If you wanted to live in a small market town with good links to London where would you live please?

[Bellaire]

My dc are settled in various places across the uk, and the time has come for me to downsize. I don’t especially want to stay in the area where I now live, and as long as I can get to London fairly easily, I can go anywhere.

Please will you tell me where to go?! Or where you’d like to go if you could? Tia.

Depends whether you need to get to London for work or not, and how regularly. Having commuted for years there are places mentioned on here I wouldn't consider. If commuting, consider the worst case travel scenario and expect it to happen, not what train times are advertised to be.

Sevenoaks, Guildford, St Albans, some Essex towns, all good.

olympicsrock Thame was nice when I visited a couple of years ago

Op why don’t you book a few mid week nights away in Airbnb’s in these places to get a feel and also travel by train to see how it fairs

Depends on why you want to get to London regularly. If it’s for work once a month or to see family and friends on occasion then look at Cheshire market towns around Crewe. Crewe to Euston is 1 hour 35 on the virgin train. Crewe is weirdly well connected for such a small town. There is the travel info Crewe which will range. If you’re commuting every day then this is less realistic.

Haslington
Sandbach
Middlewich
Nantwich
Holmes Chapel

Lots of others similar too. Manchester on doorstep for theatre and shopping.

Not aware of your budget so these two towns may not suit but Dorking and Guildford both have decent direct train routes to London. Both surrounded by the beautiful Surrey Hills countryside, loads to do at the weekends, low crime and clean.

Oh wow - lots of andwer, thank you! Will read through now :)

*answers

I’ll have a proper read after work but just to answer a few questions quickly.

I’d need to access London for work probably every 6 weeks or so. Also, because of where my dc live, at the moment it’s easier for us all to meet up in London. Budget would be up to £800.

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to post, I really appreciate it!

Look at anywhere on the main London line - I live in a small market town & a lot of people commute to London despite being a fair distance away as we are on the main east coast line.

Canterbury - an hour into St Pancras.

I live in a market town called Keynsham. Its midway between Bristol and Bath and has a railway station with direct (sometimes) trains to London. It also has a monthly farmers market.