Whereto from London? (Plotting the escape)

[eversomuch]

I increasingly dream of "escaping" London. I love a lot about living here but it's just becoming so expensive and although we are close to some lovely parks & green space, it's not the same as countryside.

I didn't grow up in the UK so am not that familiar with places outside London, so I'd love some suggestions for places that meet the following criteria:

• small to medium-sized town/city

• maximum 90 minutes from London by train (but ideally within 1-hour)

• good public transport as we'd like to avoid having to get a car for as long as possible

• progressive

• good schools (DD starts primary school Sept 2015)

• good cultural offerings

• lovely community (we're atheists, so non-church-based community)

• easy access to nature

• NOT ON THE FLIGHT PATH! It seems wherever we live in London, we are plagued by plane noise.

Places like Cambridge, Oxford & Bath come to mind, but I'm sure there are other places I don't know about that would be worth exploring. Any suggestions? TIA

Agree the maps are convoluted!
The thing with plane noise is once you've noticed it, it's hard to ignore. Also, there's a big difference between being in the vicinity of a flight path and having low planes flying right over your house. I stayed at a friends in Zone 1 Central-West London recently and didn't hear a single plane, siren or helicopter all night. Some areas are just congested, on major road and flight routes and as a consequence noisier.

The only safe route is to move properly away from a major city and nowhere near an airport. It's blissfully quiet at the GPs (Cornwall).

Exactly: it's impossible to unhear it once your entire psyche has been scarred by it.

Now if central London were a possibility, the discussion would be over, LOL!

Cornwall must be lovely ... but we don't want to go too remote. Gosh, I'm fussy. :)

Oxford isn't too far; we've just moved to a village near Bicester and it takes DH 45 mins on the train to Marylebone. We love it here, and Oxford's a short bus journey.

Dont forget to avoid the HS2 route too