I going to agree with a lot of what @Ifailed said (and I think the original poster with the £2million might have stopped following this post as they posted back in early 2020, i was replying to the person querying about Sevenoaks recently).
We moved here 6 years ago from a rural East Sussex village. We’re previously Londoners. The throwback to the 70’s bit I’ve found less in Kent than in East Sussex - having said that, as a liberal pro EU leftie I’ve felt distinctly at odds with the majority here at election times! It’s very blue rinsed. It’s not as Aryan race as East Sussex - there is a steady movement of people down from London which in my area does include Black and British Asian families. My eldest DDs London Primary school class photo’s do look very different to my youngests!
Where to bass yourself though is really going to be all about property budget size, whether you want to State educate as much as feel. To focus on Sevenoaks first- it’s a pretty town with a lot of historic buildings and Knole Park right in the centre of town. It’s got nice pubs and restaurants. What it doesn’t have however is good shops - it’s very limited on that front so we tend to bypass it other than for nights out and strolls in Knole. Properties in the centre of town and in easy walk of the train station of a good size, well you’d need a lot more than in Tonbridge! Yes it’s screamingly middle class but that goes for this area of Kent really! There is a certain snobbishness in Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells about Tonbridge - largely unfair in my opinion. There are a lot of DFLs (down from London) in my area or from Bromley, so many it’s the norm and I’ve not personally experienced any ‘not from round here’ comments.
A lot of the properties you’ll see marketed as Sevenoaks are in outlying areas or villages. We’re in Borough Green which is technically Sevenoaks but actually is a separate village. Dunton Green & Bat and Ball are considered the least desirable areas - they are hardly rough though! Both have their own train stations but this adds on about 15 minutes to the commute - making it commute time similar to Tonbridge. Traffic into Sevenoaks around 7.30 onwards and from school pick up time is genuinely horrendous. The annual parking charge at Sevenoaks train station is not cheap.
If you’re going Private, lots of options here. If you are going to go State then as the PP mentioned, it’s something to really seriously consider whether it’s the right option. Yes, Sevenoaks is commutable you the grammars in Tonbridge and TW and soon we’ll have two not one of our own BUT only 25% of children pass the Kent test. Tutoring is endemic from Year 4 onwards within the middle classes along with a lot of stressing. It’s quite a lot of pressure to put on a 10/11 year old.
The State options here otherwise are not good. My DH has strong feelings about the fairness of the 11+ (going back to the leftie bit!) so grammars were out. Trinity is the best performing State but it’s a faith school with a 50/50 faith/non faith intake). Two years ago when we looked at it they’d only gone out just over a mile on non faith places - which ruled it out for us! Knole school isn’t as bad as it’s local reputation but it’s huge and it’s performance has been very patchy. The other option is Wrotham (v near me) which by Kent standards is one of the better options. It is over subscribed though and a small school. Around 50% of the kids here travel to schools in Tonbridge, central Sevenoaks, Maidstone and TW. My DD2 does. It makes for a long day for them!
If you like countryside and pretty villages - outer Sevenoaks has a lot of choice and you’ll get more (potentially much more!) for your money! Otford and Shoreham are gorgeous, have their own train stations but would be at the highest property end. Seal has no train station but cheap(er) properties. Borough Green is a bit mixed - cheap(er) properties but a lot of new build construction off the High Street. We do have our own train station and 3 mini supermarkets and a range of shops (but no decent pub!). Neighbouring Platt, Wrotham and Ightham are frankly prettier and BGs station used by people from all four villages. Properties in Ightham and Platt will be more expensive than Wrotham (which is probably my favourite). Wrotham is just in the catchment area though for Meopham school which performs top of Kent State Secondary leagues.
As @Ifailed says, the buses aren’t great! The journey into Tonbridge through outer Tonbridge takes forever for DD!
Tonbridge gets a bad rep from snootier areas but I personally like it, especially the historic area north of the river. The properties are definitely cheaper than it’s two main rivals and it attracts more of a mixed demographic but it’s a safe and not unattractive in the least town. There just isn’t a great deal to do in the centre of the town though (not unlike Sevenoaks) and a lot of the shops are pretty downmarket. On the school side, they have excellent grammars and a decent all girls school but if you have a DS and they fail the 11+ your options aren’t at all great (imo!).
Tunbridge Wells is a lovely, solidly middle class town with a few tougher area (which aren’t really London rough!). Yes even the teenagers look glossy but they do have by far the best shopping and out of London lifestyle options. Property compared to Sevenoaks is cheaper. The downside though is the traffic and longer commute. It has a lot of DFLs and politically Lib Dem’s are doing pretty well getting Council seats (it is predominantly Conservative though!). Of the three towns and if it had been purely up to me, I’d have chosen TW. The non Grammar state option is on the up since changing its name and quite a few kids train it down to Uplands in Wadhurst.
West Malling is also a town to consider. It’s got more blue plaques than you can shake a stick at and is on the Victoria line into London. It’s got a very good feel to it and some good restaurants and very decent pubs. It’s also cheaper than Sevenoaks. Kings Hill (a huge new build estate on the outskirts) wouldn’t be my choice though and it’s local Secondary is very poor.
This feels like an essay! If anyone does read this then hope you get something useful out of it and obviously, this is just my perspective!