DH, baby and I currently live in Bristol where we grew up. We bought our house in august 2021 and it's a lovely 4 bed house in a nice family area good for schools, transport etc but it's just so boring, no real buzz or anything going on. We used to rent a flat in Clifton near the city centre and would absolutely love to live there again, it's just so ridiculously expensive for what you get. We also have a Labrador that needs a decent sized garden which is impossible to find in Clifton or nearby areas.
Anyway we can move anywhere in the UK as we run our own business from home so we thought why limit our options to just one place.. preferably we'd like to live no more than 2.5-3 hours away from our families. So really what we're looking for is that urban buzz but in a relatively low crime family area with good schools, doesn't have to be too close to a major city, could be a small town with charm with independent shops, cafes, restaurants, markets, parks.. bonus points if there's a beach nearby. Nothing too out the way or rural, we are city people and don't want to feel cut off from the rest of the world 
We've looked at Cornwall, Falmouth looks really nice but there aren't many houses on the market at the moment.. we'd live near London but prices are crazy in the sort of area we'd move to.. we also like Liverpool but it's maybe a bit too far.. Surrey could be another option but don't know much about the different areas. Just as an example of areas we've looked at so far.
Our absolute maximum budget is 950k and looking to move in next 2-3 years before our son starts school.
Any recommendations? 
TIA