Most delightful parts of London / south to live?

[Sellorwait6]

Just that really! Itchy feet and wondering where to check out!

Looking for somewhere charming and friendly. Ideally with a good high street full of independent shops.

Depends on budget and lifestyle really, you've not given us much to go on! If you're budget is £4mil+ then I'd be buying a house in hampstead or something.

I live in crystal palace and love it. An amazing high street with loads of indie shops, great schools, woods and the best park in London. You can get a gorgeous 4 bed house here for about £1.5mil.

I've heard Hove is really nice or you could do what all my London friends are doing and upsticks to Whitstable.

Dulwich village is also gorgeous as is Blackheath. But both expensive areas of SE London.

I read the OP's title as London, South, so South of the river in London. Wimbledon Village, Barnes, Richmond all have independent shops. Hope you have a healthy budget.

Thank you all!! London or the south - a commute back to London a couple of days a week when wfh ends.

I’ve been endlessly (it feels like!) trying to figure out where to move next!

Sussex is beautiful. From Haywards Heath to London Victoria is 40 mins and there's also a direct service into London Bridge, the City and up to King's Cross/ St Pancras. It's surrounded by National Trust sites and woodlands and only 15 miles from the coast.

I'm from Barnes, which is in a little loop of the Thames and not on the tube system, and feels like a delightful little village. It's very beautiful and friendly but transport is a nightmare, and will continue to be a nightmare until Hammersmith Bridge is fixed which will likely take years.

Richmond is also lovely and much busier.

I’ve often been quite curious about sussex, polkadot - is there a place you’d recommend I check out first?

Lots of lovely Sussex villages. Try Petworth and Ditchling.

What sort of budget do you have? Do you London just for the commute, or do you want the hustle and bustle of the lifestyle too? We moved Out from South London (as have literally thousands of others) to Folkestone and DH still commutes to St Pancras and we think it has the best of all worlds - stunning architecture, countryside, beautiful beaches, Europe on your doorstep, fantastic community and a fab place to raise a family and have never looked back, but we only pop into central for the odd show or museum and are more outdoorsy people at heart (I’ve now taken up sea swimming!) so it was definitely the right move for us, but not sure if it’s that’s what you mean or you just want to know the best bits of London. In which case I would recommend Crouch End, East Dulwich or Blackheath which are all places I know pretty well and enjoy spending time in...

Faversham, Lewes as well as seconding Hampstead, Crouch End, East Dulwich, Blackheath, Folkestone, Hove and Whitstable. Maybe Deal and Ramsgate too. Arundel.

We used to live in the West End. I absolutely loved it. We were only a few mins from Regents Park but a short tube ride from work.

Reigate all the way! Quite expensive though 😕

Farnham?
Cobham
Fetcham

I do love Dulwich Village! Greenwich and Blackheath are also nice. I've spent most my time in North London so I'm a complete newbie when it comes to the south!

Highgate village for London or Lewes

Reigate vote from me too. Easily commutable, great high street and surrounded by lovely countryside

Barnes is lovely. Or Hammersmith/Chiswick by the river. Parts of Putney. Or lots of nice places on Thames heading west. Very dependent on budget though!

Lindfield or Lewes in Sussex

I second Crystal Palace/East Dulwich. We live in Forest Hill and love SE London. So many different places to visit and so easy to get to lots of further afield places as well

@Sellorwait6

I’ve often been quite curious about sussex, polkadot - is there a place you’d recommend I check out first?

Ditchling, Cuckfield, Balcombe, Lindfield, Staplefield... depending on how "rurally" you'd like to live but all within easy reach of the train stations into London and a short drive to beaches. Brighton and surrounding areas are a a bit of a drag for commutes, too long to justify unless you live right on the beach. There are also lovely parts of Haywards Heath itself (north and west of the train station) that are then walkable to the trains and also to open fields, woods, etc.

And lovely pubs!

Wimbledon, Barnes, Richmond and Dulwich and the famous and fabulous ‘between the commons’ in SW11 are the obvious choices.

For reference I grew up in some of the parts of SW London I'd recommend if you'd asked this question in the '90s, a few of which are mentioned above. But these days you'd get a terrace there and a detached large property in Sussex with beautiful countryside around, all amenities in reach, good schools (if that's relevant) and the same time to commute in as you have from SW London!

PolkadotGiraffe has a point. We bunkered into London (place aforementioned almost) from 1981 to 2015 and moved 13 miles out when the DC unplugged from schools. House is same size and on 2 floors not 4, garden five times and it was half the price. >>whispers