Dorset - if I have to move there, where should I live?

[NotTheMrMenAgain]

First off, I know that IABU by posting this in AIBU, but I don’t know anyone in real life who knows Dorset, so I need the traffic.

It’s looking like - due to work transfer - I could be moving to Dorset in approx 18 months/2 years. I wouldn’t want to do it without proper planning, so we’re starting a series of exploration visits over Easter. The problem is, I don’t know the area at all. DC went to Bournemouth for a day and said it was “full of Uni students, but nice” - that is the sum total of our experience 😆. Of course I’ve googled the heck out of it, but mostly opinions seem to fall broadly into two camps - the “we love living in the countryside” people and the “the seaside towns have gone to shit and are full of drug addicts” folk.

Please can anyone who lives in Dorset, or knows it well, offer some advice about where might be a good place to visit, with a view to moving there?

We are honestly pretty easy to please! Coming from an industrialised Midlands city (which we love), we would be happy to be somewhere near the sea or countryside. BUT, I’m aware these locations are very different and bring their own challenges - like the coast being packed and the roads super busy during school holidays and the lack of supermarket on the doorstep and multiple takeaway delivery options being a shock to the system. But, it looks like it’s going to happen, and we’re very happy to make the most of it.

We’d need to be a reasonable commuting distance from either Weymouth or Bournemouth for work - an hour in the car or on the train. Obviously, the journey would look very different in the peak holiday season. We’re planning on doing weekend visits during all times of the year, but I know we won’t get a realistic idea of what it’s like until we move, and then it’s a done deal!

Really grateful for any advice or suggestions, thank you!

East Dorset is much easier transport- wise.
If you have plenty of money , Branksome, Canford Cliffs and Parkstone are nice. So is Southbourne.

I’d look at Christchurch / Mudeford and if you don’t need to be very near Bournemouth try Milford on Sea or Barton on Sea. ( technically Hampshire)
Wimborne is nice too lots of nice countryside.
Ringwood is an easy compromise with good travel and countryside but is not in a grammar school catchment.

Dorchester is nice but rubbish for transport by road.

I love in Ringwood just down the road from Bournemouth and it’s lovely. Ideal location and has what you are often but has a lovely thriving town centre and is close to the coast and New Forest. I’m biased but I’d move here if I were you!

Ringwood is nice if you want a slightly more upmarket area with a good array of shops and cafes etc. Wimborne and Christchurch also nice but commuting to Bournemouth not as easy (although Christchurch is on the train line unlike Ringwood and Wimborne) Ringwood is about 20 mins from Bournemouth straight up the dual carriageway.

Do not recommend central Bournemouth as very grotty and unsafe these days and a friend has been in Weymouth and hated it.

Poole > Bournemouth IMO

Poole side areas I like:

Corfe Mullen - countryside vibes, big houses, gorgeous. There's a place called Happy Bottom - I'd love to live there just to say I live there
Wimborne - bit over built now as lots of new builds going up, but great market town shopping, Wimborne folk festival every year, bit of a countryside alternative vibe, lots of independent shops and bars etc
Broadstone - great high st, very lively with young families, great school catchment, has a wetherspoons lol
Upton - Upton country park is great, they do events in summer etc, quiet, Hamworthy nearby which is lovely for walks etc. Gets busy in summer. Very close into Poole for train station or shopping and there's a train station in Hamworthy too.

Bournemouth side:
If you think you will perish and die without a bustling high st and without multicultural shops - then Charminster or Winton or Talbot Woods - near the uni and Winton High st. Bit scruffy imo but good takeaways and very lively
Southbourne/Westbourne - fancy and upmarket, independent shops, nice vibe, by beach, lots of Londoners live there
Wouldn't bother living ferndown/west moors way as the traffic and flooding is terrible

Honourable mentions
Lytchett, Blandford forum, pretty village types, bit out on a limb but not unreasonably ill-connected
Wareham lovely
Poundbury and dorchester really nice

Another vote for Parkstone. I've lived around Poole or Bournemouth for about 8 years now and have tried Southbourne, West Bourne, East Cliff, Bournemouth town centre, Poole town centre and Boscombe. Parkstone is the best mix of affordability, decent options for schools and family houses, a not too shabby high street and decent road connections. Other places have been better in the past but now getting a bit run down.

Verwood is really nice, about 10 miles from Bournemouth and close to the New Forest. I have a close relative there who loves it and has lived there 29 years. Its grown a lot in size, but has a hub with a cinema and gym etc. A few shops, Costa, Lidl and Morrisons, lots of dog walking areas. Although a small town it has a village feel.

I’d consider Ringwood. It’s about 15/20 min from Bournemouth, half an hour from Salisbury and Southampton. It has a lovely market and town centre. It’s right on the outskirts of the new forest.

It is technically in Hampshire but it is very close to Dorset and Bournemouth.

For your budget the nice bits of Bournemouth and Poole are definitely doable so long as you don’t need a huge house. I’d look in Penn Hill or lower Parkstone/ Ashley Croas. Liliput also doable. Broadstone also a good shout. Wimborne is lovely but the journey to Bournemouth can be an arse in peak hours. Southbourne is also nice.

I stayed in Wimborne Minster last October for a weekend. It was a lovely town, good shops and cafes and restaurants. That’s all I know about Dorset!!

There’s a MNer trying to sell a house near Weymouth in your price bracket. 🤓

Edit: here’s the link:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/169987643

Ringwood is also a good call and if you’re working at the hospital ( just a guess) the hospital is the Ringwood side of Bournemouth

Not to everyone's taste, but I could happily live in Poundbury. Commutable to Weymouth. Dorchester on your doorstep.

Lots of lovely spots between Weymouth and Axminster. Things are cheaper just a little further inland. Traffic is awful in summer along the coast, like really awful. You'll be your DC's chauffeur all the time and everywhere unless you think about public transport or decent cyling routes, although hills can make the latter challenging. Train travel is a good way 'out' of Dorset.

I'd avoid Bridport - no trains and absolutely shocking public transport.

Oldest lived in Parkstone with his mother, it seemed rather nice - and it has an Antochian Orthodox Church

From experience though west of Bournemouth rather comes in the 'here be monsters' category in terms of driving

I would rent for a year or maybe 6 months in different places - you can get short term winter lets - you need to try it out before dropping a lot of cash and sunk costs when you buy.

Studland / Corfe / Swanage would be my choice.

I live fairly close by in the New Forest but one of my favourite places in the world (after the New Forest) is Studland. It is beautiful.

When you visit do the walk from The Bankes Arms to Old Harry Rocks then drive to Corfe and look at the castle whilst eating a cream tea in the cafe next door.

Easy to get to Weymouth, Poole or Bournemouth for any and all amenities that you might need.

Wimborne but you'd need to get a bus.

I was thinking the same!

Not within 10 miles of Bournemouth. Lots of traffic and very little social life and public transport. A lot like London but no cultural possibilities. Salisbury might be better.

Also, maybe for consideration, we have (or will have) only two A&E hospitals soon, Dorchester and Bournemouth, although MIU’s in various cottage hospitals, plugging for Wareham it’s an easy trip in to Dorchester if you need to

But Poole is keeping its Urgent Treatment Centre

This is where I live too. LOVE it. I would say the other way round, it is still classed as a village but more of a small town. Can highly recommend both the first and middle schools, excellent. There is no upper school. It is kind of semi rural but easy to get anywhere, Bournemouth, Southampton, Salisbury etc, straight on motorway to London.
I was Blandford before that so happy to answer qs on there also.
Personally I would avoid living in Bournemouth at all costs, shit hole.

I mean Salisbury is Wiltshire not Dorset......