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

And it's fair to assume that the OP will indeed explore the relevant spots when she's got a shortlist from the useful intell on here. But of course she can't visit everywhere in Wales to see if it suits her. She might well have been there though and liked it or heard good things or got old connections with it or any number of reasons.

@BrakesOff BLOODY HELL DO YOU NEED A NAP OR SOMETHING? I'm just asking people for ideas and inspiration- then getting in my car and doing some research. Spent many a rainy 70's holiday in North wales just thinking about the South because it looks gorgeous and near older relatives in Bristol. Is that ok with u?
Thanks to all the none grumpy Welsh folk (or whoever) for their ideas and suggestions.

@TroysMammy

Gorseinon is awful. I'm in Southgate. I do drive through Sketty sometimes. The mosque dome reminds me of a Christmas dessert we once had, a large chocolate bombs that had gold leaf on it! 😂

The Gowerton Starch have always looked down on Gorseinon@TroysMammy 😉

I would go for somewhere in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Do your research on schools and hospitals though. The Welsh NHS is in a far worse state than in England and the Welsh education system is rated on a par with Malta. Far below the rest of the UK

Some of the places people have suggested are insane, cowbridge for £260k 🤣 There are many places along the coast that will be an hour of Cardiff or Swansea, most other Welsh cities are very small TBH

I really like the Swansea area, and love the beaches from Mumbles and further west. PPs are right to point out the obvious, that nicer places are more expensive to live in, but that doesn't mean you should write off everywhere that isn't Merthyr or Pontypridd. Abergavenny is lovely, with a railway station giving you access to cities, and Gilwern properties are just about in your budget if you're not hoping for anything too fancy..

I live in one of those. It’s a lot more than 10 mins to a beach!

I’m in Swansea.

I live in Uplands, which is adjacent to Sketty and is a diverse, vibrant suburb. Monthly market. We have an abundance of public parks, and pretty much every street has a glimpse of Swansea Bay. I have a lovely sea view from my house.

Yes, the city centre needs improving but luckily the council is currently leading a huge regeneration project, so there are cranes aplenty. People whinge about the shops but it’s the people not shopping there that cause them to close.

If it’s beaches you want then I can think of my top 10 beaches within a 30 minute drive. I think I could do a top 20.

Swansea is known as the graveyard of ambition for a reason: people move here for work or uni and never want to leave.

Cardiff is more of a town than a city so you may as well move there.

it depends what you mean by ‘town’. Everything is smaller in Wales.

A lot of the places people have suggested are more villages than a town.

Even Cardiff has more of a town Centre feel than a city. It does not have that city buzz

Thankyou, thankyou for all comments (well apart from grumpy arse🤣) I'm writing it all down and researching accordingly.x

@BrakesOff , it would take a long time to explore places meeting OP's brief. Much quicker to ask for suggestions.

Penarth is lovely, right on the coast and only 10-15 minutes to central Cardiff BUT you won’t get anything for £260k. I think you would struggle in quite a few areas mentioned to get a house, including Cardiff, definitely not Cowbridge and even Barry unless it is in one of the grottier areas. Be careful and do your research.

I don’t know Swansea so can’t comment on that area.

Visiting/driving through a place is very different to living somewhere though. It’s better to get local opinion.

We do have free prescriptions though!

@Temporaryanonymity 'the graveyard of ambition' - that's fab! Sounds like my kind of place.x

Abergavenny is lovely.

Chepstow is pretty, but a bit isolated IMO.

Avoid Newport at all costs - but I can see nobody has suggested that anyway!

I know people who live in Neath near Swansea and they like it, close access to the mumbles.

Cardiff is nice, but the best areas are very expensive.

Barry is right by the coast, but can be a bit rough in parts.

I’m loving this thread! I’m from Swansea, living in the outskirts now. The descriptions are amazing! I went to Chepstow last weekend and was bawled over by how beautiful it is. That would be my vote if I was relocating. There’s always the Welsh valleys if you want to be close to Cardiff…

@Temporaryanonymity I spent an enjoyable morning leisurely wandering around the market. There's not a bad range of shops and I got what I wanted. It's just the weather and the scaffolding and building works for the current rejuvenation going on makes it look gloomy.

Although Swansea has a population of around 250,000 residents it's more like 4 degrees of separation than 6.

Thanku I value all of this local knowledge. The estate agent's will tell u any old crap! X

@Billyandharry or Tubbs in League of Gentlemen being reassured by Edward that heaven is like Swansea but bigger.

St Athan
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/138983639#/?channel=RES_BUY

Llantwit
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/map.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E91990&minBedrooms=2&maxPrice=260000&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=499&propertyTypes=&viewType=MAP&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&viewport=-3.51096%2C-3.44504%2C51.3728%2C51.4382&keywords=

Port Talbot, small town in between Swansea and Cardiff, it has a lovely beach and fabulous walking paths up to the afán valley

Barry has a couple of lovely sandy beaches and a pebbly one. The West end of Barry is a good shout. Trains every 15 minutes into Cardiff. High St is full of lovely independent shops, the town centre is struggling a bit but that’s not unusual these days

what about somewhere like this? www.peteralan.co.uk/properties/19137135/sales#/