Guildford/ Worplesdon or Camberley??

[Rlar105]

Hi guys,

I washoping you could help me. My new husband and I are looking to move to the other side of the M25 from Epsom. We are choosing between Guildford andCamberley. We can afford more for our money in Camberley and the town looks good. The only problem is I drive to work in London and rarely get the train and there isn’t a direct train to London. Also the M3 is not as good as the A3! If we lived in Guildford we would have to live a ten minute drive from the train/town but it’s a much better link to London.. also there seems to be better schools. Can anyone please help shed some light on which town would be better suited? Oh the big thing is Camberley is a lot closer to our parents! Thanks guys :)

Imo they have a totally different feel. Your best bet is to visit both and see which you like better. Spend some time walking around the town centre and get a feel for the place.
Guildford is more middle class than Camberly, and less military.

A3 can get terrible traffic especially at rush hour. Also the route to get to the A3 from Worplesdon can get quite congested too. (Can't speak for Camberly's traffic, though I assume most towns would be similar)

Ah thanks for your info on the traffic. I’ve been to both towns quite a few times it’s just the traffic and day to day living experience for people that work in London that would be handy. I didn’t realise the traffic from Worplesdon to the A3 would be that bad. Thanks so much for the advice :)

Im local to Camberley and I wouldn't move to Camberley, its a bit of a dump near the town centre, lots of pollution and traffic, not particularly pedestrian friendly, and massive problems near the night shelter. I'd try the Bracknell/Crowthorne/the meadows ends of sandhurst or maybe look towards Frimley, Frogmore or Bagshot personally.

Ah I’ve been to Camberley quite a few times and I’ve never noticed polution so thanks for letting me know!

Guildford is great - moved here 8 years ago from South London. I would look in the Stoughton/Queen Elizabeth's Park area.

Easy access to A3 but still walking distance to town centre depending on where you are. If you're Catholic then you can send your kids to St.Joseph's which is a very good primary in Stoughton or St.Thomas's in Merrow.

Yeh the A331 was pretty bad a while back, and anywhere near the A30 is just a bit grim for air pollution in rush hour. Then it's hemmed in by the M3 behind it. It's not London or inner city levels by any means, but I'd choose to live elsewhere.

Good news is that house prices in the area, particularly anything within the £450-600k bracket are stagnant AF and dropping like crazy so you can get some really nice places right now 👍

If you're commuting to London I wouldn't move to camberley.

Guildford is an OK commute on train. Or you've got Farnham and Godalming on the same train line but are quiter and more villagey. The drive from the Guildford area would be mental unless you work out of normal hours.

If you can afford Guildford I would go Guildford not camberley.

The best place in the area for a London commute is Woking, it's 20 minutes to Waterloo and the trains are constant.

My concern would be parking at Guildford station. I remember my DH living in Guildford and having to drive to another station with a less frequent service to London because that was where he could park.

Basingstoke is cheaper and has fast trains into London

I think Woking is the best bet for trains but it’s slower to get to a main driving road. I actually drive to London 90% of the time. I need to carry medical equipment in my car so I rarely take the train. If that’s the case where would you suggest? Yep Guildford is lovely but finding a 4 bedroom house close enough to the town is quite tricky :)

Farnborough is cheaper than Guildford and Woking

Posted too soon

And has direct trains to London. It's not far from Camberley.

If you're driving to London why not look at Bracknell? You're halfway between the M4 and M3 so you can pick whatever route to the M25 hasnt had a crash that day 😂

I think camberley you've probably got the best driving routes to London. You could also look at lightwater and Frimley and Bagshot. Farnbourgh isn't very nice, but thats the station you would need to go to to get the train.

In camberley you just want to steer clear of the old Dean, around the Frimley Road and I think it's called the Ansals in Frimley.

Camberley is an OK place to live as there is loads of little towns about all with different stuff avaliable, but you have to drive pretty much everywhere. The NHS is well funded and its a pretty safe place to live if you stay out of the before mentioned bad bits.

Guildford is a great town. It's worth considering the villages of Shalford, Bramley and Chilworth. They are very close to Guildford and offer good transport oportunities.

I think Guildford train station is, or is going to undergo major improvements, not sure how that will affect parking but I don’t think it’s too bad.

Guildford traffic can be horrendous but if you factor that in to travel times you should be ok! Being Worplesdon or Burpham side for the A3 is probably a good idea as it reduces some of the traffic trying to get into the centre.

Guildford is a lovely place to live, but very expensive as you know!

I grew up in Camberley, and have lived in Guildford for the past 10 years or so.

In Guildford, living a "10 minute drive" from the train/town means a very different distance depending on the time of day. On a bad day, in morning rush hour, it may take around 10 mins to travel just one mile.

The houses in Stoughton/Queen Elizabeth Park area of Guildford are cheaper than those around the centre of town, and the Merrow/Burpham areas, but whilst the primary schooling is decent, secondary schools can be a problem (Unless you're Catholic and can get in to St Peters in Merrow). It's a major reason why houses in Guildford to the north of the A3 are cheaper than those to the south.

Personally I'd rather have a smaller house in Guildford, than a larger one in Camberley, but it all depends on what is most important for you.

Actually thinking about it, the majority of traffic in Guildford is local times (8:30/9am and 3/5pm) if you're commuting to London you'd presumably be travelling outside of these times so should be alright.
On the occasion you get the train to work there are good bus links to the station, or I drop DH off.

I can't advise on schools, mine are not old enough yet (but planning on St Joseph's if we can get in.)

Farncombe/Godalming are lovely and great for train commuting, but I wouldn't recommend them if you're driving in. Try Jacobs Well or Burpham, they're slightly nearer to London so you'd join the A3 after most of the Guildford centre traffic.

I live very close to Worplesdon and love the area, so go for it if you like it.

(I'm not a fan of camberly, we could afford a bigger place there and it'd be more convenient for DH's work, but I don't like the feel of it as much. We'll probably be moving to the Ash area as we're getting priced out of Guildford )

(I'm not a fan of camberly, we could afford a bigger place there and it'd be more convenient for DH's work, but I don't like the feel of it as much. We'll probably be moving to the Ash area as we're getting priced out of Guildford

I think I'd be inclined to go for Camberley over Ash.