Do you live near the sea and a city?

[ShutUpAlex]

If you do, where do you live? We want to uproot and start new somewhere as we’ve had enough of Cornwall. I love big cities and my partner loves the beach so trying to find somewhere that has both!

Sorry not really an aibu but wanted a big range of answers so we can explore properties.

Plymouth is an obvious choice but you do still need to drive out of it for actual beaches.

Swansea. We also have woods and mountains as well as the beach and city 😊

I live in a rural town close to Brighton / Worthing.
It's lovely to have city, beach or the downs to visit very easily.

@Colorindex
Brighton is has-been which isnt a crime, but it's now too overpriced for what it is

Another vote for Brighton.

5 min walk from the beach. 30 mins to Edinburgh by train

Grew up on the Wirral (the bit I lived in was very seasidey!) great for Liverpool, Chester and Manchester - I miss it

Edinburgh.

Vibrant city, very close to miles of unspoiled coastline, close to mountains.

Just north of Liverpool
15 mins into city
15 mins to this:

I’m in West Sussex. I live 500 metres from the beach. I’m in a large town but there are cities close by- about a 40 minute journey in either direction. I am about 90 minutes from London on the train.

"I disagree with you. I'm back in Cornwall after 13 years in and near Brussels, and Cornwall is not backwards"

Both Brussels and Cornwall are what I'd describe as backward.

I'm going to throw Heysham into the mix.

Wirral is amazing, visited some friends there and with chester / Liverpool on the doorstep it’s lovely with all the walks and beaches

We do!

We're in a small (modern) seaside town that has 5 beaches. Our house is on the seafront with great views of the Forth rail bridge. It takes 18 mins on the train to get into Edinburgh. Schools are fab! Loads to do in the area. For your budget you'd get a 5 bed detached house here with a big garden, most likely with views of Edinburgh and the sea.

Places here where you'd be on the sea, and within striking distance of Edinburgh :

Aberdour
Dalgety Bay
Inverkeithing
North Queensferry
South Queensferry
Bo'Ness

If you are north of the Queensferry Crossing (all of the above except South Queenferry) the property prices are lower. Our 5 bed sea view house is worth about £250k - it's a town house - detached with sea view would be more, but as I say, totally within your budget.

We're in Devon half an hour from both Plymouth and Exeter and close to lots of beaches (also close enough for day trips to Cornwall if you miss those beaches). Feel like we have the best of city and beaches.. plus we're very near the train station to London which is doable in a day for events (though a bit exhausting!) so you don't feel too cut off!

I don't live there now, but Aberdeen gets surprisingly nice summers and is not packed with anywhere near the number of tourists as the English beach towns or the West Highlands.

Bournemouth? Brighton?

@ShutUpAlex

Our budget would be 400K tops and looking for four bed minimum. Found lots in Swansea for that price.

read the local papers online, location, location, location, see where the schools are, how good they are and live within their boundaries. I would say check the Estyn reports but they give high praise to schools in areas that are challenging. Join the local FB pages now.

Brighton

Another vote here for the North East Coast. We have lovely beaches here . I'm smack bang in the middle of Edinburgh and Newcastle. Approx 45 mins each way by train

Another vote for Wirral.
Beaches at new Brighton, west kirby, leasowe/moreton, and not far to the Liverpool beaches, also lots if interesting places like Thurstaston cliffs and thors stone.
Both Liverpool and Chester close by.
Good schools and you will get a decent sized house for your budget for example you can get a 4 bed detached in CH63 close to the grammar school for less than £350k

Meant to add, even though we're a small town, we have excellent amenities. Within walking distance we have Asda, Aldi, Subway, Greggs, Dominos, loads of independent take-aways, 5 exceptional restaurants. The next town is only 5 mins away in the car, and is bigger and has everything you could need : bars, restaurants, bowing, cinema, plus all of the major restaurants - in fact I've just checked trip advisor and there's 124 restaurants!

Bournemouth/Poole.

University city, so lots going on, right on the coast, nice countryside and small market towns nearby.

Chichester.

[quote Mishna]@Colorindex
Brighton is has-been which isnt a crime, but it's now too overpriced for what it is[/quote]
It also has a huge homeless problem and quite high crime. I live a few miles away but never go into Brighton now. I find it seedy and depressing.

Oh, and parking's a nightmare!

I’m a janner and I’m guessing you want to move a little bit further away!

Our friends live in a beautiful village in between Newcastle and Durham. There is loads of choice for nights and and shopping, beautiful coast a short drive away and lots of moorland. Housing where they live is far cheaper than Devon & Cornwall too.