Ideas please - where to move to next?

[missl1]

Hello mumsnetters,

Can you help us by floating some ideas please :-)

My partner and I are at a bit of crossroads. He really wants to move nearer to a beach or somewhere with easier access to open countryside - his only main criteria. I mean there are many others but this is the gist.

I'd like to be in or near a city, somewhere diverse in terms of faces (not just a whitewash) and somewhere quite liberal. To give this last point context areas I've enjoyed living thus far Brighton, Bristol, Berlin and Brixton. There's a trend here :-) OK, it doesn't need to begin with B but somewhere with a similar sort of liberal outlook - if not the whole place then maybe somewhere with areas along those lines.

Any ideas welcome.

Newcastle perphaps? Northumberland countryside is amazing, got the metro system for easy transport around, a few suburbs are very close to the beach and it won't be more then a 20 minute journey max from most of newcastle

Can’t you just go back to one of the places you like? Obviously not Brixton for the beach or coutryside but somewhere near Brighton should do the trick?

West side of Southampton. New Forest on the doorstep and a mix of people. Beaches are fab.

Do you want to stay in the south? Liverpool has all of those things and if you're currently based in the south, your property budget will go a long, long way in the NW.

Norwich or Ipswich?

I second Newcastle! A diverse, pretty city close to both countryside and coast

Folkestone. Very edgy and interesting. At the foot of the North Downs and breathtakingly beautiful countryside, but also alongside some amazing coastlines and beaches. Extremely creative (they have huge investment in the arts which is growing rapidly). Architecture is stunning! Moved here several years ago after hopping around the country / world and truly feel like we have hit the jackpot...

Since when were Norwich and Ipswich diverse????

I love Bristol but I'm biased as I was born here

Move onto the next letter of the alphabet! Cardiff! I loved living there. City is great people friendly big enough to feel like a cosmopolitan city however 30 mins away and you are at some of the most beautiful beaches and 30 mins in the other direction you are in the gorgeous Brecon Beacons. If my DH wasn’t in the military I would still be there.

Leeds has got the diversity and the Yorkshire dales but not the beach.

What about Aberdeen? Cardiff?

I live in Hampshire where there is a mix of cities, water and countryside so maybe you could find somewhere close to what both of you are after. I too would like to live closer to the sea or drive past more fields and countryside on a daily basis but I also want to be able to nip everywhere we need to quickly and easily. Could you look near some of the areas you have liked in the past

Why didn't you stay in Brighton? Close to the South Downs and on a beach and liberal. Or move somewhere close by like Lewes.

Barnstaple... (Not really. It’s not culturally diverse). Exeter might work?