Leighton Buzzard

[Picklesandpies]

Hi,

We are looking at moving so dh has a better commute into London and to an area that's more family friendly than where we are now. Leighton Buzzard seems to tick most of our boxes on paper so we are going to go for a look next week.

Does anyone live there? Would you recommend it? Please could you tell me what things there are to do as a family and where you go at weekends/holidays?

Important things are:

Lots to pop out and do within a few miles. Cafes, lakes, parks, farms, National Trust etc
Footpaths for countryside walking
Enough shops for day to day shopping
Budget for 4 bed house is £600K
Schools - decent primary/secondary
Friendly people

Our dc are 6 and 9.

Thank you!

Pickles I wouldn't worry about MK being too flat - the way they built it the grid roads have kind of been smoothed out a bit to so they're often higher or lower than the surrounding grid squares. However the actual countryside around and about - if not actually hilly - is certainly undulating and if you're out and about you certainly notice it when you're walking up say from the station to the centre or in many of the grid squares. It's certainly no flatter than somewhere like LB!

I moved from London to near Leighton Buzzard, and there's loads to do in the area. Not necessarily in LB itself, but certainly in the surrounding area.

Eg the Natural History Museum at Tring, Roald Dahl museum, snowsports in Hemel and Milton Keynes, kites at Dunstable Downs, Whipsnade Zoo, Mead Open Farm, sports centres, plenty of canals etc

Plus lots of things that you don't get in London, such as fruit picking (Ivinghoe), scout groups, lots of farming activities, horse riding, decent gardens, driving lessons for age 11+ in Milton Keynes, cycling etc

You can certainly pick up nice property in the villages for £600k. We got a Victorian end-of-terrace with large garden and plenty of room for extending for £250k.

And it's easy enough to pop down to London from Leighton Buzzard or Milton Keynes.

Hi Just wondered where you ended up moving to as am considering a similar move! Thanks