Moving to Edinburgh....

[mumtojandk]

We're moving to Edinburgh from Jersey this autumn (so technically 'overseas').

We have 2 girls, No1 daughter will be 4 in Nov & No2 is currently 6months. No1 already has a school place but we are umming and ahhing where to live

We are torn between being 'in town' so that hubby & I have the city on our doorstep (the novelty of having access to this is something you will not understand unless you have lived on a small island like Jersey for a long time!) and I do love the idea of being able to walk everywhere (again a novelty - believe it or not!). Or living further out.....with easy commute for hubby, so East Lothian looks easier as the Borders doesn't have a train line??? or so we believe....

If in town we ideally want a garden flat with private garden/space because we have a labrador too (gluten for punishment!) and access to communal gardens for ease of waking said dog and tiring out children! Out of town, well East Lothian is our oyster but which towns? We' happily put No1 daughter in a local primary (if can get space-is this also a problem up there?)

All pointers and advice gratefully received.... :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Hi, you are moving to the best city on earth . I lived there for nearly 10 years and am now actively trying to move back. I loved living in the city but will probably now look in Borders or East Lothian same as you because we are looking for lots of land.

You are right that there is currently no rail link from the Borders to Edinburgh but there are plans to re-open the rail link with the end station being (I think) in Melrose with another station in Stow and a few others - should be able to find out more if you google. Peebles is a popular town with Edinburgh commuters with good schools and an award winning town centre and you should be able to reach central Edinburgh in around 1 hour. Lauder, Innerleithen and West Linton are also lovely.

East Lothian does have trains to Edinburgh but not sure which towns have stations. Haddington (inland) is popular but Dunbar or North Berwick are also lovely and right on the coast with good beaches.

Edinburgh City has loads of open spaces and parks - you will be able to find lots of areas with garden flats and easy access to off road path networks for exercising dogs/kids eg 2 mile Cramond Waterfront, Arthurs Seat, The Meadows Park, off road cycle path from Leith to Haymarket etc. I lived in Trinity (North Edinburgh) which is really nice and has a good primary school but I believe the secondary isn't so good. It's not really like living in a city because there is such good access to countryside but you have the bonus of easy access to everything you could possibly want. Unless you really want big open spaces I would seriously urge you to give living in Edinburgh a go.

I could go on and on! Let me know if you have any more specific questions.