Pros and cons of life in Esher

[Pippa0321]

Hi all!

My husband and I are moving to Esher (we currently live in Clapham/Battersea area). We bought a house we love, very close to the station (we will be commuting into central London once a week), but we don't really know the area. We've heard Esher is supposed to be very nice but every time we go there it looks like there's no much going on. The high street only has a couple of restaurants and a Waitrose... My parents are visiting soon and I don't really know where to take them or what to show them. Is there anything else to do in Esher? Any nice places to go for a walk or another area with more restaurants etc?

Thank you!!!! :)

Yes! Here are some nice places:
Hampton Court Palace
Bushy Park
Claremont Gardens
Garsons Farm
Painshill Park (actually in Cobham but close by)

Also close by:
Kingston (loads of restaurants and good for shopping)
Cobham (nice independent shops and restaurants)

There is a new restaurant in esher called starlings which is meant to be lovely and run by a chef from great British menu. Everyman cinema is also nice.

We go there to the trampoline park, would they be interested in that?!

It looks like a really lovely place. Hampton Pool is heaven in the Summer.

A couple of restaurants in the high street? Have you found the right high street - you can't move for bloody restaurants in Esher High St!

Bugbeau is right - those are lovely places - but most of them are nowhere near Esher! Garsons is, and I have spent many a happy Sunday afternoon in there, but Hampton Court and Bushy Park are on the opposite side of Thames Ditton. Hampton Pool is glorious but 4.5 miles away! That's the distance from Clapham to Dulwich.

We live in Teddington and sometimes go to Esher for the aforementioned trampoline park, to Garsons, for the Everyman cinema if the times suit us better, and I used to go to the Boden clothes sales at the racecourse when the kids were little. Like you, I don't get the sense that there's much happening on the high street.

One thing your parents might love (because mine do) is the antiques fair at Kempton Park - again, it's a drive away (about 6 miles) but lots to see and always great for people-watching.

Esher is a lovely place but the high street doesn't have much of a community feel, due to the busy road that cuts it in half. However pp is right- there are a LOT of restaurants and cafes there 😅
Garsons and west end green (where it's located) are gorgeous.
For shopping it's Kingston. Wandering at the weekend there's Claremont landscape gardens, Esher common, Hampton Court area around the bridge.

Esher woods are lovely for walking and the High Street's got lots of places to eat/drink. Garsons is great and there are nice pubs and walks there too. And then there's Claremont and you're very close to Kingston and lots of other busy places if you are looking for more. Esher's great! And the cinema is one of my favourites.

If you have National Trust membership then Claremont Gardens (less than 5 minute drive) is just beautiful all year.

Painshill Park (just outside Cobham) is also stunning, but not NT. Some exterior scenes for Bridgerton filmed there.