Where to move to in England which has these features

[Chocguzel]

Help me narrow down places DH and I should house hunt. We have lived in London most of our adult lives but we’re both raised rurally. We will keep a flat in London.

it needs to be within two to three hours of London as kids will likely live here and I want to see them easily.

it needs to feel rural and be an area you can walk for miles without seeing lots of buildings

it needs to have a bit of cultural life relatively nearby: a theatre, some nice restaurants

a friendly community which doesn’t mind new comers and is open minded and OK that we are not both English by birth. Somewhere we could get involved with the community.

a place we can buy a really beautiful detached period rural four bed with garden for under £1.2 million. Preferably Victorian or Georgian as we are tall so low ceilings are difficult.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157532999

This is a 10 min walk from the Brockenhurst station, which has frequent and fast trains to London

I'm looking in the same areas as those mentioned above but have a smaller budget. £800,000.

Newbury meets all your requirements.

another vote for the Bath/ Wiltshire options listed above by @Whiteflowerscreed

Guildford/Surrey Hills. There’s everything, and way shorter journey to London than your max desired.

Another vote for The Malverns

Try Dorset or Hampshire in the New Forest. Both close enough to drive to the M27/25, a lot have railway stations, that go directly to Waterloo station. Poole, where I live isn't too far has a station on the direct line to London, if you lived on the outskirts you can live rural but still be close to shops, restaurants, beaches and theatre, Bournemouth Airport isn't far either. You'd find a property within your price range.

This is lovely. Is Brockenhurst quite elderly and insular though? I have no idea but when I mentioned that area to a friend she suggested it was.

The issue with lots of rural areas is that it is agricultural and if footpaths are not well connected, you can’t walk for miles and miles as it is all private land.

I would look at a map of our National Parks and the big National Trust areas and see if there is a village that suits.

For example there are miles of footpaths across the Box Hill and Headley Heath areas and surrounding commons in Surrey with lots of connecting footpaths. And look along the South Downs, avoiding the best known beauty spots and access car parks.

Also look at the area around Hindhead Common (which in itself has miles of different paths)

I adore York but it feels quite far to pop down and see the kids for the weekend.

I guess I am projecting way into the future when they might have grand kids and I would want to be able to help out but turning up to help at short notice without having booked a train etc.

Rural Northamptonshire. Lovely countryside, good transport links, easy to get to either Milton Keynes or into Northampton for theatres/restaurants etc, and Northampton itself is fairly multicultural. Plenty of detached houses in villages within your budget.

How is York too far when a few people have confirmed it's 2 hours on the train and you said you'd be happy to drive 2-3 hours? You wouldn't want a car when visiting London anyway would you? If you look at fast train lines you'll be opening up many more options.

Oh just seen you want to be able to pop in to help with grandkids. That adds a slightly different flavour to the original description, no?

OP said up to 3 hours so York is well within that, in fact I know quite a few people who communte once or twice a week from York to London.
But if OP doesn't fancy it then fair enough

North Somerset - near Bristol.

… saying that, if you want to be able to pop in and help with grandkids, then 2-3 hours away is likely too far. What about somewhere like the Surrey Hills?

It’s not so much I want to “pop in” on future grand kids but I do want to be able to jump in the car and be there in 1-3 hours. York is great and trains are great but you have to add the bits of the journey so first you get from a village just outside York to York station (who knows how long but let’s be generous and say you could leave the house 40 mins before the train departs to drive, park and get to the platform), then 1.5-2 hours on the train, then transfer to Tube and let’s say 40 mins to wherever the kids live in London. That’s maybe 3 hours on a good day and maybe 4 on a bad day. Potentially doable but slightly less flex than being somewhere like Frome which is a 2.5 hour drive to Central London, less to West London, more to East. I have no problem driving in London as I’ve done it for 25 years.

Rural Cambridgeshire in the South of the country may tick a lot of your boxes.

… or Wiltshire is good for walking - lots of footpaths and the ridgeway. It’s a lovely county. Not a huge amount culturally, but you are sandwiched between london and Bristol so it’s easy to get too. Near Salisbury perhaps

I think it’s actually really popular for people in your position. Because of the mainline train to London (it’s the only one in the area past Southampton) it’s by far the most expensive village in the New Forest so the only people that can afford to move there are high earners or those with a London budget who want to keep a close link. There are some older folks who’ve lived there all their lives but there are lots of new restaurants/socials popping up to suit a younger crowd. The villages close to the sea- Milford on Sea, Barton on Sea are the ones really famed for an older population. The next village along is Lyndhurst and also has a fair few social things- we go to a weekly pub quiz which has teams ranging from 30s- 70s and is a really good laugh. Brockenhurst and Sway are probably the villages with the best walking opportunities straight out into the forest itself.

I’m in Ringwood which is younger/more family orientated and has a lot going on community wise-
carnival, fayres, dog festival, pedal car racing, small local theatre which does comedy nights etc, but it’s a market town, not village so unless you live on the outskirts you’re going to be 1 Mile ish walk to direct forest access and there is no train station- we either drive 90 mins and park at Richmond to jump on the tube or it’s a 30 mins drive to Southampton Airport for the fast train.

In and around Stamford?

West Berkshire. Bucklebury, Pangbourne, Upper Basildon way

Several places on the West Coast main line are under 3 hours to London but near open empty spaces.

Essex/Suffolk borders might suit: here

If you want to go that bit further and near to Crewe where a train will get you in within 2 hours …
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160918205
or
Second one in Macclesfield - my dream location on the moors
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160986278