What's a really great UK seaside city or large town to live in?

[LAHallucinations]

As the title says really. I've lived in a small town in the Home Counties all my life and I'd like to move to the coast within the next year. The trouble is I have very few restrictions/criteria for where I could move, so I'm struggling with very bad choice paralysis. Whenever I do find somewhere I think would suit me, I search for threads about the place on here, and inevitably they'll be a handful of comments saying what a shithole that place is, which just sends me back to square one (even if most other comments are very positive).

So no negativity please, just places that you think are really good to live in.

The only essentials are:

• Must be by the coast (doesn't need to have a sandy beach, just some good coastal walks)


• Must be a big town or a city (I don't drive so I want everything nearby and plenty of things to do/opportunities to meet new people)


• Mustn't be somewhere really 'rough' or rundown

I work from home, I don't have children, and I have a large budget, so none of those things are an issue.

Where would you recommend?

The north side is definitely closer to the coast.

I would also second Musselburgh and Port Seton. I have stayed in both and they are definitely coastal with nice walks. Both also have easy transport links to Edinburgh.

Poole

Poole or Exeter spring to mind in the first instance - lived in both (although only for a few months with work) and thought how wonderful it would be to live there.

I now live in a very small Norfolk village, chosen entirely for its proximity to the beach and transport links. I can get the bus to a massive Tesco but also other villages and towns with delis, butchers, bakers, independent shops and coffee places. I can also walk (1.5 miles) to another town through the fields. I can get a direct trains into London, Norwich and Cambridge using the bus connections. There’s a huge sense of community and lots going on. Concerts, festivals, movie nights, talks etc. Far more goes on here than my London suburb and I feel far more part of a community than I have in any city. I have actually felt quite lonely living in cities at times.

Southend- has most of your requirements on the water coastal walks around shoeburry and Leigh on sea. The town is a bus ride from the front or walkable. And only an hour in to London z

I studied in Brighton and my parents in law live in Bristol.
I'd chose Bristol any day.

I like Falmouth too.

One of my yardsticks for a town is a good independent bookshop, and there is a really good one in Falmouth. Decent shops, cafes and restaurants and they have some good exhibitions from time to time.

Rye. Preferably in Mermaid Street. Good enough for Henry James and EF Benson as their WFH base. Truro,lots of lovely walks and a Waitrose. If you're more rock & roll, and fish & chips,Canvey Island. You could buy a house and have enough money left to buy a boat and join both the Canvey Island Yacht Club and the Golf Club. Good ways of meeting people.

Poole is a bit desolate these days. Areas of Bournemouth are nice, like Westbourne.

for me though if I had the money to make a choice, always Edinburgh.

I live a few miles from Brighton and wouldn't live there even if you gave me a free house. It's filthy, crowded, run down, expensive, has a huge homelessness problem and the city centre is overrun with drunks in the evenings. Significant drug problem, too.

Unless there's been a massive amount of coastal erosion in the last 3 years, Rye is NOT a seaside town!

It's very pretty, but imo it's lost a lot of its character over the last decade or so. And there has been a big increase in second home ownership, so the resident population is dwindling, according to someone I know in the planning department.

I agree. There’s some glorious scenery in the northeast, lower prices (not essential to you, but gives you more options) and friendly people.

Dspx
You forgot the airport 😄 and the live music scene.

St Andrews
or
Broughty Ferry (Dundee)

If you don't drive, I would think it would have to be Brighton.

We used to holiday on the Gower, having relatives in Swansea, and you need a car to get around all the different bays and moors. I remember, as a child, staggering over sand dunes with a full bag of towels and picnic: we definitely needed a car for that. The villages are spaced out too - the best beaches are a 40 minute drive away.
Brighton is surely best for meeting people and having a good time. I think it attracts people who want fun times for themselves, rather than the location having a name for being a place for children to have lots to do - although, I'm sure there are things for them too. Easy to get up to London from there, too.

Southsea, Portsmouth. Plenty of lovely, character big old houses and flats. Vibrant, friendly and surrounded by countryside (South Downs) and coastal walks.

Another vote for Swansea

Portobello in Edinburgh

Yes, that's the North Down coast. Beautiful and other parts of Northern Ireland are within easy driving reach.

Antrim coast is stunning too - the Causeway Coast!

Lots of gems there.

Definitely Liverpool, fantastic city. Lovely beaches just a 20 min drive out at Crosby and Formby.

Love Newcastle.

Do you need to be near any family or friends tho.

Penarth (cardiff by the sea, totally lovely place). Not brighton. Horrendous. People only like Brighton because they've never ventured outside the South East and visited genuinely nice seaside places.

Liverpool. Beautiful, varied area. Amazing walks and areas, thriving large city, great transport.

Brighton would never make my list. I visit often due to family and find it dirty, busy and boring.

@ItsDinah

Canvey Island? I had to smile at that. I lived a short walk from the beach at Canvey Island. How often did I visit the beach? Rarely! I did not like the place or the people. Cannot really say why. Just did not like the place. Not an Essex girl!!!!

I do remember someone in the Dr Feelgood band lived there.

Another vote for Liverpool. I lived in Waterloo years ago near Crosby. Nice beaches and an easy train ride back into Liverpool city centre.

Or Swansea - Swansea beach is quite impressive and genuinely right in the city (in fact there's a couple). I think only history and reputation stop Swansea from being a massive tourist resort as it's actually bloody lovely there these days (dont listen to anyone who hasn't visited within the last 10 years). You can also get some seriously nice housing for the cost of a 1 bed flat elsewhere