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?

How near to the coast do you want to be? Colchester is nine miles away from Mersea and 10 miles from Brightlingsea, but also has three theatres, shops, restaurants, an hour to London by train, good schools.

@slayingdragons I reckon we're in the same town! :)

Tynemouth or whitley bay - beautiful!

New forest? Near Southampton

Definitely Chichester.

Another one voting for Tynemouth, Whitley Bay, Alnmouth or frankly anywhere along the Northumberland Coast. Beautiful locations and with great transport links. Sussex also lovely although more expensive and beaches usually shingle rather than sand

Tynemouth/Monkseaton/Whitley Bay

Wondering if we should start a separate Whitley Bay appreciation thread!

What sort of seaside and coast do you need? Flat, sandy, pebbles, water sports, rocks and cliffs? Muddy? Check water quality too.
What sort of town or city?
There’s huge variation all around the coast.

Wales near to Cardiff or Bristol, not Barry though.

Agree that it depends on what sort of beach and city you want.

Personally, for the sort of beaches I'd go for somewhere near Exeter, Truro or Swansea.

Second shout for Exeter, or any of the nearby towns/villages in its orbit

Edinburgh, I saw Cramond and Leith mentioned but theres also Portobello and Joppa in the east of the city.
Going into East Lothian there's Musselburgh, Port Seton. Prestonpans/ Cockenzie all on 26 bus route.
Futher along theres Longniddry, Aberlady, Gullane, North Berwick, Dunbar , some have rail stations and East Coast buses heading into Edinburgh.

Falmouth

Bournemouth or Poole.

Swansea.

Don't like Bournemouth myself. Definitely agree with herne bay, lovely seaside down that's next to Whitstable, only 8 miles to Canterbury and also close to Thanet so plenty of other beaches to.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh.

Whitby
Lovely, and good public transport/easily accessible by car to York (also lovely)

Wirral Peninsular, particularly the West side.
Equidistant to Liverpool and Chester.
20 minutes into Wales.
Grammar School system.
Plenty of good bars and restaurants etc.

Joining all on the Tynemouth/Northumberland coast appreciation train!
I grew up there, and would love to move back. Circumstances sadly prevent me from doing so.
Everyone who goes there who hasn’t visited before is in awe of how amazing the area is.
Incredible independent restaurants, lots to do, clean sandy beaches, relatively cheap (unless in the centre of Tynemouth Village), close to the city, etc

Couldn’t resist doing a bit of property porn.... really cheap for tynemouth!
Percy Street, Tynemouth
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-84312485.html

Now getting really sad that I can’t move back!
Jesus, this place would be around a million where I live at the moment 😟
Grosvenor Drive, Whitley Bay
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-85735025.html

Chichester if you have a family and want good schools
Southsea if you’re young and want somewhere livelier
Brighton if you want a proper city feel
South Hams