Montrose or Stonehaven

[user1485263432]

Relocating to the North East, have the options of moving to Stonehaven or Montrose, I have 3 young kids and don't drive. Which town would be best for us?(schools, activities for the kids and nice cafes ext) please help

Montrose is a bigger town, has more shops and a tesco and lidl. There is a new leisure centre and lots of decent parks. Has a train station too and property is much cheaper.
Stonehaven is closer to Aberdeen. The high school is probably better, there are more local/quirky shops but no big decent supermarket (3 coops!). Property was quite expensive but is coming down due to the oil price crash.
Where would you be working? Do you have children?

Thanks so much, that's really helpful, yes 3 kids (primary school age), will be traveling with work (Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and working from home). Both towns look fab, but was a bit worried about the schools in Montrose (I'd heard they were not very good?) any more info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much

I live between Montrose and Stonehaven but have lived in Stonehaven before. I would say Stonehaven is probably a nicer town overall than Montrose, I think the schools have a better reputation too, certainly at secondary stage. As both have decent train and bus links it makes them equally accessible although Montrose is closer to Dundee and Perth it isn't directly linked to the dual carriageway.

If you choose Stonehaven you can always get your groceries delivered!

Thanks so much, fingers crossed some nice houses come up for sale

ASPC is the website to use for property up here.

Thanks you're a star x

Stonehaven without a doubt - feel free to PM me if you like. Montrose has a fabulous beach (which is pretty much always empty), but that's it.

ASPC excludes certain sellers though so make sure you check Right Move as well. I'm selling soon if you want mine . . .

Thanks very much, hearing really great things about Stonehaven (sounds like Stonehaven might be nicer place but Montrose is cheaper with more amenities?) thanks been looking at aspc but will look at rightmove now too

Montrose is definitely much cheaper - but for a reason! I wouldn't say they have more amenities - Stonehaven has a great tennis club, open air heated pool, sports centre, lovely beach, castle, woods, all major supermarkets are a 15 minute drive away, you're in the city centre quickly, there's a train station, good schools.

It's isn't perfect (the drug problem there is just better hidden, and there have been racist/bullying incidents at school but hopefully the reasonably new head will get on top of all that), and it can be a bit clique-ish, but, in my opinion (as an outsider), the two aren't remotely comparable. The only benefit of Montrose is that it is closer to the central belt if you need to travel, but there are also lots of places along the coast in between both that are lovely.

Thanks so much, this is really helpful. Think it's Stonehaven for us! (My hubby prefers the sound of Montrose - but just because it's cheaper!) thanks for taking time out to message - really appreciate it

There's a local FB page - Homes for Sale in Angus I think - which sometimes has a few being sold privately. As I said, feel free to message me if there's anything you don't want to ask here. Good luck!

Thanks so much

Hello! Bit late to this one but Laurencekirk is a cute little village, a bit further south than stoney, v close to dual carriageway, good schools, (primary and academy), a rail station and lots going on. Property is v reasonable too, we love it here ( so perhaps a little biased!) but wanted to add this to the list. Have you found somewhere OP? Xx

Also wanted to add that slightly inland and further south you don't get the haar.
And - that there are lots of great wee towns and villages between Stonehaven and Montrose.
A major one is Inverbervie with its own leisure centre, pubs, restaurant, medical centre and it feeds into the secondary school in Stonehaven.
There is an hourly bus service on the coast road too.

Hello everyone!
Wonder if anyone could kindly offer some advice on primary schools in Aberdeen v's primary schools in Stonehaven? We are relocating to either the city centre or Stonehaven (depending on which house we go for). City schools are either Ferryhill, Broomhill or Ashley Rd, Stonehaven school choice is either Dunnotter or Arduthy? Thank you in advance. x

Hi Im a single mum thinking of moving to Stonehaven with my teenage daughter .Any advice about schools and what its like to live there.??
Any ideas would be much appreciated 😊