Moving to Wales

[Billyandharry]

Can anyone recommend a great place to live in Wales. We want to be in a town and within an hour of a city. Nearish to beaches. I know North wales but need help with South. Anyone any tips please? Ta

Roath Park area is lovely, close to the centre but not cheap. You’ll need around 750k minimum to get a nice property here imo.
Mumbles in Swansea is nice too. Outskirts of Cwmbran and Risca are picturesque, rural and more affordable. Usk /Monmouthshire/Chepstow also rural and again can be pricey. The towns aren’t great.
Barry town is rough as hell.
Ogmore by sea and Southerndown also lovely, but again pricey.
Barmouth any good?

It was bombed 83 years ago in the Blitz and it's moved on a little bit 8 decades later. Granted some of the buildings in the city centre are a bit 1950s grim but it was mostly the docks area which was bombed and the area has been rejuvenated into the marina, some parts of the city centre like Ben Evans store which was beyond saving and most of St Mary's church which was rebuilt.

Pontyclun? Fast train to Cardiff, coast definitely within an hour. Decent retail park and nice little 'high street'.
Some parts of Bridgend are ok, town centre is bad though. Broadlands area is nice.
Llantwit major is also a nice town, st athan close by is cheaper too . Beach is stoney there but close enough to Barry or southerndown/ogmore

This isn't 1950s grim. It's been cleaned up recently.

I would look at Pontyclun, llantrisant, Talbot Green or maybe cowbridge. Very close to M4 so could get to Cardiff & Swansea (Swansea has lovely beaches and aid in under an hour. Not far from LLantwit Major beach or Ogmore. Also could get to Cardiff Bay easily which is nice

Wow thanks everyone for your responses! So appreciated! X

@Danglers I'd never rule out a night at the bingo ;)

Abergavenny is a lovely town, maybe slightly further than you would like from beaches, but has great transport links to Cardiff, Bristol etc.

Swansea valleys for sure.

Get more for your money and you'll be a quick drive to the beach (with mountains in the other direction)

Penarth is nice, good schools, very close to Cardiff. Maybe look at the Vale of Glamorgan - Cowbridge is a nice market town and not to far from Cardiff. Or there's Mumbles, lovely little seaside area, very busy in the summer but close to Swansea. You could also look at the Derwen Fawr/Cockett/Sketty sort of area of Swansea, which is over Mumbles way, far enough from town to be nice and quiet, but an easy bus ride in, and walking distance from Singleton Park and Swansea Bay. If you want to be further out, Gower is beautiful, but priced accordingly.

I’d look around the outskirts of Swansea. SA2, 4, 5 or 6 postcodes. You should get something reasonably decent for 260k. SA3 is beautiful but is Gower itself so pricier.
All within 40 minutes of beaches (unless it’s a warm Saturday in August when the traffic can be bad).

I drove through Gowerton recently and was shocked at the massive decline in the 'high street.' There were a group of men who looked high and unkept by the old Conservative club and the shops are run down and the CK's is now a frightful Greggs!

As I drove through I clicked my door lock as it looked so run down and grotty.

Rhyl (Y Rhyl). About 6 miles from the nearest city.
In the south, outskirts of Swansea. Glorious beaches within reach.

Monmouthshire is lovely, rural, but it's a long way to the coast.

You wouldn't get much for £260,000 either.

I thought Rhyl was terrible these days - recently got worst seaside town title, didn't it? Or maybe you're joking...

Penarth is a good shout.

Is there any particular reason you want to move to Wales? Do you have children? I live in Pembrokeshire and it's great, but I'm retired. Education and health aren't brilliant here so please do research first.

@pinkdelight , 'Cyw a fegir yn uffern...' and all that. Some of the Welsh cities are size of small villages.

260k would get you something alrite blackwood/oakdale areas- will be very controversial with the 1s on here that know the area though

Penarth

For £260k?

Absolutely no chance

100% tenby

I'm in Ammanford but originally from swansea. There are very good and very bad areas of swansea so do your research

Am I being a really really grumpy Welsh person if I say I'm really puzzled why someone would ask Mumsnet where to live rather than come and explore and see where they like? Why would you think of moving somewhere you've never been and don't know if you like? Is it because Wales has a reputation for cheap house prices? If so, they're mostly cheap for good reason, and nicer places are correspondingly more money.

I'll tell my Dad you saw him 😀. Cks stores (a type of Spar where they get fined occasionally for selling out of date food) are hardly Waitrose, they are grotty no matter where they are.

I'm from Gowerton but don't live there now but have family who still live there. I wouldn't move back though but not for those reasons, where I am in Sketty is more convenient for me. Gorseinon across the common from Gowerton is a rough shithole in my opinion.

Wow, don't visit the Property section, it's full of people picking each other's brains about places to live and a perfectly legit thing to do that others like to help with. So yes, in short, you're being really, really grumpy.