Village life wanted commutable to London and not too far from Cardiff

[Hyppogriff]

Wondered if anyone might have any wisdom to help! We need to move from near Cardiff close enough to commute to London a few days a week. Ideally would be in a village somewhere which is no more than 1.5 hours door to door to the city but is in the direction of Cardiff . Maybe somewhere near-ish Reading. Am googling and train-searching my socks off but it seems a lot like just sticking random pins in maps!! Any tips from people who live in that area / done a similar
Thing would be much appreciated !! We have 2 small children and would like semi rural village life rather than a town (currently super rural wales and we’re leaving for practicalities of being closer to London jobs without moving back into London-London). We would need at least 4 bedrooms as will need to work from home a few days a week

Whereabouts in London?

Both work city so central - Waterloo best but were realistic that Paddington may be the better option (though not quite as easy for us)

There's loads of nice villages around the Reading/Basingstoke/Fleet area, which with a short drive into the station fall within your commute requirements. Basingstoke is very easy to drive into, Reading less so but still do-able, especially if you can travel at times outside rush hour.

What’s your budget, OP?

Maybe max 3k per month rental - we want to rent for a while before we commit to try to buy anything. Yes fleet caught my eye too. Ah so Basingstoke would be ok to drive into to catch the train also?

Villages near Basingstoke, or near Southampton airport. Winchester is lovely but I wouldn't want to be driving in and parking. Travel and parking will cost a fair bit though.

What about this one OP?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/66087064#/

Village is close to Oxford.

This one you'd get the train at Didcot: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89380786#/

Near Newbury: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90130441#/

Swallowfield is a lovely village near Reading: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104186042#/

Bath is about an hour and a half to London by train and a similar length journey to Cardiff.

@Ellmau thanks !! That’s really helpful !

There's a train route from Reading to Basingstoke, you could change at Basingstoke for Waterloo. There are two lovely villages on that line - Bramley and Mortimer. Mortimer is about a 10 min drive from the m4 for Cardiff, Bramley a little more. Either could work!

@Ohhgreat thanks! Both of those look promising