Cities between London and Birmingham- Recommendations

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Our family is moving to the UK for work, and I would like to know if you have suggestions for cities between London and Birmingham. My husband will be working in the outskirts of Birmingham, and he’ll have to go to the office in person about 2-3 times a week. I’ll be working in London, and I’ll need to go to work in person once a week. We have two small children so we are looking for a nice, safe place with good schools. I also need good public transport to London since I plan to go to work by train, and my husband will drive to Birmingham.

I looked on Google Maps and tried to figure out the options, but people have so many opinions about the places that I felt overwhelmed. I appreciate any recommendations! Thank you!

Do you definitely want a city/large town?

Leamington Spa! On the Chiltern Line so easy to London or Birmingham, lovely Georgian town, good independent shops, good schools.

I second Leamington Spa or Warwick (the two kind of blend into one another).
Solihull is meant to be nice. It's more closer to Birmingham than London.
All 3 are on the Chiltern train line that runs between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor St/Snow Hill.

I'm not sure where you are from OP but in the UK 'city' generally has a very specific meaning, so Birmingham, Oxford, Coventry are cities but Leamington Spa, Warwick, Banbury are all towns but with full amenities. There are villages in Warwickshire which still offer the option to easily commute.

I would maybe reconsider the driving into Birmingham though, (unless he needs a car at work ) if you are on a train line to London, he can get to Birmingham. Though depends where the outskirts are.

I don’t mind a small town as long as it has good links to London and good schools. 😊

Bicester (closer to London on the same train line) isn't bad. Not sure about schools.
Banbury is a nice town - but the secondary schools aren't the best.

Cirencester

When you say the outskirts of Birmingham, where do you mean?

You need to be more specific about the Birminsgham and London locations.

West Coast main line goes into Euston via places like Stafford, Lichfield and Rugby. Lichfield is 73 minutes and Rugby is around 60 minutes to Euston. All those places are commutable to Birmingham.

East Midlands parkway and Derby trains go into St Pancras but would also be commutable to Birmingham (although I wouldn't want to do it every day).

The Chiltern Line would also be an option but it's slower into London.

Depends on your budget, but I'd love to live in Oxford, and it fulfils your location needs.

Reading is easily commutable to both, having spent time working in both cities.

I recommend Banbury, I either commute to London or to Birmingham from there....used to go to London weekly which was a bit long, but that Chiltern Line is pretty reliable.

Leamington Spa is a bit more upmarket if that's in your budget

Birmingham is massive and a nightmare to drive across (I live here) . Which outskirts/side is he on?

To give context, it's quicker for me to get to the next city from where I live then to get across town.

I’d go for Rugby in Warwickshire. Rugby train station is on the West Coast mainline so fast trains to London (under 1 hour) as well as Birmingham (30-40 mins) but house prices are cheaper than Leamington and Warwick. Right on the M1 and M6 as well so easy to drive anywhere. Choice of living in the town or surrounding villages on edges of Northamptonshire or Leicestershire. Lots of new houses being built in Houlton and along Ashlawn Road. New David Lloyd opened on Houlton last year and due to get its own train station (Rugby Parkway) in 2026.

Rugby has grammar schools if you’re interested in those for secondary education and other schools also ok. Town centre a bit run down in terms of shopping though does have a theatre, restaurants etc and shopping at Elliot’s Field retail park is good

@FineLadyUponAFineHorse hello fellow Banbarian 🙂 (I don't live there now 🙁)
I did say the secondary schools aren't great but I think North Oxfordshire Academy (NOA) and Warriner are ok aren't they ?

@Needmorelego I hope so!

I've only been here 2 years. My children are 8 and 5, and I'm near Bretch Hill so NOA would be our logical choice. I hear varied reviews. At the moment I'm just avoiding thinking about it for the next couple of years while we battle through Primary.

As an area though I really enjoy it. I enjoy the town and the surrounding areas and all the green space/walks. It was quite a change for us as we moved from the suburbs of London and I'd never lived anywhere else....but it's been a positive change

Reading to Birmingham is a couple of hours. Doing that 3 times a week would be horrible

Set yourself up with an easy drive for your DH on the right side of Birmingham. Bear in mind HS2 should be running in about 5 years (station near NEC/Solihull). It’s easy to get to London by train from any West coast main line (Coventry- Rugby Birmingham) or Chiltern line station. But getting across Birmingham by car or train is terrible.

Whereabouts in Birmingham outskirts may have an inpact on where is best fof him. Otherwise I am team Leamington

If you can give the approximate location/ first 3 letters of postcode, of your husbands workplace, it will help advise (Eg B78 or “near Birmingham airport “

@Needmorelego
@FineLadyUponAFineHorse

Hello from another Banbarian!

Warriner is generally pretty good. BGN (predominantly catholic) is very good. Chenderit (short hop over the border in Northants) is excellent.

Cheltenham could work.

Cheltenham.

Go and look at a cost of a train ticket to London from any of the places mentioned above, then go and look at the price from Rugby. I suspect that will factor heavily into your decision.

I drive past 3 stations to commute from Leicestershire to get the train to London from Rugby because it's about £100 per DAY cheaper.

Your DH could also get the train to Birmingham from there if he needed to.

I'd also discount anywhere served by East Mids trains because their prices are eye-watering.

London North Western has the cheapest tickets, then Avanti, then East Mids.

Look along the M40 corridor - as that runs from London to Birmingham.
Beaconsfield would be a great option for the London commute, further for the Birmingham one though. Lovely area, excellent state schools for both primary and secondary.