Salisbury, Amesbury and Surrounding?

[Bol87]

Hi :)

I'm currently renting in Basingstoke where me and my partner work. We are hoping to buy over the next few months but are completely priced out of Basingstoke or anywhere nearby! We've therefore been looking out towards Salisbury and noted Amesbury is really convenient for us getting to work, but we don't really know anything about the area or schools?

Is it a safe/nice place to live? Or would more central Salisbury be better? We've looked at a few newer build houses near Amesbury Archer but it seems the school 'requires improvement' , but the CofE school seems to be 'good' which I'm fine with. But then, my guess would be we would need to live more central Amesbury to get into that catchment?

Any info would be much appreciated!

Hol

DONT do Amesbury, its cheap for a reason. Everyone I know who lives there wishes they didnt.

Grew up near Amesbury, no complaints other than it's a little quiet! Salisbury might be a little more interesting!

Salisbury is a nice enough town. Personally I wouldn't live in Amesbury as its quite small and there's not really enough going on there for me. There are lots of good schools in Salisbury and heaps of families so lots going on for children. Housing is relatively expensive I feel but I guess cheaper than places closer to London.

I would choose salisbury. There are lots of excellent primary schools, a boys and a girls grammar school. Some good secondary schools for girls but less options for boys although Fordingbridge offers 2 good options too.

Go for Salisbury, if you can afford to. The educational opportunities are more varied and there's the vibrancy that comes with living in a city like Salisbury which, with all due respect, Amesbury just does not have!

With a young family, I think you're going to spend an awful lot of time traipsing to and from Salisbury to access all the facilities a bigger place can offer.