To think there must be somewhere lovely and unpretentious within commuting distance of London?

[Willthisdoo]

Is it possible to find somewhere to the southwest or west of London that’s still within commuting distance (and has a station) but is also very close to the countryside, not too full of over privileged people, somewhat diverse, has reasonable(ish) rents and house prices, and is also appealing and attractive as a town/village? Does such a place actually exist?? Or is this just a pipe dream?

Hampshire? The areas outside of Portsmouth and Southampton can be lovely!

We’re currently in Teddington. DH works in Soho so a lot of the mainline stations are handy. Definitely don’t want to move to another part of Greater London though - ready to get out now!

Thanks for all your suggestions so far, really helpful!

Bromley and surrounds.. very close to countryside but easy commuting. Orpington? Villages nearby - Chelsfield, Crockenhill, Eynsford?

I was going to say Pinner but don’t know if that’s still too “within London” for you being in zone 6. It’s quite villagey?

Swindon- only 50 minutes to Paddington. Has some lovely suburbs too

Some areas of Bedfordshire are just under an hour from Kings Cross. Not the prettiest towns I admit, but close to the county and much cheaper than Hertfordshire and North London. If you drive, this also opens up local villages which are nice.

I live in Tonbridge and it's lovely. 45 mins to an hour into London depending on where you go - trains to Victoria, London Bridge, Charing x, Cannon Street and Waterloo East. You can rent a nice 3 bed semi for about £1300 a month. Fares are about £4-500 tho. Good schools. Friendly non pretentious people. On the weald of Kent, loads of lovely countryside etc. 45 mins from the coast.

It's the best place i've ever lived and i've lived in lots of 'nice' places including Chiswick, Kew, Richmond, Sevenoaks, Greenwich and Vancouver.

Manningtree in Essex. Has a station, close to the Suffolk border and the coast.

I used to live in twyford. It's lovely 😊

Shepperton?

Merstham, Redhill, earlswood all nice and an easy commute.

Redhill itself is not that inspiring, but it’s diverse round here and not snobby at all (unless you count some from Reigate!)

Trains are shit at the moment with the new timetable but once that’s sorted it’s a nice quick commute!

Folkestone.

Bedfordshire is the cheapest area I know of but it's North not west. It has some beautiful countryside and pretty villages and market towns. You could get a three bed terrace for around £1100, less in Bedford itself (less still in Luton but doesn't really tick your other boxes) Commutes from most places are less than an hour.

or St neots in Cambridgeshire or somewhere along that line. Some parts of Cambridgeshire are very pricey but St. neots isn't too bad.

If you are willing to be a short drive away from a train station you will find prices a little cheaper.

Do you need to consider schools? Definitely avoid Bedford if you do (unless you can afford to go private).

Walthamstow.

You need to work back from where he works then the station he arrives into and then narrow it down.... when we did that because of nursery etc we were left with v little options but your acceptable commute is longer so I think you will be ok. We are kingston / surbiton area

Use this ..... www.commutefrom.com/

Cheam is quite nice but not very diverse. But straight into Victoria on the train, village is pretty with nice independent shops. Easy to get to nearby useful towns. Traffic is a bit pants though.

Bear in mind that any money you save on rent/mortgage will probably go on train fares. We are in Tunbridge Wells and a season ticket is over £5k a year.....but the schools are fabulous, the countryside gorgeous, and generally most people are lovely!

Alton or surrounding villages - start of the line, great schools, lovely country side. 1hr ish to Waterloo

Bear in mind that any money you save on rent/mortgage will probably go on train fares

Yes, this - when we looked, it was going to cost the same - just the further out you went you got more space, but then also less time with the person who was commuting.

We lived near Uxbridge - mainline to Marylebone, or Metropolitan/picadilly line Tube - fairly diverse, rents still a bit silly, but steps from countryside, and under an hour into London by train (and 20 mins by car during the day - could be over an hour on a bad one commuting though)

West Kent, (Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and surrounds) Sussex, (West: East Grinstead, Crawley / East: Lewes, Crowborough, Uckfield and surrounds) and Surrey (Tandridge).

There are loads of lovely small towns/villages in these areas within easy commuting of London.

Obviously look at the Elizabeth line (cross rail). Opens first stage this winter. Tottenham Court Rd is on it.
Why South/west? East is cheaper, generally.
London has its villagey neighbourhoods. I second Walthamstow, which does have an actual village at its heart and lots of lively, socially engaged people. Highams Park is nearby and has a lot more family size houses and good train into Liverpool St.

Loads of lovely villages around Ashford that are mostly made up of non-commuting types and certainly feels more like ‘proper’ countryside rather than the hunter wellies, Barbour jackets and Range Rovers that you get in Surrey. You get so much more for your money too. But, as pp mentioned, over 5k for a season ticket on HS1 and another 1k for station parking.