SURREY: Advice Desperately Needed Please! :)

[No1MummytoOtto]

Hi there,

We are thinking of moving to Surrey this year in the hope of finding a home a little bigger than the one we're in now, now that we have DS. I've lived in London all my life and cannot really imagine living anywhere else, so we're going to see how we get on in Surrey for one year on a trial basis and take it from there. I don't really know Surrey that well and would be so grateful for any advice on nice areas to look at, especially for a young family.

Ideally the area would have a train station (I don't drive unfortunately) with speedy links into London Victoria/Waterloo, so I can still zip into London with DS every so often to see family and friends. Would be great to be in an area that can offer things like Monkey Music, Tin Pan Annie etc. (DS is 4 months). And somewhere with a fairly accessible and comprehensive high street is a must.

Any ideas or advice hugely welcome - I have no idea where to start :)

It really depends how far you want to go and what your budget is.

Do you mean the outer suburbs of London eg, Kingston, Surbiton, Sutton, Hinchley Wood etc? Or Weybridge, Guildford etc? They're all well-connected to London. If I didn't drive I would look at one of the larger towns or else stay closer to London - you don't need a car in Kingston. It probably depends on your budget.

Guildford would be a likely candidate, but the house prices are still expensive. Or a bit further out in Hants would be Winchester. Lovely and same train line into Waterloo. Or there's Fleet, which got some best place to live award recently (I remember vaguely).

Used to live there, it isn't the most character-filed place but the schools are very good, train links good and it has an okay set of local shops centrally.

Hi
We have just moved to Worcester Park and love it, so easy to get to work in London with only a 23 minute commute and only Zone 4 so cheap to travel too. Great parks and we even have horses at the bottom of the road, small high street but right inbetween Kingston, Sutton and Wimbledon. i would recommend highly

Some of the Surrey towns have their stations a mile or two from the centre of town, because the Victorians did not want those nasty trains going through. Walton-on-Thames is one of these but the better parts of it might well meet your requirements.

Kingston DOES have its station in the centre and is another possible.

Hi there,

Sorry for not having replied sooner - DS keeping me v busy at the moment - so appreciate the replies.

Thank you all for all your advice and suggestions - this is a great starting point!

I think Guildford might tick all your boxes.

Definitely Guildford, love it here, fab place for kids, great transport.

Guildford, Godalming or perhaps Cobham.

Reigate, Dorking, Epsom ? Although depends what would you consider to be a comprehensible High Street ?

I can never see why Epsom appeals?

Dorking.

Fab schools (primary and secondary), nice countryside nearby. On two trainlines (although not the speediest service into London).