Okay ex Londoners - where did you go?

[cerealmilk]

We live in a very desirable part of london. But this whole situation has made me crave more green and a stronger community (to be honest, I’ve been craving more green for a long time!) and starting to wonder (again) if I should quit london.

So where did you go?

I want to live somewhere liberal, arty and cultured, but very community-minded and beautiful.

I would love to know where you went!

We went to Folkestone. Beautiful beaches, gorgeous countryside views, fantastic artsy vibe, good schools and stunning period housing stock, many with plenty of land to boot. We have a great local community and ordinarily every weekend is packed with things to do-we are often literally spoiled for choice. We even have quirky little touches like a fantastic local radio station and our own web domain (folke.life) run by our Creative Quarter. Best thing we ever did was moving out of London and coming down here. And we are less than an hour by high speed anyway when we (rarely) want to go back! Oh and the icing on the cake is that we have the Eurotunnel for hopping over the channel for mini breaks 😁

Oxfordshire, then Cumbria! Not so artsy and liberal here, but certainly green.

Bath- love it!!

Cornwall but Plymouth is our nearest city. Best thing we ever did was move out of the London area.

Cornwall is my fantasy, to be honest! But have these old notions that non-Cornish are not so welcome?! Also - how do you find working down there? Or do you have easily portable work?

We technically still live in London but in a little place called new eltham, we used to live beckenham but it was too dear for us to buy a 3 bed there 2 years ago, so moved here and I absolutely love it. We live in a little close and all of us neighbours know each other, open houses Christmas and Easter and a street party in the summer, lots of babies on the road (our 14 months old included) and we have the best of both worlds, Kent around the corner but both of us work in London - 16 minute train ride.

Bucks.

Then back within four years.

40 minute drive to a supermarket soon brings you to your senses.

Lived in East London for years, finally bought in Essex.
For less than the price of a studio flat in central London, we got a 3 double bed, 1.5 bathroom + garden, garage and off road parking next to a nature park.
Walk to the station and 30-40mins train to central London.
Love the accessibility of London with the clean air, nature and space of not living there.

Monmouthshire. Great value, very beautiful, very doable trains to Paddington.

Nearly everyone in Bucks is from London now. Us locals are a dying breed. 40 mins to the supermarket isn’t Bucks. There are supermarkets everywhere. Round trip of 40 mins maybe? We are not that remote, even in the frozen wasteland of North Bucks.

Look at the Bucks Open Studios list to see arty areas!

If I was moving out of London I would look at Oxford or Cheltenham and some towns and villages in between. You will be a rich incomer wherever you go!

South London, zone 6. It feels quite rural and we're surrounded by woodlands, but trains are 35 minutes to London Bridge or 40 to Victoria. Feels like we got the best of both worlds.

Manchester. Has a really nice vibe, lots of stuff to do, easy access to lovely countryside . I love it

West Yorkshire. Love it up here :)

Rural Scotland!

Think most of London ended up on our street (Bristol)

I was born and bred in Bath and now live in London. Bath is very pretty and has great shops and restaurants but the people are stuffy and snobby and the city full of tourists which can make running errands stressful. Property is also extortionate. Look at Bristol for arty and cool, you get more for your money too .

Brighton after 22 years in London & it's the absolute best thing I ever did

Oh & the rest of my london escapee friends who didn't follow us here, ended up either in Bristol, Plymouth or Larksall in Scotland. All love where they live & like us have similar priorities to you

If you can't afford Brighton (which you probably can if you own in london) then nearby Shoreham is lovely, cheaper & ticks all your boxes & a cab ride, that will seem cheap to you home from central Brighton 👍🏻

Bristol, then to a village outside Bristol.

I went to Liverpool for uni in 2013. Fell in love with the city and by the end of my 2nd term (so I'd been there about 7 months) I knew 100% I'd never ever move back to London, Liverpool was my home from that point. Never looked back. I met my husband and we have a son, and I'm happily raising my family here

Another one in Shoreham by Sea here. We have a beach, independent cafes, houseboats along the river, direct trains to London and only 15 minutes by train from Brighton. I moved here from North London five years ago and love it.

Chiswick to Leiccestershire. Hated it at first to be honest but do like it now with the countryside on our doorstep.

Another one here in shoreham-by-sea (!)

Love it - lock-down has been made so much more bearable by my daily Riverside walk or my run down the boardwalk along the beach. The fort was the setting for a fabulous game of hide and seek with our son a few weekends ago, and i love the health food shop, ginger & dobbs for coffee and groceries, and The Real Patisserie for bread and treats.

Also looking forward to the BoxPark beach cafe opening

PS hi neigbbours! @LilyRose88 and @RockinHippy