to be freaking out about moving from London to Wales?

[AutoFillUsername]

Long story short: lived in London for twenty years, married a Londoner, have Londerner kids, love London, have great London friends. Now DH has been offered a job in Cardiff and its a great job. So we have to move. But Gosh I’m scared.

I know nothing of Wales. I went to Cardiff once with work and I didn’t love it. I’m thinking if we have to move maybe we should go the whole hog and live in the countryside but I can’t even work out what is commutable to Cardiff.

Are we going to hate it? Is it ever right to leave a place you love just for career reasons?

And if you are Welsh where would you live that is commutable to Cardiff and lovely and friendly and beautiful? We will also need good schools, maybe private but I’m open minded to state as well.

I worked in Cardiff for years - commuted from the Gower, but it’s not n easy commute and I wouldn’t recommend it.

It depends how long a commute is doable and your budget

I’d look around Vale of Glamorgan - around Cowbridge, if you can afford it.

Cowbridge is a lovely place 7miles from Cardiff and close to the sea. Some private schools near.

Cardiff is fab,very cosmopolitan, very cool, great shopping, very European vibe. I would live in Cardiff. Last time I went, it took me about 2.2 hours from North London. I used to live there. I did find it somewhat parochial at times (probably gonna get shot down for this) plus some Welsh people were very unwelcoming, but for the most part, I loved it.

If your DH has a job there, you're going to want to be close to his work, surely, plus no way do you want the commitment of trying to commute over the bridge daily. Whitchurch is a good suburb, as is Roath, some cracking big houses round the park.

Depends what you want but Cowbridge is a great small time with good schools and a bus to the private options. Monmouth similar but longer drive. North Cardiff has good schools & big Victorian houses.

Maybe have DH commuteweekly for the first 6 months and come home for the weekends to check he likes it before you all uproot. It will give you more time to explore and decide where to live.

I'd say don't. I did the same ten years ago and both kids hate me for it, have left and don't want to ever come back. It was a big, big mistake.

I loved living in Cardiff - there is so much going on there for the size of the city. If you've always lived in a city, why move to the countryside now?

Cardiff has come on loads in the last ten years. It’s a great wee city! I live in an AONB which is 50 minutes on the train from Cardiff and just outside of Swansea. We have fabulous beaches and gorgeous countryside but not much in the way of pretty buildings or architecture. South Wales is very different to London and the South East but it has a lot to recommend it if you give it a chance. The people are generally very friendly and the pace of life is nice. Penarth might be worth looking at it is supposed to be a nice area just outside of Cardiff.

The vale of Glamorgan is right next to Cardiff, Dinas Powys or Penarth are lovely area's and have train's into Cardiff every 15 minutes or a 20 minutes drive. Sully is also a nice area but the only public transport into Cardiff would be bus.

Whilst living in the country is obviously far more affordable, it will isolate you and the children. Are you looking to work? I'm not sure why, bar the amazing houses you could drool over, you'd want to move away from mates and also make it harder to socialise for you and the DC. If you're determined, look north of Cardiff, English border, the big country piles are very affordable and often come with a decent amount of land.

Came back to say Cowbridge is very nice but see lots of people already have.

I adore Cardiff. I live in a small valley town twenty minutes away on the train and spend a lot of my time in Cardiff as a lot of my friends live there, there's lots to do, good restaurants, very cosmopolitan, and just generally really nice.

Cowbridge is very nice indeed.

Spend some time there and see where you like. Take your time before buying. You probably will find it strange and not like the change at first, but it's only two or three hours down one motorway to London. You'll be inundated in summer with friends wanting to come to the seaside.

Lizzie1970a - your experience terrifies me! My eldest is year 8 and she’s already so unhappy about the idea of moving.

Not going is not really an option. This job is amazing for DH. I currently have to work full time to pay our London mortgage etc but I have been diagnosed with a condition which means I need to work less and we can’t do that while remaining here.

Cowbridge sounds worth exploring.

I think our plan would be to rent our London house then rent in Wales at the start. We could rent London for about £4500 a month but would want to rent for about £2750 a month in Wales so we could cover our mortgage and rent with the London income.

Cardiff certainly isn't London but its a fabulous place to live. You don't need to go to Penarth or Cowbridge (Beautiful as they are) look at lisvane, rhiwbina, Llandaf.

Or Pontcanna if you want lovely big Victorian houses.

I would live in Cardiff itself or just on the outskirts, not in the countryside if the commute is by road.

Autofill - I wish I'd never moved. My kids won't even come back for Xmas. Both hated it. Didn't settle at the schools. Learning Welsh was a nightmare for them and it's compulsory at school. I personally found the kids very small minded and the bullying was horrendous. Not saying you'll experience that but that was our experience. Regretted it within the first couple of months. Cardiff in and of itself is pleasant enough but after 25 years of living in London myself I'd never heard any racism. Heard loads of casual stuff here straightaway. Just my experience but it wasn't a good one.

Don't try and replicate your life in London in Cardiff. If you are okay with that life having gone and creating a new life then go for it. London is a world city, Cardiff isn't. That doesn't mean that there aren't going to be great new things about Wales but they will be new. If there isn't anything you really want to change in your life I wouldn't turn everything upside down. If you can see more positives than negatives go for it.

Penart h is lovely. Llandaff and roath good too. I grew up in Cardiff and it has changed hugely recently so may be different to when you last visited.

Mine were years 3 and 4 and I thought that young enough that they'd adapt. They didn't. One has said I ruined their childhood by moving. Both consider it a narrow minded, insular little city and not that friendly. It might be better for you but I read your post and it brought back a lot of bad memories. If I could turn back time I would.

Cardiff is a great place to live, look at Whitchurch, Rhwibina, Llandaff is lovely too! Agree that Pontcanna has some beautiful houses.

Around Roath Lake is lovely too with wellfield road nearby for coffee & shops.

Pontcanna wifi is pretty much non-existent.