is there a town equivalent to Cilfton Village in Bristol but without the rest of Bristol attached?!

[pinkredandpurple]

I love Clifton village: lots of green spaces around, a view over the river, warm atmosphere, period architecture, lots of delis, cafes and small shops. BUT the connection to main Bristol station not great, having to take connecting train or PITA buses, so travelling to London or anywhere is a bother and adds a lot to the trip what with connections etc.
I wish there was a similar place, well ok, minus the views maybe, without the rough part of Bristol attached and much more compact with easy access to a rail station, or with a quick bus to a station with many connections.
It has to be ideally SW or SE and not too far from London (i.e. not as far as the coastal towns). But if it's somewhere towards Derbyshire it's still doable. I don't like Norfolk, sorry, too flat a landscape.
Property prices not too crazy, sort of like Bristol prices would be ok.That is, you can get a good large 2/3 bed flat (or house!) for under 300K. But if lower, than even better!
It doesn't have to have lots of theatres/shops /chains/big megastores on the doorstep. But must have a good few cafes, I've been a Londoner so far!
I would like a simpler, more compact life, but not ready for rural/village, I don't like driving and not having people around.
Is this a silly utopia?
Any ideas, please?

sorry everyone for many typos, my thoughts are running away with me with so many replies so I'm typing much faster than I should do!
amazed at the number of suggestions - thanks so much for the links and all the advice!

Sorry, forgot the 'pros'

• Festivals (Science, Literature, Jazz, Music) - also decent theatre etc for its size.

• Fabulous, fabulous parks - one for every day of the week with several in reserve, from the formal and flowery to wild and windswept.

• A proper town (with pretty much anything that you might need) but with the proper countryside of the Cotswolds on your doorstep.

teacherwithkids, yes the train to Cheltenham isn't great what with to/fro in Gloucester, I think it's nearly 2 hrs. Amazed i completely missed the Bath Rd area! and as I do work for myself the network sounds useful. I think I will go and see places I've mentioned with shorter journey time to London first, then will revisit Cheltenham, I do like the look of it and the parks you mentioned - again only seen Pitville so far. which are the flowery parks?

What about Chippenham- has a river, cheap period properties within a walk of the station and 1 hr 15 mins on the train to London and 15 mins to Bath. Nice parks too. The shopping is limited but other places pretty close by.

Chippenham is a perfectly decent place but it's nothing like Clifton.

Imperial Gardens and the end of Sandford Park nearest the town centre are the floweriest parks.

thanks for parks info, teacher.
I thought about Chippenham as a compromise (not as nice but shorter commute and practical, and near Bath) - still haven't gone and lookedthough. It's in the 'reserve' for now!
Can anyone tell me more about Salisbury (going there on Monday), is it the case that most residents are military families there? nothing wrong with that but just trying to gauge the 'feel' of the place. What is the nearest city/town for shopping chains (household stores etc). Are there nice delis?

Salisbury is a real mixture, not all forces by any means. The shops are pretty good, Southampton even better. Yes lots of independent shops too. There aren't really any bad areas (well Bemerton Heath is the council estate but it's really not rough by any stretch of the imagination). Harnham, lower Bemerton, lots of nice period property around centre.

I know Chippenham is not like Clifton but from later posts seems like it ticks some boxes... ie commute time , property etc. To be honest I don't think anywhere will tick all the OPs boxes and certainly not in budget. Chippenham is also at least near some of the places OP likes. I wouldn't suggest Market Harborough or Derby which are frankly not nice at all and as far as I can tell tick none of the boxes!

I don't think Chippenham would suit except for the railway station/commute part. It does have some period properties but sadly, the town centre is pretty soul-less & the independent cafes are dwindling as Starbucks/Costa/Nerro have moved in. It has a small market but basically, it has become more like a dormitory town than a thriving market town.

Ok, Horsham going on the list too. Are there any better/worse parts of it? I thought it was tiny with minimal number of shops, but sound good now! arethere cafes/delis? I'm a foodie really, don't mind lack of clothes shops on the doorstep. Victoria very convenient for me.
Thanks, Chubfuddler (what a name!) - I did wonder about Harnham as it comes up a lot within the budget on rightmove but it says it's a village - is it not really a village? Is it all in the centre or are there any parts of Sals that I should see also when visiting? Is Salisbury big enough not to know all hte residents or do yo tend to all be on nodding terms?

shame about Chippenham, I don't really understand why is it not up-and-coming as it has a lot going for it in terms of location and the type of houses.

Very slow gentrification happening literally as I type. A posh deli opened last month.

Marlborough
Tetbury
Cirencester
Malmesbury
Oxted
Rickmansworth
Beaconsfield
Amersham
Berkhamsted
Harpenden
St Albans
Radlett
Northwood
Pinner
Hitchin

Harnham isn't a village. Its about a mile from the cathedral. There's no gap between city centre and harnham - park, ring road, houses. One mile. Salisbury is well, bigger than Marlborough. Smaller than Bristol. Not sure what population is these days - 70,000?

Salisbury takes you into Waterloo by the way. That's a problem for many people for London reasons I don't fully understand.

it's interesting that you know both Chippenham and Salisbury well ( I assume the deli comment was on Chip-m, I still don't get it why it hasn't flourished - lack of good schools?)
Excited about my monday trip to salisbury. Any negatives btw? It's hte estate agents speak it seems, any area that's not the centre they call village, incl Bemerton.

no Waterloo is fine, very quick to Green Park on Jubilee and elsewhere. I prefer Paddington and Victoria as I use circle/dist line more but Waterloo is second as can walk across bridge to district line also.

Ah, there is a village called lower Bemerton. Completely separate to the council estate. V v v nice.

Yes deli comment was re chip.

Bonnie - omg that's overwhelming, I don't know Herts at all. Some already mentioned in Glos are out (Ciren) as no station there.

The schools in chip are good. Well above average. It's just thee are lots of lovely villages and bath not far So people with means live not in chip. Generally.

not ready for a proper village unless it's on the railline maybe.

yes, isn't Coulsdon supposed to be v.nice? how fdar is that from station to drive/walk?

Well lower Bemerton is not discern ably separate from the main town either. It's a village in the sense that Clifton or hampstead are villages ie about four hundred years ago but now not at all.