Find me somewhere lovely to live

[23trains]

Currently in London commuter belt, but we can’t find a house we like.

Can move further away now as jobs look like they will be a lot more WFH (and I am hoping to be self-employed soon).

Budget is £650k. Would like to live kind of in the country but with a lively town close by. We live nice restaurants, indie shops and country walks. Near a river would be a bonus. Preferable 4-bed with garage.

Please throw some ideas at me - I’ve been in the SE commuter belt my whole life so I’m not sure where else to go!

Ditchling? It is around a 20 min drive to brighton, but has it's own small high street, and you could afford a 4 bed property there x

I’m looking at Bristol at the moment - the harbour side looks amazing!

Thanks, I’ll look at Ditchling

Go to somewhere near Dorking in Surrey, OP. Look at the Surrey Hills. It is beautiful there and you have Guildford nearby. I left it (there were complicated reasons) and it broke my heart.

...although still really London commuter belt.

Bristol is good. Almonsdbury feels very rural and yet is near to everything. Stoke Bishop is nice if you want livelier and nearer to the city centre. Portishead is near the sea with a nice marina and nature reserve but it is getting busier, although there are pretty, less busy villages all around.

For the indie shops, Gloucester Road is the largest street with the most indie shops in England, although it is quite an "exciting" area to live.

I’d stay in the sun down south. No river but Old Portsmouth has the sea on your doorstep. Yes it’s heaving in the summer but you have the connivence of the Cat to France which takes 3 hours snd a direct train to London and shopping at GunWharf .The properties are all rammed full of 400 year old history.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93963503.html

Or the Isle of Wight? Seaview is a smart choice
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-89998616.html

Lewes, it has everything you want plus Brighton is very close. Country walks, quirky shops, some nice restaurants, old buildings and gorgeous scenery in the south downs. Not far from London. Has a beautiful river too!

Woodbridge in Suffolk

Sorry not that one in Old Portsmouth - no garage. And no fourth bedroom. But when I visit there I can always find one quirky one I am definitely buying when I win the lottery.

Guildford, Godalming, Haslemere, Petworth all beautiful with lovely places around

How about around Arundel? A lot of the places being mentioned here will be more than 650K for a 4-bedder with a garage:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73100230.html

Or this one near the River Arun.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71489097.html

York! The outskirts of. We have 2 rivers and beautiful river walks. An amazing city and breathtaking countryside on the doorstep. Plus just over 2 hours on the train to London.

I moved here at the end of 2019 after 17 years in London and have never looked back.

Thanks everyone, will check out these places.

@Sharpkat We visited York a couple of years ago and loved it, but threads on here always talk about how touristy it gets with hen do’s, etc - do you find this?

@23trains there are a lot of tourists and hen dos (but a lot less currently). If I am going out for dinner I tend to go to independent places where there are definitely fewer. I probably only go into town once a week or fortnight as I have nice local shops - butcher, pharmacy, bakery etc and I spend my weekends walking along the river(s) and heading out of town. It has not been an issue for me but maybe because I am not always in the centre.

I went into town on Sunday and it was busy but I knew exactly where I wanted to go and have learnt lots of back routes through the snickelways so I had everything done that I needed to and avoided the massively busy places.

I would never move back to London now! I think York was named best place to live in 2018 and I can see why. There is so much green space everywhere. The parks are amazing and I can head from home along the river path and be in fields with cows in 15 minutes yet town is a 30 minute walk.

Lots of independent bars, restaurants and shops. Gillygate does not have a single chain on it!

Happy to answer any other questions you may have

What do you think about this?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70275138.html

Or, if you’d prefer to be in the city itself, a bit over budget but this looks lovely & is a great location:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93896237.html

Louth in Lincolnshire, on the edge of the Wolds AONB, lots of beautiful villages nearby, lots of indie shops, friendly locals.,20 mins to coast, property prices tend to be lowish. We moved to a village near Louth last year and love it.

Bristol in the summer is just a plethora of stag and hens, though I can't compare it to York.

You said you'd like to live in the country, but you also mention the Harbourside (aka near as damn it the city centre) of Bristol.

What do you think is most important for you?

You could get a 4 bed, 10-15 minute walk to the Harbourside, possibly even with a view of the suspension bridge within your budget. The garage might be a tougher thing to get.

I dont know how to link to properties on Rightmove, but how about somewhere like Aberdour in Fife? Beautiful properties, beaches and 20 mins from Edinburgh? All up the East neuk of Fife are some lovely places to stay and probably quite a lot of house for your money. Might be just too far away for you though!

@PurBal in my ideal location I would be just outside a town/city so I could have a detached house with decent parking but a short walk or cycle into the city centre. And the town/city would be a good size with lots of things to do.

Thanks, @Sharpkat There are some amazing properties around York - is there anywhere in particular you can recommend?

You’d get something quite nice in Southsea.