London - nice area to rent for 45 year olds!

[LaFlottes]

We are thinking of renting out our house and having a couple of years perhaps in London.
This won't be for a little while, but we are doing some research.
We would be looking to spend between £1800 and £2500 per month I guess and would be hoping for an area suitable for a couple of 45 year olds with some nice bars/coffee shops/restaurants in walking distance and near a tube line into central London.
Any recommendations?
Thank you so much!

Wanstead, on the Central Line so can get to Bank. Quite a young vibe fur suburbia.

Or St Katherine's Dock. Probably at the top end of your budget, but walkable to Bank, and close to the Southbank. If you're moving to London for the fun of it best not to have a commute that depends on crowded trains. Wanstead is lovely, but from Stratford onwards is very busy in the morning.

oh definitely HIghgate (around the village which is close to Archway tube rather than actual HIghgate tube which is a big hike up the hill).
It's 15min from Archway to King's cross or 20min to Charing Cross with all the theatres there / covent garden.
It's a little cheaper than Hampstead but about the same to the centre, and it'd definitely less crowded than Hampstead gets, but you aer still close enough to Hampstead heath and also have your own Waterlow park plus not far from highgate woods etc.
A few nice restaurants and esp some nice pubs around the village - though no large supermarkets, yet you can go to a more down to earth Archway which has eateries of all kinds (more cosmopolitan).

Shad Thames

This us on for £2k per month.
Queen Elizabeth Street, London, SE1
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-54990324.html
Great location, walking distance to Borough Market, the river, Tower Bridge, London Bridge (1 stop to Bank).
Shad Thames is a lovely area too.

This is even better - classic warehouse conversion
Shad Thames, Shad Thames, London
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-74301056.html

East Croydon??

People live there because they can’t afford to live anywhere closer or nicer...

Also Wanstead, people live there to buy a family house and bring up children with a garden whilst being in commutable distance of work.

Some people on here are hilarious.

Shad Thames is cool but I used to get annoyed by the tourists at the weekend, fab location and we had a super cool apartment though.

It’s also the ‘dark side’ of the Thames if sunlight matters to you. I had a lovely view of the big hotel on the other side of the river bathed in sunlight, whilst i was in perpetual shade.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-73192151.html

Under 2k zone 1 fabulous area to live in and a lovely period conversion.

Why on earth are people suggesting anything out of zone 1

I'd look around the Barbican - probably towards the upper end of your budget, but an easy walk to work, easy to get to other places and pretty quiet at the weekend. But I'm a Brutalist fan!

The big problem with Shad Thames is that you can be a long way from the underground at Bermondsey. The warehouse at Shad Thames is 1/2 mile from the station. That’s quite a long way so the OP has to consider if something nearer Bermondsey station would be better if the underground is important.

Dalston Junction to Bank is not easy. So N1 isn’t a great idea in my view.

Bermondsey/Shad Thames. Look at the area between St James Road (to the East), Tower Bridge Road (to the West), Old Kent Road (to the North) and the river.

You've got loads of wonderful things on your doorstep: the river, Southwark Park, Borough & Maltby street food markets, Bermondsey Street (amazing restaurants & boutiques), St Katherine's Docks and Rotherhithe village (wonderful pubs) all within walking distance. Buses that go everywhere in London - places like Brick Lane and Spitalfields are a short hop on the bus. Jubilee line that will take you to the centre or out to Stratford/Olympic park.

Some family friends recently bought a flat there after living in the country (they're in their 60s!) and are absolutely loving it.

Sorry, meant Old Kent Road to the South not North

£2500 a month for a two bed flat? That would pay my mortgage on my six bed for 6.5 months.

They want to live in London
You can't rent 6 beds for 400 a mpnth

Just adding the option of Clapham old town. Tube is 20 mins to Bank with back up options of good buses but obviously slower. It is easy to get home from if you’re out out but also has nice cafes, really good restaurants including one with a Michelin star, and a good gelato shop 😂. There’s also abbeville road across the common which is lovely and easy to walk to restaurants in Clapham junction or the high street and easy to get to Croydon if you need Ikea 😁

Sycamore Mews Orlando Road SW4
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-55514841.html

Lots of emphasis on being in central London etc and not on actual journey times. I have lived in Zone 3, slightly edgy area, for more than 20 years but live between the Victoria and Piccadilly lines - the Victoria line is fast, Piccadilly less so but some central London tube lines are much, much slower. We're north east London so getting into the City is quite fast. You can switch trains easily in Finsbury Park.

I think lots of Zone 2 and 3 areas are probably better in terms of local cafes and restaurants, and some may have their own cultural things. Plus you get more for your money and/or have a bit leftover. I'm 49 so marginally older than OP but places that might have appealed at 25 didn't so much by 35.

Crouch End is very nice but you pay for what you get, and some of Muswell Hill is a long walk to the local shop and the nice cafes, but they are a long way from the tube. From Finsbury Park or Wood Green (Turnpike Lane/Wood Green tube), the areas are perhaps slightly edgier but I've never found them unbearably scary, there are loads of cafes and restaurants.... I actually live in south west Tottenham and Green Lanes has a lot to offer. You can get to work easily in the morning, and easily get a bus or drive to Crouch End/Muswell Hill to visit the attractions there, but there is lots in walking distance too.

If you live in zones 2/3 you probably do use the tube, and care how far you are from a station. But you use it far less in zone 1. Distances are shorter. So bus, walking, bike etc. DD’s bus to school ran with a three minute frequency. Plus you have more choice. I live about a 10 minute walk from 4 different tube lines/stations. DH even takes a boat on tube strike days.

Waterloo, Islington (great for Bank - you can either walk or get the tube), Mile End Road (the area around Victoria Park/Tredegar Square) - again, good for Bank, Dalston, Clerkenwell perhaps?

£2500 a month for a two bed flat? That would pay my mortgage on my six bed for 6.5 months

Thanks for that totally useless addition to the conversation @MyDcAreMarvel

Obviously having lots of bedrooms isn’t consummate with having any life experience outside of those walls.

Dalston Junction to Bank is not easy. So N1 isn’t a great idea in my view

N1 extends all the way down to old street pretty much. Long thin post code. I used to love in the southern tip :-)

I don’t really like dalston and wouldn’t recommend it in this case. It’s too gritty and too north.

I think lots of Zone 2 and 3 areas are probably better in terms of local cafes and restaurants, and some may have their own cultural things

But then you might as well stay living in . Of course cool things happen in zone 3 but it’s looe saying cool things happen in Leeds so what do you want to move to London for anyway?

The best thing about living centrally is it’s really east to take a little trip out to other areas really easily. Where as it is long and arduous to get from from Wansted to dulwich, or from Richmond to Wood Green. It is pretty easy to get from eg borough to all those places!

The big problem with Shad Thames is that you can be a long way from the underground at Bermondsey

I used to be the London Bridge end but that’s fair, it was only really annoying when caring a heavy bag after a weekend or airport trip though. Generally walked / biked / bus / taxi or didn’t mind the walk.

Fulham. Near the river, nice shops, walk into Chelsea

East Dulwich
Cafes plus art house cinema and easy reach of City

But then you might as well stay living in

Even if that were true (it’s not) you’d still get that life style with being 15/20 mins to central London... that’s the point.