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.

Very attainable in rural Ireland...

Liverpool. We are 15 minutes by car from the city centre. 5 minutes on foot from the beach. Best of both worlds, I guess.

I would choose closer to Cardiff than Swansea personally but as PP said it's worth looking at areas via Facebook groups and visits post lockdown. There are a few areas within Vale of Glamorgan worth looking at with nice houses and good schools, within half an hour of Cardiff and beaches.

In terms of schools near Cardiff I would recommend catchment areas near Cowbridge Comp, Cardiff High Whitchurch High, Radyr, Stanwell in Penarth and maybe Porthcawl if you were looking a bit further out.

Norfolk somewhere close to norwich, but only 45kin drive to the sea?

Thanks @davidsSchitt - just wanted to know what people meant by this.

I've lived in Cornwall for 20+ years and don't recognise any of that.

Interesting to know where OP lives but she seems reluctant to say

Yes, Whitstable / Herne Bay are on the coast and ten mins from Canterbury

I live in a small town in norfolk wymondham, used to live in norwich, which is only about 30 mins to the sea. Norwich is a great city, and the north norfolk coast is beautiful

You need to move to Newcastle. Stunning miles of silver soft sand, castles, stately homes and rugged crag walks in Northumberland. The city has incredible theatre - local small scale, rep, tours and RSC, good art galleries, shops, museums and restaurants and the most beautiful inner city park anywhere - Jesmond Dene.

Liverpool.....beaches on the north side (Crosby), and across the river Mersey in The Wirral.

Whitley bay / Tynemouth. On the beach and 15 min drive to Newcastle

Not helping you as you are talking about UK. But I live in South Dublin, very close to the sea and the Dublin/Wicklow mountains. Gorgeous when we could go! Can walk by the sea now, but the mountains are outside of the 5k zone for the pandemic but still only 10k away.

Come on over!

Edinburgh

We live near Brighton. Not a huge city, but plenty going on and pretty quick connections to London.

How close to a city? Walking for everyday visits or easily commutable for shopping, theatres etc?
North Liverpool, Formby, Crosby,
Southport or the Wirral, all have beaches and easy access to Liverpool it no surfing.
North Wales, Conwy, Rhos, Colwyn Bay. All have nice cafes, bars etc. Can get to Liverpool, Manchester and Chester (or even London) by train. Lovely beaches and not too far to surf (Anglesey or Llyn Peninsula). Also has the advantage of being near Snowdonia.

Southampton is pleasant enough as a city (and the New Forest is a decided bonus) but it is a bit of a drive in either direction to the nearest beach.

Aberdeen

Co. Down, 30mins to Belfast, 15 mins in a couple of directions to a beach.

Cardiff. No actual beaches in the city, but Rhoose is 30 minutes away and has some very nice ones. There are even caravan parks for people to holiday there.

I’d avoid Chichester ( not that you’d have much choice of 4 beds in budget). Rammed in summer with everyone going to Wittering beach. The queues make the national papers most years.
Southseas probably the best bet although you won’t get surf.

I’d say Valencia. Four beds, walking distance to beach and 120k left for flights.
www.aplaceinthesun.com/property/details/ap1928499/4-bed-villa-for-sale-in-oliva-valencia-spain

I live in a small coastal village about 10 minute drive from Aberdeen. Lots of lovely little villages on the NE coast of Scotland that are near Aberdeen. Inverness also has lovely places to live nearby with gorgeous sandy beaches :)

yes. Barcelona :)

A nice example :)
gavin-bain.co.uk/property/the-steading

However this is 550+ miles from Cornwall so perhaps a bit extreme !!

I grew up in Newcastle and we could drive to the coast in about 20 minutes never mind the countryside not being far away - proper countryside. Wonderful.

Newcastle or one of the towns on the coast like Tynemouth (about 25 minutes ish into the centre of Newcastle by Metro or car, a bit longer by bus) would probably fit your needs pretty well, but you will find it pretty chilly after Cornwall. I wouldn't personally recommend Southampton, it's quite a long way from the coast, you need to head down to the New Forest and it gets just as congested as Cornwall in summer. Southsea is a nicer place to live, but you'll probably find Portsmouth incredibly congested after Cornwall. Exeter is nice and quite close to Exmouth if that's the kind of coastal place you're thinking of, but it depends how big a city you want, really. And it all depends on what you do for a living - Newcastle is a fabulous city but depending on what you do you might find it tricky to find work. (Though probably no more difficult than Cornwall!)