Moving our family to Devon

[Behappytogether]

We have wanted to move to Devon/Cornwall for a fair few years now but now just seems the right time. We are planning to move once our daughter has completed her gcses next May , and our other daughter will be moving into Year 6. Really need advice on where are the nicest places to bring up older children who still need a social life , schools colleges etc . Any help advice would be very much appreciated x

Plymouth is lovely, small city life, pubs and restaurants, historic barbican area and Royal William yard. Cinemas, theatre, dance groups, nice scenery. Close to beaches, moorland, train service, bus service, short drive to Cornwall, Somerset not far, nice boat ride from Hoe to Cawsand village, our boys grew up here and loved it, one lives away now but both have loved bringing friends to visit who all go away saying how lovely it is and how lucky they were to grow up here.

We have some good secondary schools and high schools are still in existence here too, also private schools. Theres a uni, an art college and city college, dental school and medical school.

Wow. Just what I needed to hear . My husband was in the marines and he loves Plymouth and wants the girls to still have that bit of city life but,also for us to be near the sea ! Thank you , iv read so many negatives about children being bought up in Devon but both our girls have loved holidays in our tourer in Cornwall over the last 5 years and are saying lets just move so are we daft not to try it?

I would recommend Exeter (Plymouth is lovely as well). We have various beaches nearby (Exmouth, Dawlish, Teignmouth, etc), it’s also easy to travel to Dorset for a day trip. I can also be on Dartmoor in 20/30 minutes. It’s more expensive to buy a house here than Plymouth but we have a motorway, airport and the railway line is much quicker! The railway line between Plymouth and Exeter is very scenic but very slow.

Brilliant . All this is so useful. Our 1st challenge is finding an area we like , lots of visits planned this summer, then we need to find a property/land with a project, sell 2 properties here, find schools and colleges and then everything else will follow I hope. So much to think about but I am loving your positive thoughts. Thank you Slayduggee

I moved to Torbay 3 years ago. It's not got the best reputation granted, but we've got great grammar schools, everyone's very friendly and if you can ignore the town centres it's very beautiful. We are also 30 mins from Exeter and 45 mins from Plymouth and really close to gorgeous towns like Totnes and Dartmouth. Also houses are still really good value even though prices are increasing like everywhere in the country.