Best place to live in the UK

[crazyhorses3]

Where is the best place to live in the UK in your opinion and why? I am looking to move and have been searching for some time without success so thinking about looking in a new area. It's doing my head in. I want to live a rural/semi rural life but reasonably close to good transport links and culture. Friendly people. a decent airport within a couple of hours, good community. Half of me wants to live in a rural community with great views etc, but the other half does not want to travel too far for a culture fix/shops/airport/train station etc. I work from home. Perhaps I'm asking far too much.

Winchester is lovely but houses are very expensive.

Shropshire. Close to Birmingham, trains ok from right bit. Very pretty. South Shropshire trains are rubbish but near Shrewsbury much better.

The Severn Vale and Berkeley Vale area (Gloucestershire.) Good links to London. Bristol Airport, loads of places for shopping and culture.

Surrounding areas of Cheltenham

Warminster and surrounding area. Short drive or train to Bath. Good road/transport links. Beautiful countryside on your doorstep. Relaxed people, low crime.

Another vote for Chester here 😄

Another vote for.. Chester. It has it all. Gorgeous town, lots to do, close to a variety of countryside eg Wales, mountains, sea beaches, Liverpool, Manchester, even peak district and lakes close by. Excellent nightlife for older people, very friendly.

Lots of the towns and villages in the region between Leeds and Manchester would fit your bill, as would Wharfedale, Harrogate, and towns and villages between Leeds and York. Manchester, Leeds and York are all great cities with wonderful cultural life, night life, and shopping, and both are about 2 hours on the train from London. Manchester and Leeds both have airports, and the countryside in this region is absolutely stunningly beautiful. I lived in Wharfedale for 7 years; I would move back in a heartbeat were it not for jobs.

Scottish Borders. Close enough to Edinburgh but rural and gorgeous.

Beverley, Yorkshire is a beautiful market town with lots of restaurants, boutiques and crafty shops plonked in the middle of gorgeous Yorkshire countryside. Commutable to York and Hull

Ribble Valley often tops the best places to live lists.

Fifteen minutes walk or bike from where you work ?

I'm in Hertfordshire and it is lovely, but is expensive. As a northern girl I would recommend Lancaster or Chester as they are both beautiful places but close enough to Manchester and Liverpool if you wanted to get into the 'city'.

Another vote for Shropshire.

Close to Birmingham, amazing countryside, Shrewsbury has great food and shopping.

I second the Stroud area and surrounding villages. Close to M5 and Bristol but house prices are half that of Bristol. Countryside is stunning!

This made me laugh as I have been looking in many of these areas already, just haven't found the right house.. what is wrong with me!! I lived in Sherborne for four years long ago, and know Bristol/Bath/Worcester etc pretty well. Just why aren't I finding a house! Falmouth i have never been to but here it's lovely, have looked online for houses there too. I think the geographical search area is so large it's difficult to view in person.

How much do you want to spend? And what do you want out of s house?

£550,000 tops. I would like it to be close to great countryside and walks, yet accessible to theatre, decent shops, museums etc, and not miles from a train station, within a couple of hours of a good airport. Good community, friendly people, low crime. Nice garden, not too much work, kitchen big enough to eat in preferably, log burner, three good sized bedrooms, not too much work. I hate boxy, characterless, overlooked gardens, busy roads, tiny kitchens and i really need a lot of light. Not too much to ask surely (I ask a bit ironically).

As you will know, this is in a great location in Sherborne and looks characterful and light.

If you went out to Taunton you could get a lot of house for your money and be near to Bristol for culture. Quirky

You'd get a MASSIVE house in chester for that. West kirby/ hoylake also good.

With that budget you could practically get a mansion in Shropshire.

Good community, low crime, theatre, museums and shopping in the bigger towns.

Anywhere but Birmingham

Worcestershire has some lovely places

Well Chester and Shropshire and Derbyshire are now on my list of places to visit. I have heard so many people rave about Chester it's got to be worth a look.

I had a look on right move at Chester, but didn't see anything great on the market - the market is so depressed at the moment generally.