Canterbury from North London

[goteam]

Canterbury has recently come to my attention after going for a work trip. We are thinking about our next move as growing out of our flat. In zone 2 so further out the obvious solution as I loveLondon living. DH not so much and wants a bigger house than we could afford in London (700k). What is it like for kids (primary age) and arts culture etc? We don't know anyone there!

Lovely place to live- and there are lots of nice villages round about. But beware- it is an 11+ area.

I love, love, love Canterbury but beware it's a very, very studenty city. Parking can be a pain near the centre and houses aren't huge. Also, quite expensive I think. But I love it.

Canterbury has two universities, and there's the Marlowe theatre, so you should find plenty going on. It always seems to me to have a nice vibe. Also not too far from Margate and the Turner Contemporary, and other towns around have their own arts scenes. In easy reach of the coast in three directions for days out, walking, etc.

You might also consider Rochester. It doesn't quite have everything that Canterbury has, but is nearer to London for visiting and commuting.

Love Cbury, lived there for many yrs and would happily move back with no invitation needed. It’s not vastly cheap but it’s not Home Counties prices either. Lots of lovely villages surrounding too if you want a bit more countryside. Earlier posters are correct....traffic is terrible, pretty much all the time.

State primaries are OK, and very definitely a grammar area (can’t remember if there are 2 or 3 in the city now)

Loads of brilliant toddler groups. Lots to do generally. Amazing kids drama group at the Gulbenkian....

Thanks all. Does seem very grammar heavy. I don't have a problem with that but would like a few non selective options when the time comes.

Marlowe and Gulbenkian look nice and the tip about Margate is useful. Didn't realise how close it was and cheap by train. Can get my art fix there!

I just got a good feel for the place and we have family not far in East Sussex. Other family in the midlands so it would add a good hour on to visits.

Love London but friends are al, leaving anyway and we don't have space to put them up so never leave them. Neither of is want to move back to respective home cities so we have the options of a tiny flat in our lovely area which DH is beginning to feel we are outgrowing or something not much bigger in zone 5. Not into Home Counties market towns....

Never see friends I mean....

Canterbury is great, we live nearby in Herne Bay, the traffic would put me off from living in Canterbury. We're only 15 mins from Canterbury (more like 35-45 in rush hour). I think Herne Bay is a nice place for bringing kids up, lovely town, beach on your door step, Canterbury is only 15 mins away. DH gets the high speed train to London in 1hr 26mins.

Property is cheaper in Herne Bay than Canterbury. Depending on what you're looking for, 4 bed terrace or semi with parking and garden is around £340k - £350k (we've just moved).

We had a similar dilemma. Canterbury was one of the places we considered and explored. It’s really lovely. However, we did go with the zone 5 option Shorter and much cheaper commute, easy access to the M25, airports, the drive to the coast is 1h so we often go for day trips. It’s also very easy to get into central London so we find it offers a good balance. In our (lovely) part of zone 5, 700k would afford you a very comfortable house - probably a 4-5 bed semi with a large garden.

Canterbury is lovely. But also Chichester is a really great place to live.

Jojo can I ask where in zone 5?

Jellytots (love jelly tots!) hadn't considered Herne Bay. Will investigate.

Papa I don't know Chichester at all. Possibly too far south. Canterbury will add an hour into our trips to the midlands. Not sure we can add more....

Herne Bay is VERY different to Canterbury. Personally I wouldn’t live there...v seaside and very ‘small feel’ in relation to Canterbury.

We’re in south London (Sutton). The wrong side of London for the Midlands but under 15 mins to the M25 and super quick for East Sussex (1h and you’re on the beach). The schools are great and some of the catchment areas pretty large so you tend to get a real choice. It’s not an arty area (although there are artist houses’ open days and some small galleries). It’s all very suburban, green, family-oriented and relaxed. From our house in South Sutton, we can walk to some open countryside with fields, farm shops etc. Equally it’s easy to get into central London with direct trains into Victoria, peak service into London Bridge and the Thameslink going up via Blackfriars, the City, Kings X and beyond. Appealed to us but obviously very different from Canterbury.

Actually, I think I would rather live in Herne Bay and visit Canterbury than the other way round.........

Have you looked at Faversham?

I love Canterbury - imo its far nicer than Herne bay (lovely in summer, not so much in winter), Margate(although a lot of redevelopment £££ are being spent) Faversham (too small).

Your budget is pretty good for Canterbury. There are enough shops, cafes, children's activities, bars, etc for every day life. There seem to be quite a few festival going on (food festival, Canterbury festival, boing festival). Just make sure you a) avoid buying a house that's in a student housing dense area and b) buy a house within walking distance to the centre (traffic can be bad)

Lots of nice places in north london zone 4 or 5 where yoy can get a decent house for 700k. Admittedly a bit moreboring than zone 2 but still London.

Same travel time from Folkestone as Canterbury and high speed ticket is cheaper I believe (not sure how!). We spent the entire summer house hunting in both Canterbury and Folkestone and opted for the latter in the end. You get quite a bit more for your money and we just loved the idea of countryside and beautiful beaches all within a few minutes for our family...

Thanks for other suggestions. It's not that we want to live in the south East per se just that there was something about Canterbury. It bring a university city, the attractive high streets, cathedral arts etc.

St Dunstan's has some lovely housing and is five minutes to city centre and station, 50 minutes to St Pancras. West gate Park with great play area is en route to city centre.

Lovely city within reach of great walks in Blean Woods and down the road from Whitstable.