay or Whitstable.

Dover might also suit but is a bit more down at heel.

Another Tynemouth/Cullercoats/Whitley Bay recommendation. Outstanding schools (Whitley High is one of the top performing state schools in terms of progress in GCSE attainment), 20 minutes into Newcastle on the metro or by car, miles and miles of amazing unspoilt coastline. I genuinely don’t know why everyone endorsing want to live here!

*doesn’t not endorsing!

Southport, formby, wirral (new brighton and west kirby are both great). Liverpool, Manchester and chester all close by. Good trains and motorway links too.

@MaidofKent78 - yay for Folkestone!

Tourist beach in Summer near a lovely harbour but also a quiet, secluded beach nearby.
Nice country walks.
Shops okay (but just lost Debenhams 😭).
Schools good although better primary than secondary imo.

@livebythecoast it's my home town and whilst I don't live there now, I can still see why it's a great place to live.

The presence of selective secondary schools are either a good or bad thing, depending on your viewpoint!

@cantfindaname grew up in westcliff. Love leigh but house prices are now very high especially in catchment of the good primary schools several of my friends have been priced out.

Whitley bay, Cullercoats and Tynemouth have great transport links to Newcastle city centre.

@MaidofKent78 - yes true - I shouldn't let personal experiences put others off! Still, DD will be leaving this year and going to Canterbury college .

OP - where do you live now? Were you looking at any particular county?

Another vote for the Northumberland Coast area Tynemouth etc.

Lovely down here in Bournemouth ,as a few other PP have said along with Dave Gorman .Getting seriously worried now ,as there may be an influx of newcomers who have just found out our secret!

Brighton?

Depends how rich you are and what sort of work you do.

Are you planning to sit on the beach, take bracing clifftop walks, or sail?

Winters can be desolate

Your car will go rusty, so will your fence, lawnmower and bicycle, from the salt spray, and you may get storm damage.

Seaside towns usually include a great many older people. There may not be much employment.

Bristol?

Most of the coast of Northern Ireland.

Hastings, I'm moving there!

We currently live near the sea but are pretty isolated. Only small shops nearby, nothing to do and awful transport links. Looking for somewhere we can be close to the coast but have access to shops, restaurants, schools etc without us being stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.

Liverpool

Bournemouth. Relocated last year. Close to sea (beautiful beaches) close to the New Forest.

Ditto the PP above who said most of the coast in NI. We live in North Down. We’ve a decent enough town centre on our doorstep and Belfast is only 25min away. A real wealth of brilliant schools to choose from here too and I can smell the sea when I open my door in the morning. (And sometimes even feel the spray on a windy day.) Wouldn’t change it for the world

Cardiff or Swansea.

Wirral