Where to live commutable to North London and Cambridge?

[sophiebecky]

Looking for somewhere that is commutable to both North London and Cambridge.
Budget of 500k. Need a house rather than a flat.
Looking for an area with a good selection of restaurants nearby and greenery/nice walks.

Bishops Stortford

Hitchin ?

@Nitgel

Hitchin ?

DP and I have visited Hitchin but it didn't appear to have many restaurants in the town centre, unless I am missing another area in Hitchin where there are places to eat?

I have no idea about the costs of these towns, but had work colleagues that commuted to london from St Albans and Welwyn garden city. Both are are also within 1hr of Cambridge.

Bishops Stortford.

Hitchin and Bishop’s Stortford are probably the two biggest towns on the relevant train lines so in terms of restaurant choices, those are the best you’re gonna get.

Bishops Stortford is on the direct train line between Liverpool Street, Tottenham Hale and Cambridge.

There is another train line from Cambridge to King’s Cross via Stevenage but can’t remember where else it stops.

Our experience was that house money went further in Bishops Stortford than Hitchin. Bishops Stortford has a good selection of restaurants (and upmarket pubs in nearby villages) and very easy access to countryside.

@MyCatHatesPCRTests

Bishops Stortford is on the direct train line between Liverpool Street, Tottenham Hale and Cambridge.

There is another train line from Cambridge to King’s Cross via Stevenage but can’t remember where else it stops.

Our experience was that house money went further in Bishops Stortford than Hitchin. Bishops Stortford has a good selection of restaurants (and upmarket pubs in nearby villages) and very easy access to countryside.

Is Bishops Stortford nicer than Hitchin?

Hitchin is really lovely. I have never really been to BS so can’t compare. Welwyn Garden is also really nice. Although £500k won’t buy a lot in either town. Maybe look at Hatfield.

Is Bishops Stortford nicer than Hitchin?

Yes but not significantly so. They’re pretty similar but BS is slightly bigger and buzzier.

@HalleLouja

Hitchin is really lovely. I have never really been to BS so can’t compare. Welwyn Garden is also really nice. Although £500k won’t buy a lot in either town. Maybe look at Hatfield.

I don't mind a small terraced house, but I would rather live in a nice area

Saffron Walden is also perfectly commutable to London despite being a bit nearer Cambridge. The station is Audley End.
I would say it has more and better restaurants than Stortford plus an excellent twice weekly market.
(And Cambridge has a plethora of diverse restaurants from 2 Michelin starred ones like Midsummer House to varied independent cafés and mobile food trucks (not just kebab vans!)
Stortford restaurants are not bad, mostly Indian or Thai but also a couple of good Turkish/Mediterranean ones, and quite a few pubs in the surrounding villages offer good food too. Eg Jamie Oliver's parents' pub restaurant in Clavering, the Duke's Head in Hatfield Broad Oak and a little further afield, the Flitch of Bacon in Little Dunmow.
There have been quite a few new housing developments in both Stortford and Stansted Mountfitchett so i think you'd find something within your budget fairly easily.

Northampton

Hertford?

Hitchin is half way between Cambridge and Finsbury Park / KX. It's about thirty mins to both, possibly a bit shorter.

For 500k you'll get a perfectly respectable three bed terrace.

Because it's so close to London - if you want fantastic restaurants you just go into London. Otherwise there are about seven thousand brunch / pub / relaxed places in Hitchin itself.

I moved here from Islington. Wouldn't go back.

How many bedrooms do you want/need?
I would suggest Saffron Walden.
But it also depends where exactly in North London and in Cambridge, whether you'll be commuting by train or car, etc.

@Flingingmelon

Hitchin is half way between Cambridge and Finsbury Park / KX. It's about thirty mins to both, possibly a bit shorter.

For 500k you'll get a perfectly respectable three bed terrace.

Because it's so close to London - if you want fantastic restaurants you just go into London. Otherwise there are about seven thousand brunch / pub / relaxed places in Hitchin itself.

I moved here from Islington. Wouldn't go back.

Thank you for your response. Are there any shops/restaurants outside the main High Street area or is that where they are all located? Also, do you have any recommendations for nice walks nearby please?

@AnotherEmma

How many bedrooms do you want/need? I would suggest Saffron Walden. But it also depends where exactly in North London and in Cambridge, whether you'll be commuting by train or car, etc.

A 2-3 bedroom house is fine. Both commutes will be by train. Enfield way for the North London commute!

Personally I'd go for Shepreth, Meldreth or Barrington/Foxton on the London kings Cross line. Easy both ways. More country pubs than nice restaurants but you can get to either Cambridge or London so easily for these. If the restaurants are a deal breaker, then I'd second Saffron Walden. I really wouldn't want to commute to Cambridge from Hitchin every day.

There are 2 train stations in Cambridge (and plans for more although i don't know when they'll open). If your work is in central Cambridge, all the trains stop there obviously. But if you're heading to the science park or nearby, you'll need Cambridge North. Just something to bear in mind if you're looking at train routes and timetables.

@sophiebecky

• walks

It's the edge of the Chilterns so there are literally millions. I live an eight minute drive from the station and we are rural - completely surrounded by fields and woodland. I'd recommend joining a couple of local Facebook pages for more info.

• restaurants.

Again get on the local facebook / insta pages. There are dozens of little tucked away pubs. It depends what you want. The Red Lion in Preston is a multi CAMRA award winning place, Redcoats is a gorgeous upmarket pub, that's just the two Ive been to since Xmas. Everyone has their own favourites.

The only specialist thing that I think we are missing is a good fishmonger, but I'm sort of hoping another Hitchite will turn up on this thread in a minute and correct me.

But as I said, if you want Michelin restaurants you just get on the train.

Covid really did wonders for the independent shops in Hitchin. We have fantastic little stores doing all sorts of stuff that people want to buy locally now they aren't going into London every day. A lot of the places are run by ex Londoners.

If you want big box chain places like M&S of B&Q you go up or down the A1 for fifteen minutes.

I think a lot of commuter market towns have gone the same way, but for that train line it's probably your best bet.

@AlexanderArnold

Personally I'd go for Shepreth, Meldreth or Barrington/Foxton on the London kings Cross line. Easy both ways. More country pubs than nice restaurants but you can get to either Cambridge or London so easily for these. If the restaurants are a deal breaker, then I'd second Saffron Walden. I really wouldn't want to commute to Cambridge from Hitchin every day.

Can I ask why you wouldn't want to commute to Cambridge from Hitchin everyday please? It would be central Cambridge that DP would be commuting to.

@AlexanderArnold

Personally I'd go for Shepreth, Meldreth or Barrington/Foxton on the London kings Cross line. Easy both ways. More country pubs than nice restaurants but you can get to either Cambridge or London so easily for these. If the restaurants are a deal breaker, then I'd second Saffron Walden. I really wouldn't want to commute to Cambridge from Hitchin every day.

Saffron Walden doesn't appear to have a train station?

As PP said, it's Audley End if you're in Saffron Walden.

Will you and DP both be commuting 5 days a week?

@AnotherEmma

As PP said, it's Audley End if you're in Saffron Walden.

Will you and DP both be commuting 5 days a week?

Ah OK, thank you. I don't drive so it will be difficult to get to the station.

DP will commute approx 3 days a week to Cambridge but that may change after the pandemic. I will commute roughly 2 days a week to North London.