Does anyone commute from Sudbury to London?

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I've got a new job in London, so am looking to relocate (me, DH, 2 DC) 'down south' from Manchester. I'll only have to be in the office a day or two a week and the rest of the time I'll work at home or will be visiting clients in the South East.

After spending a weekend exploring some areas in Essex/Suffolk, we have fallen in love with Sudbury. I'm a tiny bit concerned about the commute and wondered if anyone had any experience or advice to pass on? I need to get to North London - Kings Cross or Euston would be ideal. I would be happy to drive to get to a station further west or south, rather than having to catch the train directly from Sudbury.

Hi Generic

I have experience of commuting from both Bury St Eds and Sudbury to London on the past and both have plusses and minuses.

From Sudbury you can get the little branch line train to Marks Tey where you change onto the express straight to Liverpool St. From there you can tube it straight to Kings Cross. The journey can take as little as 55 minutes.

From Bury you can get a train to Kings Cross either direct from Bury St Edmunds- one leaves early in the morning especially for commuters and arrives at Kings Cross just over an hour later. This goes via Cambridge. There are also trains regularly to Kings Cross and Liverpool St that go via Cambridge or Ipswich where you change.

The car drive to Bury from Sudbury is about twenty minutes (17 miles) and there is parking at the station (paid) and free parking in side streets (not always liked by locals nearby!). It is a straightforward car trip on a main road (pretty little drive too in the good weather) and generally rarely badly affected by snow.

The stations en route are Bures between Sudbury and Colchester (4 miles to Sudbury) but there is no intermediary place to live along the main Sudbury-Bury rd with a station unless you moved to Stowmarket, Thurston, Elmswell or Needham Market along the Bury- Ipswich-London line.

Sudbury is lovely - you get a decent amount of house for your pounds and the schools are fine. Plenty of little village schools nearby too, woods and parks plus decent shopping in town and slap bang in the middle of the Camb/Ipswich/Bury/Colchester triangle.

Have you also considered Clare, about 12 miles from Sudbury? It has amazing schools and also is a achievable drive from Cambridge. You could get the London train from there and plenty of locals do this. I adore Clare.

PS - The train ride from Sudbury to Colchester is just beautiful along the Stour Valley and friendly too with everybody getting to know each other over time.

Thanks, OnTheHuh - that's really useful! I am such a geek that I have started a spreadsheet with all the various travel options, times and costs!

I will look at Clare too as well as Bury St Edmunds. Great tips, thanks again!

Hi there- I have tweeted a link to your thread and hopefully more folks will come along over the next few days.

There are so many gorgeous and commutable places in Suffolk and the schools are usually really great.

Bures is also worth looking at as it has a station on the Sudbury-London line although prices are a little higher because of this. The village has a wonderful community feel.

Also look at Lavenham, Long Melford, Assington, Bildeston - all within driving distance of the stations at Bury or Sudbury.

Thanks, LESuffolk&Norfolk!