Help .....nice villages to live near Winchester ??

[Twinkes23]

I'm relocating to the Winchester area and would like to live in one of the local villages rather than the town (2 dogs as well as 2 preschoolers!). DH needs to commute to London. Can anyone help with suggestions for the nicer, friendly villages which are not too far from the city ? I'm not too sure how Littleton/Crawley/sombornes etc stack up vs twyford/otterbourne for example ? Views on kings worthy ? Any help greatly appreciated !

Me too, although moving from London as my husband has a new job in southampton.

Pretty much looking for the same.. Nice friendly community village..

Let me know how you get on in the hunt.. I have 3 (4,3&1)!!

Anyone have views on lovely villages or do you prefer winchester city life??

Thanks!!

Micheldever good train links and a very friendly village. We looked there but decided we needed to be in town. As the kids grow up rural life will be too limiting I think.

I'm in Overton, direct train to London, a little way from Winchester. Very lovely.

Hi There, We relocated to Hampshire when my husband got a job in Southampton and opted for Swanmore. Superb pre-school which my daughter currently goes to. It's attached to the Junior School in a wonderful purpose built school with great outdoor space. Junior School also amazing - ofsted highest ratings. There's a secondary school here which we're going to keep an eye on, we've a few years yet and if necessary we're close enough to Winhester and Portsmouth for very good schools. Village life lovely. Local shop, butcher, post office, hairdresser and three pubs in the village with several more a lovely Sunday walk away. It's a village set up for families with lots going on and a lovely community spirit. Husband cycles to Southampton - 14 miles door to door and it takes 45 minutes. 20 minutes to Winch or Portsmouth and Bishops Waltham and Wickham both 3 minutes away for all your local shopping and tea and cake needs. Hope that helps x

When you say not too far do you mean 10 mins drive or walkable. There are lots of lovely villages 10-15 mins drive out but the buses are only once an hour or so in some of them. South Wonston is nice but buses are crap, Badger Farm is more an area of winch rather than a seperate village, buses are ok and half hour walk to town (if you look here do a good mould check on the houses some of the houses there are susceptible to it, others are fine) some bits of Stanmore have lovely houses but the are lots of uni students there. Alresford is a bit further out not sure how good the buses are. Kings Worthy is relatively nice and buses are ok I think.

Alresford is lovely. It's a small town rather than a village with lots of shops and amenities in town and great schools. It's about 15 minutes' drive into Winchester and there are two buses an hour during the day. You can also commute to London via Alton, a 20 minute drive in the other direction down the A31. In many ways an easier journey as it's the terminus so a train is always waiting for you to get on, and the fare is less too.

Hi, we moved from London nearly 4 years ago. Rented in Crawley for the first 5 months - found it very strange, looks great, really picturesque but felt far too quiet and hard to meet people. We now live in Colden Common and despite initial reservations (not the rural idyll on first impressions) it's super friendly and a proper community. Brilliant primary school, choice of excellent pre-schools, lots going on in the community centre etc.
good luck.

We're in Kings Worthy - it's not the prettiest of villages but it's the friendliest place I've ever lived! Good school, very community minded, nice parks for the kids and lots of stuff going on. We like it :-)

Another vote for Alresford
it's quite self contained with great schools amd good shops including 2 excellent butchers, co-op, bakers, hardware store and some lovely cafes and pubs. Lots going on too and easy reach of Winchester, alton and Basingstoke for trains.

Crawley / Littleton are both lovely