Where should we move to? (Dorset / Hampshire / West Sussex)

[Azure83]

After sitting on the proverbial fence for a while, we have finally decided to move out of London. But where to? We’ve narrowed it down to Dorset, Hampshire, possibly West Sussex. We have no ties to any of these counties. There are however a few ‘must haves’.
We want to be no more than 30mins drive from the coast. Ideally on the outskirts of a city (Poole, Christchurch?) or in a town. A quiet village would probably be too much of a shock to the system. Also, I don’t want to have to drive miles for a pint of milk. We do want a large garden though which probably means being further away from the coast.
DCs are 3.5yrs and 6mo so good schools are important but secondaries are quite a long way away. I know there are different school systems across Dorset but we don’t have a preference either way.
A train link to London not too far away would be good as well.
So Mumsnet - where is the sweet spot??

Surprised at the PP who said only a handful of good primaries. Personally there's only 1 I would avoid..

Winchester. Chandlers Ford. Hamble. Although I'm Hampshire so would be biased.

Romsey? Nice small town, 45 mins from Bournemouth, 30 mins to Winchester or Salisbury, 15 mins to Southampton or New Forest. Train station, although better to drive to Southampton or Winchester to get train to London.

You'll need an older property for a decent size garden but that probably applies anywhere.

Winchester
Lymington
Brighton

We have a caravan in Dorset, and adore it, but it's too quiet to actually live there. Plus the poverty and the drugs. As a pp gave a detailed list.

How often would you need to get the train to London?

For the best combination of sand/ sailing I think look for access to Weymouth. DH can keep his boat at WPNSA and kids play on Weymouth beach.

Poole to London, train is 2 1/2 hours.

That's not what I call commutable, even if it's only once a week.

Weymouth! Direct train to London, close to beach ( Sandy, shingle pebbles, busy, quiet all close by) and extensive footpaths for walking and cycling; sailing; you could certainly get a big garden.

Lymington? Sailing for your husband, short drive to New Milton for your sandy beaches (enormous open air swimming pool though with salt water.) Train connects at Brockenhurst for the main line and the schools are good.

It’s rammed here already. All the “nice” towns and villages within 1hr commute of London are heaving.
Your wish list is pretty much what everyone wants.Not to be disparaging but it’s really annoying. The locals can’t get a seat in village the pub any more. The traffic is appalling. Anywhere quiet and scenic gets put on our Local Facebook group ( by newbies showing off) and it’s immediately spoilt by hundreds of other people turning up.
Chichester roads can’t handle the beach traffic as it is.

Maybe further towards Dorset is better where the commute is longer and therefore less appealing.

Dorset is one of my favourite counties and has some lovely small towns (Bridport, Wareham, Beaminster), beautiful countryside and fabulous beaches. I especially like Bridport, it has a bit of an alternative vibe to it without being pretentious. Dorchester is nice if you want somewhere a bit bigger. Bournemouth/Poole/Christchurch always seems like a huge urban sprawl to me.

West Sussex is nicer the further west you go imo. Chichester is lovely but can be a nightmare to get out of traffic-wise. My top pick would be West Wittering, or Bosham if you're boaty. SIL's PILs live at West Wittering and we've visited when they house- and dogsit. Two minutes from a fabulous beach, big skies, lovely place. A lot of the coastal towns have significant drug and crime issues but west Worthing is nice, if a bit suburban. Arundel is pretty but seems to have a grave lack of useful shops, while Midhurst is pretty, pleasant and feels a bit more "real". There are also some nice villages either side of the A27, especially around Goodwood and some of them (eg Angmering) even have stations.

Hampshire - I love Winchester, it's a great little city and Petersfield is nice, but possibly too far from the coast for you. The M27 between Portsmouth and Southampton rivals the M25 for busyness and I have no idea what the beaches are like. Hayling Island seems like amazing value (good-sized detached houses close to the beach for

I'm from Southampton. I love it and it's so easy to access the M3, M27 to get to Dorset/Beach/New Forest. Some areas are better than others. Hedge End is lovely and really good schools. Same with West End, Horton Heath, Fair Oak. You are then close to the city, but a bit further out and the houses are lovely and nice neighbourhoods.

Swanage has a sailing club and nice beach, close to Wareham with direct line to London

but it's too quiet to actually live there

Lol, it's a good job we don't all want the same, isn't it? I love quiet, and will never understand people moving from London to Brighton. Apart from a beach, Brighton to me has all the downsides of London (crowds, dirt, rough sleepers, drugs, crime) without the benefits of world-class galleries, theatres and well paid jobs, and with much worse traffic congestion. I'm only a few miles from Brighton, but if I want chain stores I drive 4 times the distance to Crawley because being there is less stressful.

I'm only a few miles from Brighton, but if I want chain stores I drive 4 times the distance to Crawley because being there is less stressful.
Me too! If I can get it in Horsham, even better 😂

Brighton is very expensive for what you get. The seafront is rammed with day trippers as soon as the sun comes out, the shopping centre is on its last legs and most of the attractions are pretty tatty. Most of the time Traffic is horrendous, no free parking and it costs an arm and leg to use the car parks.

@onlyconnect

Weymouth! Direct train to London, close to beach ( Sandy, shingle pebbles, busy, quiet all close by) and extensive footpaths for walking and cycling; sailing; you could certainly get a big garden.

Weymouth itself is rough as an old boot. I bloody love it, but it's not MN naice, if that's what the OP wants.

@FithColumnist has Bmth/ Poole/ Xch spot on. Be aware that apart from the grammar schools the secondary schools are pretty dreadful. The new amalgamated council wouldn't know its arse from its elbow. And the traffic.....simply awful, one of the worse areas in the whole of the uk for congestion. Huge drug problem and many, many rehab centres. Bloody hell, that sounds awful....can't think why I'm still here! Must be the 7 miles of golden sands, the close proximity to rural loveliness, and the trees and greenness!

@Ionacat, shhhh about Lymington, it's quite busy enough and I don't want any more people to find out how nice it is.

@mindutopia do you mind saying which train line are you on, without revealing what sounds like a lovely place to live.

All Dorset trains go to Waterloo, separate lines for North and South but line merges at Southampton

reefedsail I don't agree that Weymouth is that rough but do agree that it's not Mumsnet naice. You can live a Mumsnet naice life here though, especially if you tap into Dorchester which is only ten minutes away if you're on the right side of town

Ringwood would be a good place to look, OP. It's right in the middle of the beaches and the forest, has three supermarkets, good schools, and is well-connected. Southbourne is nice but insanely expensive - I think it's one of the most expensive postcodes outside of London.

Have a look at Stubbington / Hillhead/ Lee On Solent, gorgeous beaches, plenty to do and close to motorways and trains. Excellent schools and a real village feel while still having all the amenities you could want.

I love Wimborne, and I’d live in Dorchester, but agree that Weymouth is more than a little rough round the edges (terrible drug problems and areas of deprivation) despite its beautiful beach, and the secondary schools in Weymouth are all dire.