Moving by to Whitstable

[Thisismyuser]

Looking to retire to Whitstable area and just wondered if there are any areas/roads to avoid?
Or any other places around the area worth considering? Looking for bungalow peace and access to seaside. Non driver so good bus service. Many thanks 😊

Budget?

Nicest area of Whitstable is Tankerton, which has loads of bungalows.

Tankerton also has a reasonable bus service (not as good as it was), and a train station (Chestfield & Swalecliffe). There are enough shops for milk, bread, etc.

Budget around £325k

That's fairly tight for Whitstable/Tankerton. You might find a 2 bedroom bungalow several roads away from the seafront, in need of updating.

Hampton & Beltinge, up the road in Herne Bay, also have plenty of bungalows and are cheaper.

Have a look at Seasalter nearby or even further afield towards Herne Bay. I’d avoid Whitstable itself as it’s 1)expensive and 2)absolutely rammed with people at weekends / when the sun comes out. Even the bus at weekends spends a lot of time stuck in total traffic gridlock.

(I was in Whitstable yesterday)

Beware the custard shortages!

I don’t want to be right near the seafront, just a bus ride or around 3 mile walk is fine. I had read that Whitstable gets very busy and traffic in and out can be bad so now that’s been confirmed I will probably look at the other areas suggested so thank you. Faversham is another one I will consider. There is nothing on Rightmove at my budget in Tankerton and the ones around £400k there don’t look any better than the cheaper ones around Chestfield and Swalecliffe so guessing that’s more Herne Bay way.

You could look towards Minnis Bay or Westgate? I love both of them, but I think Westgate would be better from a transport perspective.

Westgate was my original choice but thought it was a bit too close to Margate and liked the look of Whitstable (I’m old 😂) so started looking more that way. I think a trip is needed at some point to look at the areas as it’s years since I’ve been to Kent. Westgate seems cheaper so definitely worth a look.

If you end up being priced out of Whistable also look at Deal, Sandwich and Broadstairs.

Bit further than I was thinking of but won’t rule it out so thank you.

I was going to suggest those. Minnis Bay is lovely. You can do a lovely walk up to Reculver which is about 4 miles away all up the coast.

Thanks I will definitely look there although I have a feeling it may be over budget.

As had previously been suggested, Minnis Bay or Birchington might be options, Herne Bay...is ok though has had a problem with young people and anti social behaviour recently (as has Broadstairs). Hythe is lovely but public transport is more limited. Folkestone is another possibility.
Whitstable is lovely with good transport links but traffic is pretty bad in the summer and the town gets very busy. Property is also expensive.

We stayed in Minnis Bay last year and the bus only runs one an hour and finishes quite early in the evening. This would not be so good as you mentioned relying on public transport .Until the service was cut it used to be 4 buses an hour. The locals we talked to are very annoyed about that. It was a lovely place but the bus service would drive me mad.

Hi, I forgot to say I agree with other people on here. When we have been to Whitstable we have had to wait to get across roads even in September .We once visited at Easter and it was ages before a small break in the traffic allowed us to get to the other side of the road. Cars do not stop as they are keen to get on their way. Again it is lovely to visit but I would not want to live there due to so much traffic.

As others have said, Whistable us lovely, but pricey.

Other area to consider could be Folkstone, Sandgate or Hyde? Actually, a lot of the Kent coastal towns and areas around are lovely.